Feel Your Best this Fall
Tis' the season for apple picking, sweaters, and raking leaves. The cooler and drier weather has moved in. In Ayurveda, we call this the season of Vata. The days are becoming shorter and the nights longer. Nature in New England, and many other parts of the world, is signaling us to get ready for the cold winter months ahead. Take a look outside, the squirrels and chipmunks are busily gathering nuts and fattening up for Winter. We may have the urge to stay busy and prepare too.
You may find yourself gravitating toward warmer meals like squash and soup. You may also find yourself feeling a bit more scattered or even anxious. This is Vata's air, ether, and space characteristics at work. As the air and temperature outside changes, we can counteract that change and balance our bodies and minds in a number of ways.
Tis' the season for apple picking, sweaters, and raking leaves. The cooler and drier weather has moved in. In Ayurveda, we call this the season of Vata. The days are becoming shorter and the nights longer. Nature in New England, and many other parts of the world, is signaling us to get ready for the cold winter months ahead. Take a look outside, the squirrels and chipmunks are busily gathering nuts and fattening up for Winter. We may have the urge to stay busy and prepare too.
You may find yourself gravitating toward warmer meals like squash and soup. You may also find yourself feeling a bit more scattered or even anxious. This is Vata's air, ether, and space characteristics at work. As the air and temperature outside changes, we can counteract that change and balance our bodies and minds in a number of ways.
Pawtuckaway State Park, NH
1. Alter What You Eat
Eat with the harvest. Roasted squash and root vegetables, soups, and warm apples are all wonderful foods to enjoy in the Fall months. They gently warm and lubricate the digestive system which will help to balance the body when faced with the cool and dry environment. Vegetables from the ground have a hearty and grounding quality that balances the Ether and spaciness of Vata. Lubricate from the inside out by monitoring what you eat! Eating dry foods like crackers takes moisture from the intestines. Eating warm, moist, smooth foods helps to maintain moisture and health.
Try roasting diced beets, butternut squash, and turnip. Set the oven for 350 degrees. Dice and toss the vegetables in coconut oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Roast on a sheet pan in the oven for 15 minutes, toss and then put them back in for another 10-15. Enjoy alone or over massaged greens with a light balsamic dressing.
Other great Fall foods include stewed apples, miso soup, roasted or mashed sweet potato, and low salt homemade root vegetable soups with kale.
Eat with the harvest. Roasted squash and root vegetables, soups, and warm apples are all wonderful foods to enjoy in the Fall months. They gently warm and lubricate the digestive system which will help to balance the body when faced with the cool and dry environment. Vegetables from the ground have a hearty and grounding quality that balances the Ether and spaciness of Vata. Lubricate from the inside out by monitoring what you eat! Eating dry foods like crackers takes moisture from the intestines. Eating warm, moist, smooth foods helps to maintain moisture and health.
Try roasting diced beets, butternut squash, and turnip. Set the oven for 350 degrees. Dice and toss the vegetables in coconut oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Roast on a sheet pan in the oven for 15 minutes, toss and then put them back in for another 10-15. Enjoy alone or over massaged greens with a light balsamic dressing.
Other great Fall foods include stewed apples, miso soup, roasted or mashed sweet potato, and low salt homemade root vegetable soups with kale.
2. Hydrate
Drinking warm water with lemon when you first wake up will not only help to wake and warm the body and mind. It will help to rehydrate you after many hours of not replenishing liquids and losing moisture while you sleep. It also gets the digestive system moving. Try having one or two warm mugs of lemon and water before taking in any other food or drink. You will also notice that you have more regular and productive bowel movements...which is a good thing!
Drinking warm water with lemon when you first wake up will not only help to wake and warm the body and mind. It will help to rehydrate you after many hours of not replenishing liquids and losing moisture while you sleep. It also gets the digestive system moving. Try having one or two warm mugs of lemon and water before taking in any other food or drink. You will also notice that you have more regular and productive bowel movements...which is a good thing!
3. Get Out of the Clouds
Fall is a time when the mind can easy become overwhelmed and stressed due to Vata. By connecting with the Earth daily, you can balance this and "get out of the clouds" so to speak. Walk outside. Feel the Earth beneath your feet. Use all of your senses! Listen to the birds, feel the breeze, smell the Autumn leaves, and see the vibrant colors come and go. Other grounding exercises include yoga with plenty of focus on connecting with the ground. Meditation is also grounding. Try practicing these outside!
Gardening and tending to the yard is particularly grounding if you get your hands dirty. Touch the soil. Take time to notice the changes in your plants, the insects crawling in the dirt, and the smells of the garden.
Fall is a time when the mind can easy become overwhelmed and stressed due to Vata. By connecting with the Earth daily, you can balance this and "get out of the clouds" so to speak. Walk outside. Feel the Earth beneath your feet. Use all of your senses! Listen to the birds, feel the breeze, smell the Autumn leaves, and see the vibrant colors come and go. Other grounding exercises include yoga with plenty of focus on connecting with the ground. Meditation is also grounding. Try practicing these outside!
Gardening and tending to the yard is particularly grounding if you get your hands dirty. Touch the soil. Take time to notice the changes in your plants, the insects crawling in the dirt, and the smells of the garden.
4. Wind Down Earlier
Begin to cycle with nature. As the sun sets earlier, wind down your day earlier. Eat an easily digested meal such as soup around 5 or 5:30 and keep evening tasks light. Folding the laundry, reading, gentle yoga, or puzzles with the family are all examples of light activities. Turn the lights down a little lower. Limit screen time or have none at all. Sip warm herbal tea. Get to bed a little earlier too. Try to keep this time sacred.
Getting to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 is optimal for an adult to allow for proper rest, mental and physical digestion, and recovery. Rise before the sun to allow time in the stillness of the morning and begin your day without rushing. This is one of the most effective times for meditation!
Begin to cycle with nature. As the sun sets earlier, wind down your day earlier. Eat an easily digested meal such as soup around 5 or 5:30 and keep evening tasks light. Folding the laundry, reading, gentle yoga, or puzzles with the family are all examples of light activities. Turn the lights down a little lower. Limit screen time or have none at all. Sip warm herbal tea. Get to bed a little earlier too. Try to keep this time sacred.
Getting to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 is optimal for an adult to allow for proper rest, mental and physical digestion, and recovery. Rise before the sun to allow time in the stillness of the morning and begin your day without rushing. This is one of the most effective times for meditation!
5. Lube Up
Vata season is drying. Ditch your lotion and use oil on the skin to moisturize daily. Before or after showering, rub coconut, almond, or sesame oil into the skin. Blot with a towel before dressing. Use your finger to rub a circle of oil around the inside of each nostril and ear opening. Dryness is a weakness which allows colds and other unwanted ailments in. Oil massage is grounding as well. Use oil to beef up your immune system! Read more on oil massage here!
Enjoy this season of change!
Vata season is drying. Ditch your lotion and use oil on the skin to moisturize daily. Before or after showering, rub coconut, almond, or sesame oil into the skin. Blot with a towel before dressing. Use your finger to rub a circle of oil around the inside of each nostril and ear opening. Dryness is a weakness which allows colds and other unwanted ailments in. Oil massage is grounding as well. Use oil to beef up your immune system! Read more on oil massage here!
Enjoy this season of change!
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