The Autumn Transition

Pic from Smithsonian Magazine

Part 1 The Essence of Autumn: We are saying goodbye to summer right now as the Autumnal equinox approaches on September 22^nd.  On that day, light and darkness will be equal and balanced and beyond that day, the sun will begin to disappear and darkness will prevail throughout winter until the Spring Equinox.  Some of us might become depressed this time of year, moving toward the underlying dread of the coming darkness and others of us love the fall colors, the slowing down- and the hermetic quality of the winter.  Whatever the case may be, today’s show will help you with the transition from the Fierce, fiery, jovial action oriented Summer to the transitive, last hoorah of Autumn into the slumber of Winter.  We will explore how this effects our bodies, minds, and spirits and what we can do to flow with ease through this transition.

I’d like to get started by exploring the seasons surrounding us and what they represent.- Summer, Fall and Winter- I gathered the following descriptions from patheos.com.

 Summer is Party Time and our host is the sun who is fierce and utterly forthright on the scene.  The days are longer and the rays of the sun dissolve all shadows in our lives.  There is no hiding, no secrets, no darkness.  Summer is a time of light, joviality, expression and wholehearted action.  This season is symbolic of the vitality inherent within every heart.

Autumn is a season of transition, embodying a culmination.  It’s nature’s ‘last hoorah’! before retiring into winter’s slumbering mood.  This is a hustle-bustle-boogie down season as preparations are made for winter.  Autumn is symbolic of the activity inspired by the fire-glo radiance of the changing foliage we see this time of year.  This is a time of taking stock of all the bounty and provision we’ve been afforded.  A time for itemizing our blessings and recounting our joys in preparation for slowing down into the winter slumber.

Winter is a season governed by the hermit and the recluse.  Activity gives way to dormancy.  Life is still, indwelling and silent.  This is a time for introversion, contemplation and going within.  Symbolic winter invites us to quiet the mind, still the soul, and crystallize our inner workings.  It is a time to gain purity and clarification before the spring renewal and rebirth.

In our culture, death is generalized as a scary thing to be avoided and this transcends into our yearly and monthly cycles.  For many of us, letting go can be difficult and the idea of the shadow of death is frightening.  The experience of Autumn and winter can remind us of the beauty of dying and death and can show us that Death is necessary for rebirth and renewal …and in this, we can see the beauty.  

Part 2 Ayurvedic Perspective on Autumn: Being a nutrition coach, I have studied Ayurveda quite extensively and have taken to slightly changing my diet, mindset and activity with each season which has helped me stay in balance and feel great!  For those of you unfamiliar with Ayurveda, it is a traditional Hindu system of medicine, which is based on the idea of balance in bodily systems.  In Ayurveda, each individual is a varied combination of 3 doshas – vata, pitta, and kapha which they recognize through analyzing their body type and personality.  Each season and place also has a predominant dosha and having this knowledge of yourself and your surroundings can help you remain in balance which means you remain healthy from the Ayurvedic perspective.  Ayurveda traditionally uses diet, herbal treatment, breathing techniques, exercise, and meditation to help bring individuals into their own unique balance.  Much of the following information that I am going to share with you today comes from my own knowledge as well as information from Ayurvedic Practitioner, John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly and from the website banyanbotanicals.com.

According to Ayurveda, Autumn is a season of deficiency and change. Autumn is dry, rough, windy, erratic, cool, subtle, and clear. These are all qualities shared by vata dosha, and therefore autumn is considered a vata season. When the temperature starts to drop, the body scrambles to protect itself from heat loss. Nourishing foods, especially soups and oils, seem all the more enticing while offering the added benefits of refortifying deficient tissue and thickening the skin, thus insulating your body from the cold  Overall, you want fill your body and mind with warmth, oiliness, deep nourishment, loving relationships, and a sense of stability, routine, and groundedness. 

 

Your diet is a powerful way to soothe vata this fall. Substantive, oily, nourishing foods that are high in protein, high in fat, brought to life with warming, stimulating spices, and served hot, will go a long way toward maintaining your internal reserves of moisture and keeping you grounded through the vata season. You’ll also want to favor the sweet, sour, and salty tastes. In general, eat mushy, soft foods and garnish them generously with ghee or oil. Breakfasts of cooked grains—like oatmeal, tapioca, cream of rice, and cream of wheat—are perfect at this time of year. Lunches and dinners that include steamed vegetables, hearty grains, soups, and stews are grounding and moisturizing. If you eat meat and eggs, this is one of the best times of year to enjoy them. Dairy products and most nuts and seeds are also beneficial. In general, you’ll want to reduce your consumption of raw vegetables, cold and frozen foods, as well as the bitter, pungent, and astringent tastes. It is best to minimize light, cooling, and drying foods like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts, leafy greens, white potatoes, beans, popcorn, crackers, millet, and dried fruit. If you do eat these foods, eat them in moderation and make sure that they are soaked, well cooked, or served with ghee.  This is a good time of year to do a monodiet type of cleanse but not a good time of year to fast.  Avoid fasting during the fall and focus on nourishment.

The skin also tends to get dry in the fall and according to Ayurveda and my own personal experiences, sesame oil can help.  It is a great practice to oil your entire body with raw sesame oil before a shower.  This not only helps dry skin, puts you in touch with your body and helps you relax but it is great for calming your nervous system, awakening your tissues, and grounding your energy.  After rubbing your body with oil, you take a warm, relaxing shower, leaving a light coat of oil present for the day.

