10 Best Autumn Health Tips
“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” – Jim Bishop
To help you stay healthy and vibrant throughout the fall and winter, here are our 10 best autumn health tips!
Autumn can be a time when it’s easy to get sick or experience an increase of symptoms or health challenges. By the time we start to notice the shorter days and cooler nights heralding the coming fall and winter seasons, we may already be suffering more physical and emotional challenges than we felt during summer months.
Work and home stress often increase in the fall whether or not we have children or work within a school system. Vacation’s over and it’s “back to school” or “back to work” mode for us all.
Exposure to viruses increase, and flu strains bloom around the globe. The cooler temps also require quite a bit more energy to be devoted to maintaining internal body heat, and many people – especially those who already struggle with fatigue – might feel it the most.
The cooler, cloudier, darker days mean less light, less sunshine, and hence less vitamin D production. It may also mean less energy and lightness in the mood, less sense of ease, and relaxed enjoyment of life.
In my 27 years of clinical practice, I can tell you that this transition from summer into fall is the toughest biological transition of the year. It is the most likely time of setbacks. It begins in early September, and can continue into November. By that time the body has acclimated to cooler temps and darker days.
But sometimes problems that develop in the fall are suffered all the way through winter, unless the body is properly supported in its repair, regeneration, and revitalizing mechanisms to overcome those new health issues or setbacks.
So if you tend to experience greater health challenges in the fall, here are my best autumn health tips for keeping the vitality and health generation going throughout the fall and winter.
1. First and foremost, tune into your body!
I can’t emphasize this daily, moment-to- moment practice enough. I would bet money that the vast majority of people who grow sicker in the fall are ignoring their body’s signals. For example, more rest, different foods, or to grow into an up-leveled way of handling life’s stressors.
2. If your body develops an aversion to raw foods, reduce the amount you consume.
Salads, juices, smoothies and other cold and raw foods are cooling energetically. You may find that you no longer want to consume them, and crave more carbs instead. Don’t drop these routines altogether, but reducing their quantity in your diet may feel right. Raw foods are important all year round to maintain the highest possible energy levels. That being said, if you live in a colder climate, they may need to be balanced with other warming foods (such as ginger, broths and soups) throughout the fall and winter.
3. Get on the bone broth bandwagon.
I tend to drop this routine in the heat of summer, then excitedly return to it in the fall. I bake a whole (organic, free range) chicken once per week. This provides meat for 2 family dinners, then the carcass gets simmered for 48 hours with sea salt and a splash of apple cider vinegar. You can get creative and add other favorite herbs as well, such as shiitake mushrooms, astragalus, or rosemary and thyme. These herbs add to the immune boosting benefits and also add flavor. It’s not hard to do and the simmering broth creates a warm aroma in the home. We drink the broth daily either plain or as the basis of a soup. To learn more, check out Making Medicinal Broths.
4. Take saunas and hot baths.
Far infra-red sauna is an excellent way to generate heat, detoxify the body, aid circulation, and defend against foreign invaders. Detox baths with a cup each of epsom salts and baking soda are another great way to accomplish the same thing. These are excellent tools for cleansing, immunity, stress relief and relaxation throughout the colder, darker time of the year.
5. Supplement with nourishing herbal remedies.
A few of my favorite preventive remedies include Elderberry Syrup (immune boosting), Poor Bobo Cold Care Tea (for keeping the lungs and sinuses clear), and Ilex Viro Protect tincture (for the prevention and treatment of viruses).
6. Bundle up!
Keep a light hat, scarf, and extra layer in your car, hand-bag, or back-pack. Dress more warmly than you think you need to, and especially cover up your neck and head on windy or rainy days. Protecting these areas of the body helps the immune system maintain resistance against the “external evils” (as we say in Chinese medicine) – air-borne viruses and bacteria.
7. Appreciate fall’s beauty.
Connect to autumn’s radiance and its teachings. Have you ever stopped to ponder the massive letting go of leaves from the trees, or the incredible surge of inward-directed energy of the fall? Nature provides us with all of the physical tangibles we need to survive (like water, food, fire, and shelter), but also direct guidance for creating harmony in the inner world as well. Open your eyes and ears and look around. What wisdom does this season have to offer you?
8. Stay active.
As soon as the temps drop below 70, don’t take this as an invitation to stay indoors until May. No, make a plan for how you will stay active this fall and winter. Schedule brisk walks at lunchtime, join a gym (you’d be surprised at how inexpensive this has become), or sign up for a regular yoga class. During the autumn and winter, the colder temps will make a stagnant body even more stagnant. Make a daily movement routine non-negotiable, if it isn’t already.
9. Leaf-catching is a must.
When was the last time you tried to catch a falling leaf? I dare you to go outside right now and try. I promise you, it will bring more than a smile to your face.
10. Prioritize more quantity and better quality rest and relaxation.
Energy conservation is a key ingredient to health during the fall and winter. Beginning in early fall, allow yourself to go to bed earlier, sleep longer hours, and do more restful, relaxing activities during the evening and weekends. Allow for more unscheduled time when you can curl up with a good book, take a hot bath, or spend time relaxing with friends.
When we can pro-actively prepare and harmonize our bodies with the changing season, it helps to prevent disease and symptom progression. It also creates far more ease and flow within your system so that your health and vitality can remain on an upswing even throughout the challenges of fall and winter.
Try all of these autumn health tips and I can almost guarantee that you will feel very different from now until the spring returns. Let me know how it goes!
