Dear friends,
Happy Harvest Moon, and welcome to our glorious Autumn Season! Are you feeling the slight shift in the weather, with cooler mornings and evenings and a slight breeze during the day? The leaves are just beginning to turn a light golden color and there are pumpkins everywhere!
Autumn is the season of gathering the harvest in preparation for winter. This includes adding more warming foods, herbs and spices into our diets. During this Harvest Season, we are receiving the fruits of our labors from the past 6 months of effort we have put into our projects, relationships and health.
This is also the beginning of a cycle of personal growth and turning within. Its first day is September 22, the Equinox where the nights become longer than the days. There is a 2-week transition period as we move from one Season to the next and it is a time to clear away and finish projects; allowing space for inner wisdom, contemplation, writing, reading and nurturing your self.
Nature in all of her abundance provides us each season with the foods to nourish, strengthen and support our health. Squashes of all kinds, including acorn, pumpkins and yams, as well as root vegetables, apples and pears are some of the best foods to build our health this fall.
Some of my favorites are acorn squash cut in half and baked upside down in a little water. They are served with coconut oil and a little cinnamon or grass fed butter with sea salt. Baked apples and pears served with a little coconut oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg make a wonderfully healthy and yummy desert.
It is time to pull out the crockpot and warm up our meals with more soups and stews, including: chicken, turkey, carrots, celery, onions, squash or potatoes, garlic, sea salt, rosemary, sage and thyme. Green leafy veggies like Chard, Bok Choy and Kale sautéed on low in avocado or olive oil (you can add in other veggies that you like) are better than cold raw salads at this time and also help to prepare us for the winter season.
Teas and spices, including cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and ginger help to warm us from the inside fueling our energy. I love the Yogi Tea brand “Chai Rooibos” with a little coconut creamer as a coffee substitute or following that first cup of coffee in the morning. These warming and moistening foods strengthen our immune system, lungs and large intestine, as these are the organs that correlate to the fall season.
The Emotion associated with the lungs and large intestine, which are the Metal Element in the Chinese 5 Element Theory, is grief. This is an important time to look within to see and feel if you are holding grief somewhere in your body, especially in your chest or belly. I find that journaling these feelings, as well as meditation, prayer and positive affirmations of healing, along with self love, help us to consciously release these emotions both past and present.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, each season relates to one of our 5 major organ systems and is that system’s time for rejuvenation, restoration and repair. The lungs relate to the sinuses and the skin, so it is a good time to sweat slightly and drink more water, helping us to release toxins more easily, and to also flush the sinuses with a saline wash daily. As these are the two main eliminatory organs in our bodies, this is the time of year for a Fall Refresh to cleanse, clear and rejuvenate before winter and the Holidays.
My Nourish and Flourish Anti-Inflammatory 28 day Program is a great way to refresh and rejuvenate. If you would like more information on how this program can help calm, balance and re-energize your body, mind and spirit, please CLICK HERE.
Sending you love, light, and joy,
Lisa
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