6 Routines for Fall Resilience
You can start to feel it in the mornings, the cool moving air, the crispness of fall mornings. The days are still ripe with the energy and heat of the sun, but days are coming into balance as nights grow longer. It’s the season where we watch the seeds of springtime flourish in full bloom and celebrate the fruits of the Earth. The trees are still vibrantly green, the sun is strong and penetrating, but there is a cool breeze that hovers in the air bringing a change in the season. Nature’s bountiful fertility is evident all around us as tomatoes ripen on the vine, squash plump and turn into the vibrant shades of fall. Fruit trees are heavy with fruit and tubers are plumping in the Earth. With longer, cooler nights, seeds can once again germinate in the soil for later fall harvests of greens, beets, carrots, and herbs.
In this season, mother nature invites us to commune with her. Fresh, local food is all around us at this time. Seasonally harvested foods are at the peak of their nutrient content, and they are more sustainable choices for our environment. Rather than being harvested days in advance before they have ripened, they are allowed to ripen naturally and continue to develop nutrients on the vine or in the soil. Instead of being trucked or shipped for thousands of miles, they may travel 30, 50, or 150 miles to get to their destination.
Not only are local foods better for the environment, but they also provide more vitality. Food can connect our bodies with the natural cycle of seasons we undergo. Seasons create changes in the length of day, air, soil, and water temperatures, wind patterns, precipitation, and astronomical alignment. The seasons can also trigger changes in our minds and bodies. Many people suffering from seasonal affective depression, arthritis, autoimmune disorders, and more would attest that seasons and climate play a role in our mental and physical health.
By taking the time to understand the importance and nuance of the seasonality where we live, we can help support our mind and body in a much deeper way than simply following a static healthy lifestyle routine. This is especially important to honor during the changing of the seasons. Tuning in to what is going on around us and inside us gives us balance. Below are some of the routines I rely on to support the seasonal transition. Of course, these can apply year-round, but I find them to be even more important during seasonal transitions.
Rituals and routines that work for some people don’t work for all, but you won’t know until you try 🙂 None of these routines require loads of time or resources, just dedicated daily action. Some of them can even be combined, if you are able to find 10 minutes with a sunny space on the Earth for meditation you can tick 3 boxes at once!
1. Eat local foods
Even knowing the importance of this, it can be difficult to practice. Foods from across the world are available to us without a second thought when we visit a typical grocery store. We have to consciously choose foods that are in season, and seek out options that come from nearby farms. Of course the farmer’s market is a great place to shop this time of year, but if you can’t make it to the market on a regular basis, try looking for a coop or local grocer chain that stocks produce from local farmers.
Of course, everyone has unique food preferences, sensitivities, and body types. If you haven’t already, start listening in to better understand which foods you thrive with
Early Fall:
Apples, Artichokes, Arugula, Beets, Broccoli, Carrots, Chard, Chiles, Eggplants, Fennel, Garlic, Grapes, Green Beans, Herbs, Kale, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Onions, Parsnips, Peppers, Peaches, Radishes, Spinach, Tomatoes, Zucchini
Late Fall:
Apples, Beets, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Cranberries, Endive, Escarole, Fennel, Kale, Leeks, Onions, Parsnips, Pears, Potatoes, Radicchio, Sweet Potatoes, Turnips, Winter Squashes
2. Soak Up the Sun
Appreciate our miraculous sun, the fiery glowing orb that provides all of the energy that we have on Earth. Without it we would be inert matter, lifeless, asleep. While the sun doesn’t leave us in the fall and winter, the intensity declines, and we can feel the energetic drop that ensues. In order to foster feelings of energy and vitality through the darker months, we must be more mindful to spend time in the glorious sun.
Early Fall:
This is the last hurrah for Vitamin D from the sun for many places in the northern hemisphere. Get out and enjoy nature while the days are still long and the summer continues. Be sure to spend some quality time with the sun, preferably with some skin showing. If the sun is still hot during the day, seek time in the water for a grounding and cooling effect. Be sure to use protective sunscreen or layers if you plan to be out for an extended period of time.
Late Fall:
As temperatures cool off, it is a great time to enjoy more heating activities outside such as hiking, mountain biking, running, solar yoga practices, or any higher intensity outdoor activities that get you moving with your blood pumping and your inner fire burning.
3. Connect with the Earth
Physically touching the Earth has a very grounding effect. It can bring our attention back to the Earth, the present moment, and what is here and now. As we prepare to enter the fall season, characterized by wind, movement, and change, seek grounding and connection with the stable, solid Earth. Not to mention that it is time to take advantage of these opportunities which will be waning as the days become shorter and colder.
Earth is about to undergo massive changes as the seasons evolve and we will follow the calendar for another year before we return to this beautiful season. Connecting with the Earth can also mean taking a moment, in reverence and gratitude to the ever changing nature of life, and the beauty that is before us. Changing seasons can be an inspiration for letting go of attachments that do not serve us in order to evolve.
Early Fall:
Walk with your bare feet, smell and hug a tree for 30 seconds, swim! Touch your bare skin to the Earth, however it suits you.
Late Fall:
Sit or lie on the ground and meditate or nap, wade into a trickling stream and feel the water running over your toes.
4. Share a Meal
Sharing food with others highlights the communal aspect of fall and harvest season. Of course this is more complicated during our current pandemic, but it does not mean it’s not possible. Plus it gives us extra incentive to spend time outside, which helps to connect us with seasonal transitions.
Early Fall:
Invite a group of a few friends to an afternoon backyard potluck style barbecue. This can be done while still adhering to hand washing and social distancing standards. It may look a little different than the normal setup, but the sentiment is the same! Engaging with our community and with our food. Offer food to others and offer gratitude for the abundance in your life.
Late Fall:
Move your backyard gathering to midday and celebrate with the warm, rich foods of late fall harvests. Depending on the weather and fire restrictions in your area, you could also have a fire for both physical warmth, and to invoke the more subtle qualities of heat and energy in the mind and body as the external environment continues to cool.
5. Meditate
This is a grounding practice that can help us tune into our inner body, moving past the fluctuations of moment to moment thoughts, and open our eyes to the stillness within us and the beauty that surrounds us. The more we practice meditation, the more it seeps into our lives. It can be as simple as 10 minutes of following the breath or you may find you do better with a mantra.
Mantra can help to give a busy mind a single task to focus on, bringing the attention to the present moment. It can be in English or another language, and you may want to write your own. Here are a few examples of poetic mindfulness mantras by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese monk and poet.
“I breathe in I know I am breathing in, I breath out I know I am breathing out”
“Breathing in I calm my body, breathing out I smile”
“Dwelling in the present moment, I know this is a wonderful moment”
6. Set Your Bedtime
After the long days of summer, I know I tend to develop night owl tendencies, but this time of year is a great time to reset. The sun is going down sooner and the evenings aren’t so hot. If you are in a pattern of staying up late, try moving your bedtime up by 30 minutes each day until you are in bed by 10. Some people may do better with an even earlier bedtime.
We have our most restorative sleep if we are in cycle with the sun and the moon. By rising with the sun and sleeping during the darkest part of the night, we attune our sleep/wake cycle of melatonin and cortisol. However, screen time and excessive lighting late at night can diminish melatonin production and prevent deep restorative sleep, so do your best to minimize the overstimulation that blue light can cause before bedtime.
Do you have any rituals or routines that help to ease your body through the seasonal transitions? Please let me know in the comments. I love to learn about the different ways that people naturally attune themselves to the seasons
