Many of my patients come to me during this time and tell me the Summer to Fall transition is a hard time of year for them. They may not know why, or be able to recognize what is causing them to feel the way they are feeling. Right now, a lot of us are having a difficult time because it is WAY past the Equinox and we are still combating the wildfire smoke!
Autumn Equinox (which passed September 22nd) marks the time of descent for the year, it is the beginning of the dark days of the year, and for some of us is an exciting time to get some relief from the summer. It’s almost a month past that, but the transition still feels strong to me now because fall doesn’t feel like it’s really begun.
For others, there is a grieving of summer, the highest and warmest time of the year and maybe the happiest for PNW folks (I’m an Autumn girl so it’s a relief for me!). The grieving is also for the winter ahead, like here, Winter can really last months before things start to brighten and the rain and cold dissipates.
We feel the change of season everywhere – the chilly air, the shorter days, our skin usually becomes a little drier, it’s hard to know how to dress, warm food starts sounding good again. Chinese medicine encourages us to live according to the seasons, which I love so much and has really helped me with my relationship to nature and to my own health.
Here are some ways we can do that:
· Eat & drink according to the season. No more cold brews, iced coffees and juices. Warming foods & liquids help to encourage circulation and healthy digestion. If you find yourself bloated, cold hands & feet, irregular menstrual cycle, heavier cramps (just to name a few), look at how much cold, iced and raw foods you are eating!
· Cover your neck, tummy, ankles & toes! I see too many people during this transition still wearing sandals! This is another way that cold seeps into the body and wreaks havoc. I also encourage people to not wear crop tops, bare ankles when there’s a chill outside, or a bare neck. If you don’t catch a cold, the cold will catch you in a sense, and cause other things to happen internally (like above).
· Fall is the time of the Lungs in Chinese medicine, and the emotion associated with this time is Grief. I encourage you to “feel the feels”, do some breathing exercises, cry – notice when something bubbles up, do you actually move through it or are you buffering that by drinking more, scrolling social media, and other avoidant activities.
· Eat foods & herbs that encourage healthy lung tissue like pears, apples, marshmallow leaf & root, seaweeds, goji berries (plumped up preferably instead of dry), carrot, winter squash, pumpkin, broccoli, parsley, kale, turnip & mustard greens, watercress, wheat or barley grass, turnip & cabbage.
To encourage you to try a new recipe, I love this Snow Ear Mushroom, Apple & Pork soup. I only used 2 apples, as I thought 4 seemed to many, for a modification.
How will you live more in harmony with the season this Fall?