Finding Balance in Autumn: An Ayurvedic Perspective

In the UK, we are officially into the Autumn season. I love this season, from the colour changes we see in the trees, the wonderful fruits and veggies on offer for us to harvest, forage and pickle! Pulling out my warm jumpers and knit wear is a real comforting pleasure I relish in Autumn… see you next year shorts!!

But along with this season, it invites in the potential to feel or experience slight dis-ease within ourselves. Why is that? Below, we will explore why this might be the case from an Ayurvedic perspective.

So first up what is Ayurveda? Ayurveda is a beautiful, versatile way of life that helps us to stay vital and, on an even bigger scale than that, helps us to realise our full human potential. It offers us daily guidelines on daily and seasonal routines, diets, behaviours and so much more! Also, it is super practical and you can always find ways to implement and integrate Ayurvedic guidance into your life!

The key principles underpinning Ayurveda are the 3 Doshas. These are the energetic powers that oversee how things function (within our bodies and in everything around us), and also try to find and create balance. In ourselves, what we experience when the Doshas are in balance is health. We can maintain health and optimise health, but out of balance Doshas lay the foundation for what we experience as dis-ease.

The 3 Doshas are called Kapha, Pitta and Vata,. Each Dosha comprises two key elements. Pitta comprises the elements of water and fire, Kapha the elements of earth and water and Vata the elements of air and ether (space). It is the Vata dosha which we will explore today, as Vata is the key Dosha in play when it comes to the Autumn season.

Vata’s elements air and either have certain energetic qualities, these are dry, light, rough, mobile, cool, subtle and clear. If you think about Autumn, you can start to imagine how these qualities play out in the environment around us. For example, the wind brings qualities of mobility, dryness and lightness, the leaves become dry, rough and crisp, falling to the ground. I invite you to have a think about what other environmental qualities might be expressed in Autumn….

So how does this relate to us?

In balance, the Vata Dosha is all about feeling in flow, creative and energised. It is the principal energy of movement, so we experience this dosha with the seamless flow between our thoughts, feelings and our actions. There is a coordinated flow of response and stimulation inside our bodies and the functions of our bodies, helping us to stay vital.

When we experience a Vata imbalance, we might start to see and experience certain ailments. This can happen at any time of the year, however in Autumn when we have the Vata energies at play in our external environment, this exacerbates our potential to experience these. See if you recognise any of these…

Dry skin

Cold hands and feet (extremities)

Dry cough or sore dry throat

Anxiety

Sleep issues (either getting to sleep or staying asleep)

Hyperactivity and restless mind

Restless legs or hands

Stiffness in the joints

But it isn’t all doom and gloom! The great thing is there are so many ways in which we can find balance this Autumn.

There can also be so many ways to balance Vata**. Below I have suggested three simple ways you can consider today.

1.Food

Introduce warming and grounding foods such as soups, stews and cooked vegetables, and herbs such as cumin, cinnamon, ginger. Including these in your diet can help counteract the dry, cool, mobile, rough qualities of Vata. Choosing warm or room temperature drinks and avoiding cooler drinks counteract Vata’s cool quality. Caffeine, alcohol and other stimulants such as nicotine, for example, could also be avoided as consuming these stimulate and increase the mobile qualities of Vata.

2. Routine

Introduce or enhance a simple routine. This counteracts the mobile quality of Vata and adds stability. This doesn’t have to be an all singing all dancing routine (although go for it if it doesn’t exacerbate any anxiety!). Allow for flexibility to what best serves you. For example, could you eat your three meals a day at the same time each day? Could you have a lovely relaxing evening routine including a bath and lights out by 10.30pm? Could you incorporate some gentle movement perhaps a yoga flow focusing on restorative or yin elements? Make it work for you!

3. Massage!

Introduce daily massage. Massage is my favourite topic so it will always find it’s way into treatment plans! Although a daily trip to your local massage therapist would be awesome (it’s the dream!), it is also perhaps not particularly practical. However, you can introduce what is called self-abhyanga or self-massage at home!

How do we go about performing a self-massage?

Start by warming up some oil, for example in the water as you bathe or in your hands. I highly recommend an organic sesame oil as a starter for 10 as it is grounding in nature, and then gently massaging the oil all over your body allowing it to sink in. You can also get medicated herbal oils which are incredible for targeting imbalances. Once warm, spread the oil and massage it into the skin performing long strokes along the limbs, circular strokes around the joints. Working your way around the body in a way that feels good for you.  

The benefits of massage are wide ranging and incredible to say the least. The simple touch and connection to your skin will send messages to your brain to say “oh this is a nice experience let’s relax”, and then messages will be sent all over the body, to the cells, tissues, organs to relax, repair and digest (this is another blog post in the making!!). This catalyst of reactions all help counteract the mobile, light, subtle qualities of Vata. The oil itself will add numerous benefits including adding moist / oily and grounding qualities, counteracting the mobile and dry qualities of Vata. You can add this into your daily or weekly routine, spending a couple of minutes to even 30 minutes, whatever time you can dedicate is helping you counteract Vata and find more balance this Autumn.

I hope this was helpful as you move into the Autumn season. I would LOVE to hear if anything here resonates, or if you feel drawn to any of the above suggestions – perhaps even trying some new things!

Picture credit: Jeremy Thomas (Unsplash)

**If you are experiencing chronic or numerous ailments it might be helpful to look for an Ayurvedic Consultant (such as myself!), who can help guide you, provide a more bespoke treatment plan and help you feel more empowered in your healing process.

With me you will be provided with an Ayurvedic package (3 sessions) where together we deep dive into what is going on for you in a detailed consultation, following which you will receive a personalised treatment plan and 2 additional sessions to help you implement this further. This Autumn throughout September and October I have an offer for 50% off with the coupon code AUTUMN50

To book check out my Ayurveda offerings.