Ayurvedic Tips to help prepare for the Fall Season
Although it's technically still summer, we are entering the fall season.
Our bodies have already been changing.
There are some important things to know, in order to ease the transition.
In fact, we are right in the midst of the shift. Ayurveda reminds us to take extra care during this time where summer ends and fall begins. This transition time is called Ritu Sandhi (RIH-too SUN-dee). This means, the gap between the seasons. It’s the place where the 2 seasons meet. Ritu means season and Sandhi means junction. This takes place 2-4 weeks prior to each season.
During this time the immune system takes a dip, as its in a transitional phase, preparing the body for the next season. The digestive system can become destabilized. Sleep can also be affected as the amount of daylight shifts. The body starts to dry out as the moisture in the air decreases. This makes us susceptible to dry noses, dry coughs, dry skin, increased mucus, allergies, bloating, even exhaustion and sickness.
·This is a critical time to balance out the Pitta fire with the Vata dryness. Otherwise, we can end up in a classic case of Vata/Pitta burnout. It literally creates a “forest fire” effect in the body, and by mid-November, we end up wiped out, in bed, with the flu.
What does this mean?
We have all accumulated heat in our bodies from summer (Pitta Season). If we don't reduce the summer heat internally, when mixed with the dryness of Fall, we can end up very depleted. Think about it...when the elements of heat and air combine, what happens? SMOKE. This is the "forest fire" effect.
We need to alleviate the accumulated and possibly aggravated Pitta from the Summer season, to avoid this from happening. This doesn’t happen overnight.
It’s helpful to understand your personal constitution in order to make specific adaptations for managing your health. Every individual will adjust to the seasons differently.
What Can We Do to Help Our Bodies Transition into the New Season?
Our daily routines need to be adjusted according to the season. Ayurveda calls this Ritucharya (ri-too-chuh-ryuh). Ritu means season and Charya means regimen. Our seasonal regimen needs to be adjusted before the actual season begins.
I recommend 4 weeks before the beginning of each season, so that the transition can be slow. In Ayurveda, we generally don’t recommend sudden changes in anything.
It’s too shocking to the body.
Daily Routines (Rituacharaya) for Fall Transition:
·Hydrate! Start sipping warm water throughout the day in early to mid- august. This will help keep the body from drying out too fast. It will also help regulate the digestive system during this transitional period. Try adding a bit of fresh juice to your water to restore electrolytes. Make CCF tea.
Things like fresh figs, grapes, leafy greens, artichokes, and asparagus help reduce excess heat in the body from summer.
·Oil! Oil!! Oil!!! – Oil everything! Skin, hair, nose, feet, nails. Oil is very nourishing for the scalp. It helps reduce excess heat from the head. It helps nourish and ground the body and the mind.
·Exercise can get tricky, depending on your constitution. During Ritu Sandhi keep exercise on the gentler side, allowing your body to ease into the upcoming slow down. It can increase as we get deeper into the season. Grounding exercises are especially important during this time. Movement helps our bodies to transition into the season.
·During this time, eat light and warm. Your body is in transition a and will have difficulty digesting heavy foods. This is especially important if you are used to having very cold and raw foods from summer.
Start wearing sox on your feet and keep your head and ears protected from the cool, dry air. Be very cognoscente of this. The feet especially need to be kept warm.
·Slowly start to wind your day down, a bit earlier. Summer keeps us going much later. As the daylight decreases, your activity should match this process…to a certain degree. Pay attention to activities that may be over-stimulating after 8pm.
Transition the senses to adapt to the season.
Favor sweet tastes that pacify both Pitta and Vata. This doesn’t mean eat extra ice cream. In fact, that is definitely something that should be eliminated at this point. Gravitate towards sweet, ripe fruits, root vegetables, greens, smaller lentils (because they are more digestible), rice, and quinoa.
Quinoa can be drying so season it with oil for balance.
Transition your home. Open windows to balance the airflow. This will help the body to transition too. It is a time to clean, freshen up, and renew.
Transition your mind. Moving into the fall season, is a slow shift back into ourselves. Summer is a very “out” season. Our awareness needs to move inward, just as nature is slowly shifting inward into hibernation. We can still be outside enjoying the season, with awareness. There is a transition happening on the subtle level, within our consciousness. It’s an opportunity to calm the nervous system, realign with natures circadian rhythm, and experience incredible shifts. This is why solstices and equinoxes have been celebrated over time.
Spice your food to help with the transition. Again, this can be a tricky one depending on your constitution and how much excess heat is being held in your body. For example, cinnamon is a great spice to use this time of year, but it’s heating and if the body isn’t rid of excess heat this may not be helpful.
Cooling herbs/spices: Cardamom, cilantro, parsley, basil, fennel, coriander, rosemary, turmeric. It’s best to favor these.
Ghee also helps cool Pitta and balance Vata.
Heating herbs/spices: salt, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon.
It’s best not to overdue these.
During the transition period use a blend of cooling and heating herbs and spices.
More cooling than heating to start, then slowly increase the heating and decrease the cooling as the fall season continues.
Pitta is balanced with sweet, bitter and astringent tastes and aggravated by sour, salty and pungent tastes.
Vata is balanced with sweet, sour and salty tastes and aggravated by bitter astringent and pungent tastes.
Eat to feel satisfied, not full. Eating slightly less, puts less stress on the digestive system, which is more vulnerable right now. Fall is Vata season which is variable, so our digestive system will reflect that.
There's so much more to write about regarding this topic, but this is a GREAT place to start. We don't need to bite off more than we can chew. Putting little things in place will make a HUGE difference in how you respond to the change of the season, both mentally and physically.
Stay tuned for more!!
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