Autumn can be a challenging season. For those who love the heat of the sun and long light evenings it can be difficult to accept the crisper days and darker evenings Autumn brings.

Finding Something to Love in Every Season

When we observe nature and align with the changing seasons we can create a healthy experience where resistance is replaced with contented mindful acceptance.

Finding something to love about Autumn can help us enjoy the change. Although I'm not so keen on darker evenings, I do enjoy the changing colours of the leaves, acorns, squashes and pumpkins, spiced tea, vegetable stews and baked apples. I like meditating by candlelight and walking without feeling overheated. By focusing on what I do like about Autumn and learning to adjust in preparation for change I can now enjoy what used to be a tough time of year for me.

Getting in Step with Nature

When we live closer to nature we naturally adjust with the seasons. Harvesting apples, nuts, pumpkins and firewood are all part of the natural transition to Autumn. But we, in our heated homes and cars, tend to move through life in an artificial climate controlled mono-season. We do the same things and eat the same things all year round.

Yet each season brings it's benefits and challenges and knowing them helps us keep in step with nature and take better care of our bodies and minds.

Autumn Energy

In Autumn, the air is highly charged with vital energy (prana). Autumn is a wonderful time to walk and fill your lungs with cool clean air. Stepping through the crisp coloured leaves, counting your steps and your breaths, or repeating a mantra or affirmation can transform your steps into a grounding meditation that helps to calm your mind.

As I write this I'm sitting in a tea shop at a country park with a pocket full of acorns. Outside the window a tall fennel plant is swaying in the breeze. It has thousands of seeds. Seeing it reminds me of nature's generosity - fennel seeds make the perfect tea for Autumn. Fennel gives a grounding energy and gentle warmth that nurtures us and helps us stay healthy in Autumn.

The nuts, pumpkins and squashes coming into season are also rich with the properties that help us create a healthy sniffle free season. Baked apples with cloves and cinnamon are rich with vitamin C. Hot apple juice with ginger protects us from colds.

Chinese medicine teaches that we become attuned to the chi in our local environment; another good reason to eat local seasonal vegetables whenever possible.

Autumn Health Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Autumn is the season of drier, lighter air, and cooler winds, this provokes vata and the nervous system. Autumn directly affects our anxiety levels, our digestion and our skin.

Ayurveda teaches that "like increases like" that means that the cold, dry, light, and sometimes erratic windy nature of Autumn increases those same qualities in us. If we are vata in nature we will be strongly affected as vata is very like Autumn. Vata, like typical Autumn weather, is also dry, light, cold, moving and erratic.

If you are of a vata nature and suddenly find that you feel more anxious, or stiff and achy, or your digestion becomes sluggish, your skin becomes dry, and your sleep is disturbed you can know that this is may well be due to the influence of Autumn.

Knowing this, you can take steps to look after yourself and get back in balance.

Here are some tips for creating a healthy Autumn for your body and your mind:

• Try getting up early before the world gets busy and invest a few minutes in a relaxing breathing practice.

• Oil your body. Massage yourself with warm sesame oil. Sesame oil is lubricating and warming to your skin, joints and muscles and will help protect you from dryness, cracking joints, and stiff muscle pain.

  Applying a little warm sesame oil to the inside of your nose and ears also protects from the influence of cold dry weather. It helps prevent ear aches and supports your immunity by protecting your nose and ears from infection.

• Practice pranayama (yoga breathing exercises) to take advantage of the increased prana in Autumn air and energise your body and mind. Pranayama will also help you calm your mind and lift your spirits.

• The ideal autumn diet should consist of warm foods that are sweet, mildly spicy, and salty. These are the tastes that increase moisture in the body and help us feel grounded. Try pumpkin soup, seasonal vegetable stews with a little olive oil and black pepper, and baked apples. 

  Porridge with cinnamon and maple syrup makes a perfect Autumn breakfast.

• Ending your day with a cup of hot milk with a pinch of nutmeg will help to settle your mind and nourish your nervous system for a peaceful night's sleep.

Resources & Related Articles

Ayurveda: Clues for Easily Understanding the Doshas

Ayurveda & Body Types: Do you Know Your Dosha?

Abhyanga - Ayurveda & Massage as an Act of Self-Care

Staying Balanced through the Season of Change

Pranayama: Breathing to Calm your Mind and Heal Your Body

Three posts on the healing uses of Sesame Oil

Abhyanga - Ayurveda & Massage as an Act of Self-Care

Oil Pulling: How to Get Shiny Teeth & Healthy Gums from a Stir Fry Ingredient!

Slick Soles & Sound Sleep

“The greatest explorer on this earth never takes voyages as long as those of the man who descends to the depth of his heart.” ~ Julien Green

Most people I talk to aspire to living a more conscious and purposeful life. Yet, no matter how high their aspirations, they all seem up to their ears in commitments.

In this post I’ll be sharing ways to clear space for reflection and personal development even when you feel you have too much to do to give it a second thought. It won’t take any extra time out of your day and you will soon feel the benefits of a quieter, lighter mind.