According to Ayurveda, the best times of day to exercise are in the early morning and evening hours (6–10 a.m. and 6–10 p.m.). Vata is very easily aggravated by fast, mobile activities, so consider slow, gentle, strengthening forms of exercise instead. Walking, hiking, swimming, biking, yoga, and tai chi are good choices, provided they are done at an appropriate level of intensity. Ideally, exercise at about fifty to seventy percent of your capacity, breathing through your nose the entire time. And remember to balance your activity with adequate relaxation and sleep so that your tissues can rejuvenate properly.

 In review, we will remember to eat Salty, Sweet, and Sour Tastes with plenty of root vegetables, whole grains, and oils and will avoid light, drying, and cooling foods with bitter, pungent, and astringent tastes.  Oiling the skin before a shower with raw sesame oil can help our dry skin, our nervous system, and sense of groundedness and light exercise like walking, hiking, swimming, biking, yoga and tai chi are beneficial, especially if done from 6-10 am or pm.

Part 3: Information from https://www.chinesemedicineliving.com/nutrition/seasons/fall/ 

In Chinese Medicine, autumn is associated with metal and the lungs.  This season governs organization, setting limits and protecting boundaries.  We move from the external and expansive nature of summer into the internal contractive nature of autumn.  Autumn is a good time to finish projects you started in the spring and summer and enjoy the results of all of your hard work.  It is a good time to begin new projects that focus on the internal- cultivating your body and mind to become more introspective.  The energy of the Lungs is letting go so autumn is a good time to be mindful to let go of anything we may be holding onto so we can make room for new experiences that will help us learn and grow.

In Chinese medicine, every organ is associated with an emotion and the emotion of the lungs is sadness and grief.  The lungs are associated with clear thinking and communication, openness to new ideas, positive self image, and the ability to relax, let go, and be happy.  When the lungs are out of balance or you are dealing with excessive grief, you will have difficulty coping with loss and change, a sense of alienation, and experience a prolonged sense of sadness that does not dissipate.  Lungs are also associated with attachment so if you have a hard time letting go of people, objects, experiences or spend a lot of time reliving the past, this can point to a lung deficiency.  In contrast, grief that is expressed fully and resolved is strengthening both physically and psychologically.  Therefore it is not avoiding grief, but rather dealing with it in a healthy way that is the key to being happy and maintaining balance in all aspects of life.

The Large Intestine is the Lungs partner in that they work to keep balance in the body.  The lung is responsible for taking in the new which manifests physically as breathing in the crisp fall air, filling us with oxygen that we need to think clearly and function optimally. The large intestine, on the other hand, is responsible for letting go of waste.  Emotionally, this is why Autumn is a good time to look at things we might be hanging on to, and begin to work through them so that we can let them go for good.

The following are things we can do to keep our lungs and large intestine in great shape this autumn and for the coming year.

One of the best ways to strengthen the lungs is to breathe deeply.  Breathing deeply improves our memory, energy level and immune system.   When we breathe deeply with intention, we are flooding our cells and brains with much needed oxygen that is vital to all the body’s processes.  The best way to breathe deeply with intention is to breathe into the nose, and breathe it all the way into the belly, taking in as much air as possible.  Once the lungs are totally full, hold them for a count of five and then exhale through your mouth until your lungs are empty.  This exercise can be done 3 times in a row, 3 times daily.  Another way to practice breathing deeply is to go for a walk outside in the crisp autumn air and simply focus on breathing the energy of the air deep into the body.

Chinese medicine also recommends we let go of any negativity in our lives.  Sometimes there are things in our lives that are out of our control but bringing awareness to the negativity can help you to make the small changes you need to shift your perspective and let go of that which doesn’t support you.  Even when the negativity comes from outside of you, you can make the choice to change your perspective in in such change your reaction or mood in relation to the negativity.  Any negativity you can control, this is the time to shine light on it and let it die.  I recommend taking a few moments this autumn to shine some light on any darkness you have been holding onto in your life.

Along with letting go of the negativity in your life, it also might be a good idea to re-organize, clean, and donate that which doesn’t serve you anymore.  Everyone knows about spring cleaning but how about fall cleaning?  Take some time to go through your clothing, your general stuff, your computer, your cupboards, your phone and get rid of the things and information that no longer serves you.  All of these activities can be liberating and mirror the energy of the season- the falling of the leaves…

Chinesemedicineliving.com also recommends we consider wearing a scarf this fall to block the cold and wind.  This can help us ward off sickness and stay warm.

The Autumn diet in Chinese Medicine is very similar to that of Ayurveda.  It is recommended that you eat foods that are cooked long, are warming, and easy to digest like soups and stews.

Overall, the best way to stay healthy during Autumn according to Chinese Medicine is to live in harmony with the nature of the season.  If we look at the world around us, we will see that nature is slowing down, contracting, and preparing to rest which is what we shall do to stay healthy and in balance.  It is time to sleep a bit more, eat warming, nourishing foods, and move inward and pay attention to our internal selves.

Conclusion:

We have taken in a lot of information during the course of this show, leading us into a smooth autumn, winter transition.  For those of you who didn’t hear the entire show, I am going to summarize the key elements.  Summer has been a time of brightness- of fire- or joviality, expression and life.  We have been living and expansive and the time is coming to contract.  The autumnal equinox on September 22^nd is bringing us into greater darkness and into the silent death of winter.  During this time, we harvest the nourishment we need for the cold winter in the form of warming oily foods and love and we let go of that which no longer serves us.  We fully mourn all that we have lost so we can fully let go and rest during the hermetic and quiet darkness of winter.  We do this every year so that we can be reborn again and flow with the cycles of life.  As you descend into the depths of autumn, I invite you to ask yourself a few questions….

What are the things in your life that you truly value and appreciate?

What are you holding on to that no longer serves your highest purpose?

What steps can you take to let go of the negativity that is holding you back?

And What can you do to take better care of yourself this coming year?