We just love this time of year – the transition from summer to Fall. The colors of leaves are changing, weather and temperature is changing, schedules and routines are changing, kids are back at school, and our lives are ready for an overall change.
Every season brings an opportunity to change our diet and our lifestyle and it is such an important practice to cultivate to help bring and maintain balance in the body, mind and soul. One of our favorite nutritional teachings is Seasonal Eating which comes from the wisdom of Ayurveda – an ancient form of East Indian healing. Ayurveda teaches that in order for the body to be well it must be in balance. Changing our diet and lifestyle with each season allows us to achieve just that.
If you still eat all of your summer fruits and vegetables, cooling foods and keep your unstructured summer lifestyle as we move into Fall, you will be more prone to getting sick and fatigued. Colds and flu are so common at this time of year but if you change what you are eating and how you are living and how you are taking care of your health, you can prevent getting sick.
As we head into Autumn we need more grounding, warming meals – soups, stews, stir-fry, root vegetables, warming teas, an increase of ginger, cinnamon and cloves to keep our immunity high. The kinds of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, proteins and essential fats we choose are very specific to this season. For example less berries and melons are desired as we open the door to apples, pears and grapes. Warming vegetables are more satiating than cold raw salads. Do you notice that your cravings and desire for certain foods are changing? Mother Nature gives us the perfect foods we need to eat each season and when we understand what those are and embrace them we achieve seasonal balance and therefore wellness.
Change can be challenging for some people. It can trigger resistance, anxiety, stress, emotional eating, digestive upset and panic. But if we learn to embrace change, it can teach us to let go, to breathe, to lean in, to trust and to surrender. When we approach change from this conscious place we are able to receive the lessons, the benefits and the gifts of walking through a new door.
Ayurveda teaches us to follow nature’s lead. Just as the leaves are changing and the trees are releasing them to fall to the ground, what can you change and let go of in your life this season? What is your body asking you to release, what is your mind ready to shift and what is your soul calling you to do differently? What do you desire to change in your life? What do you desire to change with your nutrition and your wellness lifestyle?