Cultivate Emotional Awareness

Do you get tired or grumpy if you don’t eat? Does noise drive you nuts? Do you feel rushed by the pace of others, or are you the one who’s rushing and wishing everyone else would step up the pace?

If you feel irritated or sad, do you give yourself a moment to think about your feelings and deal with them? Most people don’t feel they have time to explore their feelings, but it doesn’t have to be a time consuming indulgence, self examination of your emotions can be a smart management practice that helps you run more smoothly.

Start paying attention to what irks you and ask yourself what you need to feel more comfortable.

Techniques that can help are journaling or a simple breathing practice where you sit with your thoughts for a few minutes and take slow deep breaths. Imagine your thoughts drifting by like leaves on a stream and watch them as you keep breathing slowly and deeply.

Create Check Points

Check your breathing and posture regularly. How are you sitting, how are you breathing, are your shoulders hunched up around your ears?

Make a point of checking in with yourself several times a day and allow yourself a moment to stretch, drop your shoulders and take a deep breath. By doing so you can discharge tension before it builds into obvious physical discomfort and you start feeling stressed or snappy.

Give Peace a Chance

Many of us spend a good deal of time every week travelling, or waiting in queues. At such times we can’t get anything majorly productive done, and knowing that can make these times feel frustrating. But there is a way you can transform "dead time" into an opportunity for introspection and relaxation.

When I was doing a lot of driving around teaching workshops, I grew to love that time as thinking time, or learning time. I had a collection of educational and inspirational lectures in the car, and enjoyed some alone time to listen without interruption.

I know several people who have transformed their commute time with breathing practices or thought provoking reading.

Next time you find your self on a bus, train, or plane you could take the opportunity to practice a simple mindfulness technique like counting your breaths:

• take a deep breath in and feel your chest and stomach expand and count “one”
• release the breath through your mouth slowly
• take another deep breath in and count “two”
• then release that breath through your mouth slowly
• repeat for five full deep breaths

Waiting in queues is a great time to practice these techniques too, since you can do them without anyone noticing, you can appear to all the world like you are in line like everyone else, but instead of feeling impatient and checking your watch you can feel relaxed and check your posture. The amount of time you spend in that queue will be exactly the same, but the experience will be completely different.

Take a moment to think about other time spots in your day that you could upgrade to be a more reflective and supportive experience for you.

The Busy Person’s Guide to Mindfulness

You are no doubt aware of the benefits of meditation, but did you know you can practice meditation without stopping to sit down? Here’s how:

Start giving your full attention to the simple tasks you perform throughout the day. This simple shift in awareness is the basis of mindfulness meditation. All you need to do to experience mindfulness for yourself is to play with giving your full attention to one small activity at a time.

For example, if you are eating a sandwich, just eat. Focus on chewing, on tasting, and forget trying to read, talk or watch the news. Just eat. Your digestive system will love you for it.

Mindful Cooking

You can practice mindfulness while cooking. For me, cooking can be a very meditative experience. I like to immerse myself fully in washing rice, cutting vegetables, grinding spices, etc. Try it, and transform cooking dinner from a chore into an act of relaxed awareness.

Mindful Walking

You can practice mindfulness while walking by paying full attention to your feet connecting with the earth, watching yourself move across the ground step by step as you rest your gaze on the path a few feet ahead. Country walks are ideal, but walks to and from school, the supermarket or your office are also an opportunity to let your body and mind relax and simply be aware of where you are and what you’re doing.

You can practice mindfulness when folding laundry, or washing the dishes. You can practice mindfulness when reading by giving your full attention word-by-word to an inspiring book or article and be fully and completely present with it. You can be mindfully present with your children by stopping everything else and listening to them with full awareness, forget emails at story time, forget tomorrow when they’re trying to tell you about today. Just explore being right here, right now.

By noticing step, by step, every stage of what you're doing and breaking tasks down into tiny steps, you can stop stress and mental overload and keep sight of yourself no matter how busy you are.

The Benefits of Getting to Know Yourself Better

By developing awareness of what you need to feel healthier and happier you can begin to notice signs and symptoms that you are heading out of balance when they are still a whisper, rather than ploughing on until your body roars at you with a headache or you fall into bed tired but too wired to sleep.

By noticing your needs and adjusting the way you look at your daily commitments you can begin clearing space to help you step off the treadmill and live your life by conscious, careful design.

Editor's note: this is a guest post from Lloyd Burrell who writes on the electro-magnetic fields caused by cell phones etc. In 2002 he developed health challenges as a result of sensitivity to EMFs, this is something I am also affected by in my own life so I wanted to share Lloyd's advice with Living by Design readers.

Isn't technology great? The Internet, cell phones, PDAs, Kindles, iPads, etc, these are all wonderful inventions. They allow us to do so much so quickly. Year on year it just seems to get better and better, the gadgets are smaller and smaller and they get faster and faster.

