Claiming Health Through The Changing Seasons

Fall is in the air! Can you smell the crispness?

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The nights are getting long. They are quiet and still. The sun is rising a little later each day, gratefully received by the song of nature, receiving the warmth and light of the new day.

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Traditionally this was a time where we recognized a part of ourselves slowing down and started preparing for the coming winter. Our ancestors worked with herbs to fortify their systems and transitioned their diets to eating deeply nourishing foods.

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Especially in these current times, I feel we have much to learn from this. So much attention collectively is focused on the uncertainty; the uncertainty of the elections, the uncertainty of this pandemic. And I feel truly in my heart, that these simple seasonal practices of our ancestors hold keys for us at this time. No matter which side of the political line we stand on, we all could benefit from slowing down and connecting with ourselves and caring for our body, mind and spirit.

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I see a potential for us to turn in another direction inside ourselves, towards a stance of empowerment, of health, peace and vitality. I see this turn as a way of looking to how we expend our inner resources in the choices that we make. When I say resources, I mean really on a subtler internal level, to spend our energy on things that are supporting our health and peace of mind at this time. There are clear ways we can do this in our health, that I feel ultimately start with our intention and an affirmation of our health.

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Our bodies are designed to heal and to be strong. We have an innate resiliency. Our ancestors knew about this, and they understood the cycles and movements of Mother Nature, and how to work in partnership with these cycles to fortify their beings, on every level, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. As a culture, we have forgotten. And fortunately, the wisdom has not been lost. And I feel, on some level, we are being given the opportunity to remember this at this time, to learn how to care for ourselves, how to connect with ourselves, to listen close to our inner signals.

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On an elemental level, there is a natural instinct to go towards warm foods as the weather cools, to eat stews and soups and things that help to ground us and fortify us. Our warming spices and herbs help cultivate resiliency and stoke the inner fire of our beings. These are some simple ways we can take actions towards our health at this time. And truly these actions towards health must start in our thinking, in the way that we see ourselves and our bodies.

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I will be bold and say that as a collective, as the fear of this virus has grown, our own faith in our resiliency and our health has diminished. So what if rather than expending fear, we could take that subtle energy within ourselves and invest it in ways that we can be proactive to care for our health? To recognize the strength and resiliency of the body, and take actions to support that, in the foods that we eat and the thoughts that we think.

I am not suggesting to ignore what is happening in our world, but to transform the way we are responding. There are many scientific studies that show how fear taxes our system and really lowers our immunological response. So perhaps instead, we could start to identify actions we can take to care for ourselves. Perhaps even recognizing when we are in a tizzy, and taking a deep breath, feeling our body and what it is feeling, rather than getting caught in the mind.

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So what are actions that we can take to support our health at this time? I will write another post soon on seasonal eating, with inspiration on foods to cook at this time. But overall, as the weather cools and we are fortifying our immunity, great choices are foods that warm us, nourish us and hydrate us, such as soups and stews like I mentioned above. And mentally/emotionally, what actions support our well being? I invite you to pause and reflect on that.

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There are so many things happening in this moment that could bring us down or take us down a negative path in our thinking. But truly the things that inspire us, that light us up are going to help to feed our resiliency right now, even on a physical level, doing what we love makes a difference! It is all so intricately connected in the map of our being.

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I will pose these questions in hopes they will lead you to uncovering your own truth. What brings you nourishment? Physically? And to you as a person? What feeds your spirit and makes you come alive? … And how can you bring more of those things in your life, so that you feel fed on every level?

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All these things I bring up, this is the true nourishment; to put our intention and our love into our food, to put our attention on the things that enrich our lives and inspire us. How can we go in this direction, even if it is just one small step? I invite you to ponder this, and welcome you to reach out if you want to share what you discover.

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I hold a vision for us as a collective to take a deep breath, to pause, to see where we are at and to take actions in the direction of life. I see that we all have the power to participate in our health and healing, with the nourishing choices that we make and with the thoughts that we think. I will water the seeds of resiliency within and hold space for this renewal of life and renewal of health, for myself and our communities.