An Ayurvedic Guide to Fall
Using practical tips such as diet and activity choices Ayurveda Practitioner, Melody Mischke, and Banyan Botanicals offers a wonderful guide to navigating Autumn. As she points out, “This season harbors a certain emptiness that can leave us feeling exposed and a little raw, but it is also filled with possibility—a time when we, too, can strip down to a quiet essence of being and savor the simplicity.” Ayurveda considers a seasonal routine, an awareness of and relationship to the changing seasons, to be a cornerstone of healthy living - providing sense of equilibrium throughout the year. If you are not familiar with your Doshas (your unique constitution in Ayurvedic terms), you can also take a quiz from this page for a more tailored suggestion of how to move through fall in alignment with your Dosha. May you, like the leaves, experience that sensation of finding the ground after so long being subject to the changing direction of the winds. Click here for access to the full article.
Types of Food to Favor in Fall
Substantive, oily, nourishing foods that are high in protein, high in fat, brought to life with warming, stimulating spices, and served hot, will go a long way toward maintaining your internal reserves of moisture and keeping you grounded through the vata season.
You’ll also want to favor the sweet, sour, and salty tastes. In general, eat mushy, soft foods and garnish them generously with ghee or oil.
Breakfasts of cooked grains—like oatmeal, tapioca, cream of rice, and cream of wheat—are perfect at this time of year.
Lunches and dinners that include steamed vegetables, hearty grains, soups, and stews are grounding and moisturizing.
If you eat meat and eggs, this is one of the best times of year to enjoy them.
Dairy products and all nuts and seeds are also beneficial.
Ideal Fall Foods
The following is a list of ideal vata season foods:1
Fruits
Apples (cooked)
Avocados
Bananas
Dates
Figs
Grapefruit
Grapes
Lemons
Limes
Mangoes
Oranges
Papayas
Prunes (soaked)
Raisins (soaked)
Tangerines
Vegetables
Beets
Carrots
Chilies
Garlic
Okra
Onions
Pumpkins
Squash, Winter
Sweet Potatoes
Grains
Amaranth
Brown Rice
Oats
Quinoa
Wheat
Legumes
Kidney Beans
Miso
Toor Dal
Urad Dal
Dairy
Butter
Buttermilk
Cheese
Cream
Kefir
Milk (not cold)
Sour Cream
Yogurt
Animal Products (If You Eat Them)
Beef
Buffalo
Chicken
Crab
Duck
Eggs
Fish
Lobster
Oysters
Shrimp
Turkey
Venison
Oils
Almond Oil
Olive Oil
Peanut Oil
Safflower Oil
Sesame Oil
Sweeteners
Honey
Jaggary
Maple Syrup
Molasses
Rice Syrup
Sugar (Raw)
Spices (Most Are Recommended)
Garlic
Nutmeg
Oregano
Paprika
Parsley
Rosemary
Saffron
Foods to Minimize
In general, you’ll want to reduce your consumption of raw vegetables, cold and frozen foods, as well as the bitter, pungent, and astringent tastes.
It is best to minimize light, cooling, and drying foods like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts, leafy greens, white potatoes, beans, popcorn, crackers, millet, and dried fruit.
If you do eat these foods, eat them in moderation and make sure that they are soaked, well cooked, or served with ghee.
Lifestyle Tips for the Fall Season
Practice a daily routine. One of the most effective ways to support vata is by establishing a daily routine. Try to do the same things (wake up, exercise, eat meals, go to bed, etc.) at roughly the same times each day. Set the tone for your day by rising early, taking full advantage of the silence, stillness, and peace that are intrinsic to the early morning hours.
Massage yourself. Then, you can calm your nervous system, awaken your tissues, and ground your energy by massaging your skin with warm, organic Sesame Oil or with an herbal oil. Follow this practice with a warm, relaxing shower, leaving a coat of oil on the skin to absorb throughout the day. Steam baths and humidifiers can help preserve internal moisture as well.
Try yoga and meditation. Some gentle yoga, and 10–15 minutes of meditation will further your sense of stability and wellness.
Use warming aromas. If you enjoy a little fragrance, vetiver, geranium, and citrus essential oils are very appropriate this time of year.
Dress for the season. Wear autumn colors when appropriate—reds, yellows, oranges, and whites—and wear enough clothes that you stay warm throughout the day. When you step out into the elements, cover your head and ears to protect them from the biting wind and cold.
Fall Season Exercise Tips
Vata is very easily aggravated by fast, mobile activities, so consider slow, gentle, strengthening forms of exercise.
Walking, hiking, swimming, biking, yoga, and tai chi are good choices, provided they are done at an appropriate level of intensity.
The best times of day to exercise are in the early morning and evening hours (6–10 a.m. and 6–10 p.m.).
Ideally, exercise at about 50–70 percent of your capacity, breathing through your nose the entire time.
And remember to balance your activity with adequate relaxation and sleep so that your tissues can rejuvenate properly.
Yoga for Fall
Incorporating a sense of warmth, grounding, stability, and focus into your yoga practice has a profoundly calming effect on vata and can work wonders during vata season. Your breath should be deep and fluid.
If you practice pranayama (yogic breathing exercises), Nadi Shodhana (Alternate Nostril Breathing) is very balancing this time of year.
In your asana practice, favor vata-pacifying yoga. Warm up slowly and include some joint rotations. Move with intention and fluidity—grounding the hands and the feet on the mat whenever possible—and avoid jumping between postures.
Gentle flows like a relaxed Sun Salutation are perfect for vata. You can also favor standing and balancing poses such as Mountain, Warrior I, Warrior II, and Tree Pose to increase stability and strength.
Connect with the earth beneath you in poses such as Thunderbolt, Cat-Cow, Cobra, and Child’s Pose, and quiet the mind with forward bends such as Intense Westward Stretch.
Gentle inversions and restorative poses such as Legs Up the Wall are also very good for vata.
Close your practice with a long Savasana (Corpse Pose), covering yourself with a blanket so that you don’t get chilled.
Herbal Support for Fall
Ayurveda offers a number of herbs that balance vata that can be especially beneficial during the autumn season. Among them are:
Chyavanprash. Taking Chyavanprash in the morning can help reinforce immunity, strength, and energy during the autumn season.
Ashwagandha. Ashwagandha is stabilizing to the mind and nervous system, and can promote sound sleep, strong digestion, proper elimination, and appropriate strength; it is available as a powder, tablet, and liquid extract.
Herbal Teas. Similarly, herbal teas—especially those made from ginger, licorice, or CCF Tea (a combination of cumin, coriander, and fennel), can promote proper digestion and warmth.
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