Embrace Fall with These Essential September Selfcare Tips

In late September, summer officially comes to an end and autumn begins; however, we're already experiencing cool mornings and evenings and the leaves are starting to turn color. Soon the smell of apples and pumpkins will fill the air. Autumn is Vata season in Ayurveda, and has the qualities of dry, cold, windy, and rough. These qualities can show up in your body and mind as dry, rough skin; chapped lips; depleted electrolytes in the body; constipation; bloating and gas; sensitivity to cold; insomnia; anxiety, restlessness, hyperactivity; and irritation. We need to balance these qualities with moist, warm, stable, and smooth. So, follow some of these selfcare tips for September.

September Selfcare Tips

Food

Minimize or avoid raw foods, cold or frozen foods, as well as drying foods, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts, leafy greens, white potatoes, beans, popcorn, crackers, and millet. Rather favor denser, more nourishing food, like oatmeal, cream of rice, eggs, and cooked apples for breakfast. For lunch and dinner, eat warm foods such as hearty stews and soups, bone broth, steamed vegetables, roasted root vegetables, whole grains (basmati rice, brown rice or quinoa), meats, mung beans, healthy oils (almond oil, olive oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, and ghee), nuts and dairy. 

Assorted warming spices

Herbs

Cook with warming spices, like cardamom, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, black pepper, garlic, ginger, cumin, dill, mustard seeds, oregano, rosemary, saffron, and turmeric. Other herbs to include this time of year are:

• Ashwagandha to help calm the mind and nervous system.

• Astragalus is an anti-inflammatory, antiviral, adaptogenic herb that's a lung tonic and helps strengthen the immune system.

• Haritaki helps keep the colon clean,

• Dashamoola to increase relaxation and to reduce anxiety.

• Licorice root to moisten dry tissues.

Lifestyle

• Have a daily rhythm. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day and eat meals around the same time every day. When you eat at the same time every day, your body expects to have meals at those times and it will prepare the digestive system to make sure you have the enzymes and acids needed to digest your food. So, eat on time and don't skip meals. Get to bed by 10pm, and turn off electronics an hour before. Also, not having a rhythm with sleeping and eating can disrupt your biorhythms, as well as aggravate Vata. 

  
  

• Vata loves movement but can be aggravated by very fast activities, so do slower, strengthening exercises such as walking, hiking, biking, swimming, yoga, or tai chi. Exercise at a medium level of intensity, making sure you can breathe through your nose comfortably. Also, exercise during the stable, grounding Kapha hours, which are between 6am-10am, and 6pm-10pm.

  
  

Person hiking in an autumn forest

• In your yoga practice, include slower, more grounding asanas. Warm up slowly and include joint rotations to lubricate the joints. Then try a gentle, flowing Sun Salutation to warm up. Include standing poses such as Mountain, Warrior I, Warrior II or Tree Pose to build stability and strength. Grounding poses are important to reduce nervousness and anxiety, such as Cobra, Child’s Pose, Happy Baby, Bridge, Pigeon. Of course, close your practice with Savasana (Corpse Pose), but cover yourself with a blanket if you tend to get cold. 

  
  

• Massage sesame oil into your skin after your bath, or practice Abhyanga with warm sesame oil to combat Autumn's dryness.

  
  

• The weather is erratic in Autumn - it's warm during the day but cold in the early mornings and evenings. Or one day it's warm and the next it's cold, so get out your sweatshirts and sweaters. Wear layers of clothing to stay warm, which you can shed as the day warms up.

  
  

• Drink water to stay hydrated and to avoid dryness, which is common this time of year.   

Take care and enjoy this wonderful time of year!