But what if I told you these electromagnetic fields (EMFs), though invisible, are a source of stress and can take their toll on your health?

More than 2000 independent studies point to the dangers of EMFs with symptoms ranging from, fatigue, headaches, high blood pressure to more serious conditions such as brain tumors and cancer. I know they are dangerous because for nearly ten years now I have been suffering from electrosensitivity.

Cell phone radiation

Cell phones emit radiation. This is an undeniable fact. The frequencies used are moving up the GHz scale as our needs move more and more towards streaming and video applications. Just how dangerous this radiation is to your body is a subject of much debate. There are those that say that the EMF radiation is negligible, interestingly most of these studies are funded by the cell phone industry. I stopped using a cell phone nearly 10 years ago, it was causing me more than stress, I was in extreme discomfort and pain as soon as I tried to use one. My advice here is to minimize your exposure by reducing your cell phone use, by holding the cell phone away from your body as much as possible when using it, to use a headset (airtube models are the best). And to keep the cell phone out of your bedroom at night.

Cordless phones

Cordless phones emit radio frequency radiation much the same as cell phones. They use DECT (digital European cordless telephone) technology at frequencies between 900 MHz and 5 GHz. Cordless phones do create EMF stress, again studies show this. My best advice here is to limit if not remove them from your home. As much as cell phones are indispensable, depending on your job and circumstances, removing cordless phones from your home and replacing them with cord ones is not that much of a hardship. If you don't feel ready to take this step then make sure you don't have any cordless phones (or more importantly the base units) in or near your bedroom.

Microwave ovens

Microwave ovens do heat food fast, they do save time but they also give of considerable EMFs into your home environment. The problem with most microwave ovens is faulty door seals. These are your first line of protection from EMF radiation. Once these seals are compromised there will be radiation leakage. Being as microwave ovens undergo no safety tests once they have been bought and installed in your home, most people are totally unaware of this EMF pollution. Using a faulty microwave you are constantly exposing yourself to EMF radiation. My own solution has been to stop using microwave ovens, alternatively you could measure for any leakage using an EMF radiation meter.

WiFi

Being able to connect up to the Internet anywhere around your home or even in your garden really takes some beating. But having WiFi installed also means that your home is bathed in electromagnetic radiation. WiFi functions in the 2.4 GHz range, similar to that of cell phones. I prefer to use only cable connections around my home. But if you prefer to keep using WiFi then you can limit its effects by switching it off at night. Also, make sure that your WiFi Router is a safe distance from anywhere where you work or rest for long periods. A top shelf away from your desk in the office is a good choice, but also make sure that your (or your child’s) bedroom is not above because EMFs travel through walls and ceilings.

Video Game Consoles

More and more video game consoles use WiFi or Bluetooth technology in their operation. The Sony PlayStation 3, for instance, users EMFs to communicate between the handheld units and the main console. It's the same for the Nintendo Wii. I know about this because my son has one. This problem is easily solved with the PlayStation3, you just need to use wired controllers instead of the wireless versions. For the Nintendo Wii, to my knowledge there are no wired hand controls so make sure that you switch off the console when you're not using it.

Electric Clock Radios

Typically its older clock radios with a digital green and red display that are particularly bad. These clock radios give off magnetic radiation. The issue is the proximity of the clock radio to your head when you are sleeping. If you have one of these old models you can either replace it with a more modern LCD type clock radio, or move your existing clock radio away from your bedside table to a prominent position, so you can still see it, the other side of the room.

CFL Lights

Compact fluorescent lights came into widespread use only a few years ago. On the face of it they do seem to be a great idea because they consume considerably less electricity than a conventional light bulb. But did you know they give off both RF radiation, like a cell phone, and magnetic radiation? My solution is to use LEDs, they are slightly more expensive but they emit considerably less EMFs than CFL's and they have a lower mercury content, which can cause a problem with the CFLs on disposal.

This technology is here to stay, that's for sure. So what's important is to understand the dangers and take action to minimize its effect. Because the effects of EMFs are so insidious you probably won’t even realize that those headaches you’ve been getting or the fatigue you have been suffering from of late are entirely due to EMF pollution in your home. Take action now, I’m sure you will thank me for it in the long run.

Guest author's Bio: Lloyd Burrell became electrosensitive in 2002, a condition sparked off by only moderate cell phone use. In addition to the steps outlined above, Lloyd also recommends cell phone tower protection shielding for people living near a cell phone tower . He enjoys being a guest blogger and writing on his EMF meter review website.

Five Healing Uses for Sweet Fennel:

 

Fennel seeds contain a compound known as anethole, which ihas been shown to reduce spasms of the stomach or GI tract; so it's an ideal natural remedy for acid reflux. In Germany, fennel tea is licensed as a remedy for dyspepsia. And it's leaves and roots when boiled in a decoction are considered an effective antidote for food poisoning.

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Answers from Ayurveda: Hayfever

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Ayurveda: Natural Relief for Itchy, Irritated Eyes

Ayurveda: 8 Golden Rules for Good Digestion