​The Potential of the Autumn Equinox? It’s Ours.

 
We have danced through a summer of children’s holidays, evenings with friends, festivals, beaches and BBQ-ing through the weekends.  Now the season changes again with Autumn crisply in the air.  The Autumn Equinox falls on the 22nd of September this year and offers us a great potential for change.  To harness this Equinox we must stay focused and connected with what our bodies are telling us …  this is often ‘go more gently’ after the summer.  The energy of Autumn is grounding and contracting as the land around us prepares itself for winter.  The Equinox’s energetic change also heralds a change in health.  As a Nutritional Therapist, at this time of year I see a rise in cold and flu symptoms, tummy upsets and rashes.   This can be the body naturally detox-ing the lymphatic system.  Allowing elimination out through the skin, the bowels and mucus membranes and just making us stop and slow down in our busy lives.  A bad cold or flu should put us to bed to rest and recover. 
 
How best to support ourselves in this time? 
 
Hydration is key!  This is not only drinking water, but also the way the body absorbs and uses hydration, right down to its movement in and out of the cells. Broths and herbal teas are extremely useful to support hydration, while caffeine and alcohol are not.
 
Match your eating to the season.  Eat locally produced vegetables and immediately reconnect with the season you’re in.  The Autumn Harvest is rich with the last of the vine vegetables, an abundance of root vegetables and the more bitter of the leafy greens.  As our digestive systems slow down in the cooler months, tomato soup, cooked carrots, squashes, onions, garlic and potatoes are easy on the gut to absorb.  Kale, chard and leeks encourage the digestive enzymes into action. 
 
What is the quality of your food?  Look at the levels of preservatives, sugar, salt, transfats and pesticides that maybe hidden (or quite transparent) in your meals.  By reducing these and swapping to organic fresh produce, we remove a stress from gut and a chemical load that has to be processed elsewhere.
 
And of course, to just slow down and enjoy our moments.  Keep the balance of family life, work, exercise and personal space.  Breathe out the ‘hard stuff’ and breathe in the calm and the fun.
 
The Autumn Equinox can be a physical and emotional challenge or it can be a time to refresh, restock and rearrange ourselves for the colder months.  The potential is always ours to fulfill.

---