Autumn invites us to pay more attention
to balance and making wise choices
Attending to all the factors that can disturb us at every level
It is a season of change
Nature is shedding
It is cool, dry and rough in nature
It is Vata season
Vata stimulates movement and change, its qualities are cold, dry, rough and mobile. The movement it can instigate may be toward imbalance particularly if we have been living without paying attention to the simple things that support our ultimate wellbeing.
Our body and mind may signal us that the change we need is to cleanse the impressions our habits have left within us. These may be the impressions of stress, poor eating habits that disturb our digestive balance, or the impact of a daily schedule and lifestyle that has left us feeling depleted and fatigued. With the power of vata (ether and air elements) dominating this season we may be moved further out of balance.
It is a good time to pay attention as a preventative action.
Our preventative care, in the first instance, is to not do more of what has already moved in a direction of imbalance. And to introduce more of those supportive things that cleanse us to restore our equilibrium. The body, senses, heart, mind and soul may all need us to grow quiet and still enough to listen and respond from a place of inner intelligence. Our change can be toward establishing a stronger ground of life nourishing principles from which we can move.
Diet: we may need to cleanse and shed the impact of not so wise eating habits as in this season they will most likely catch up with us. Knowing our dosha is the first step. Making adjustments that work to balance our dosha (constitutional predisposition) with the strong vata influence of the season in mind. Think warmth and nourishment, perhaps a single food fast to cleanse such as kitchari (rice or millet with mung and warming spices) or warming soups to allow the digestion to rest and reset itself without having to work too hard.
Bring in simple food items that gently nourish digestive fire and natural appetite. Ovoid cold, damp, processed or uncooked foods in this season with the exception of seasonal fruits that are dosha friendly to you.
Think oil and warmth to balance the cold, rough, windy and dry with regular self-abhyanga warm oil massage. Wrap yourself in warmth, softness and bask in beauty. Rest and relax. Contemplate and shed the clutter of the mind.
Movement: asana practice that gently warms from the inside and aids our cleansing and nourishing focus in this season. We want to balance and ignite our prana (vital life force). Potentise our asana practice with more attention to the power of the breath and introduce beneficial cleansing, balancing pranayama practices. Ovoid the tendency to force. Practice with more attention, be curious inwardly to observe the benefits of what you practice.
Yoga nidra to release impressions and generate a new ground of peaceful depth going forward. Meditation to inspire an internal wisdom that will always respond to change with intelligence, grace and presence.
Plant your winter vegetables and colour. Nourish the earth.
Daily schedule: pay attention to sleep patterns, and what we fill our day with. Adjust to facilitate a rhythm that is creative and life giving. Perhaps delete the word "busy" and let the mind find the space to change perspective. Busy is vata in action and usually leads to fatigue. Sometimes busy is only a state of mind. We can cleanse and nourish our senses and mind through simple yogic methods.
Autumn is a gift to us to find our means to a grounded balanced life - and a means to bestow grace upon ourselves and others. We can dedicate our effort to let go of the aggravants and invite the nourishing qualities that inspire living with joy and peace, presence and power.