Seasonal Self-Care// Nourishing Vata This Autumn

Hi Team,

Last week, we looked at our personal reflections and goals for the passing and upcoming seasons. This week, I’m offering suggestions for taking the best care of yourself in the coming season. In this seasonal self-care podcast, we focus on practices that will warm, moisturize and calm you this season. In the Northern Hemisphere, we have moved into autumn or fall, the season of Vata. (Southern hemisphere friends, hiii!!! Check out this podcast from spring.) As we have discussed in the past, we can learn much about our own experience by observing the qualities of the season in the natural world:

• What does the soil look, feel, smell, sound (!!) and taste (use caution) like where you are?
• What do the trees look like? How is the wind dancing with them?
• What does water do this time of year? Temperature, waves, color, turbidity?
• What does the air itself feel, look, smell, sound and taste like?
• What are the animals doing where you are?

(Vata is one of the three Doshas, or constitutions, used in Ayurveda to describe a state of being and health that exhibits qualities of air & space: cold, dry, mobile, quick, expansive.)

FEET:  Your feet are crucial. Connect with your feet and change your life.

• Take a short foot bath.
• Rub your feet in oil and double-sock them before relaxing with the feet up or resting in bed. An oil blend I love: carrier oil (I use sesame) + cedarwood + lavender + rosemary.
• Stimulate your feet by using a hair- or body-brush on the soles.
• Spend time with your bare feet in contact with earth everyday. (Maybe right before that foot bath!)

BODY CARE: Nourish yourself. Add before subtracting.

• Abhyanga: rub yourself all over with oil in the morning before getting into the shower. Sesame oil is good for warming, coconut is cooler and drying, sunflower is enlivening.
• THE POWER BATH is my new favorite thing ever. When I have a spare 10 minutes at home, I hop into a short warm (not over-hot) bath with my favorite bath salts (loving eucalyptus and rosemary right now).

FOOD & DRINKS: Warm yourself. Anchor yourself.

• Warm water with herbs and aromatics for fall: lime, honey + a dash of pink salt.
• Kitchari. YESSSSS.
• SOUP.
• Evening toddy: ghee + milk (or milk alternative) + cardamom, cinnamon, pepper (just a dash) and ginger.

MOVEMENT: Move yourself, take your time.

The temptation to overdo it is strong in fall. We may feel this subconscious desire to “keep moving” in order to stay warm, but fatigue and burnout can result from an unmeasured approach to our calendar of events and movement regime. I like to sweat a little bit everyday, but not to the point of exhaustion. Ride your bike, walk to the grocery store, take a short run (I set my timer so I won’t go longer than 20 minutes), DANCE (!!!), practice slow yoga.

Along those lines, you may find that this time of year can feel overwhelming if you have a lot of travel on the books (especially if you tend toward vata in your personal constitution). I tend to travel more in the fall and find that I do best if I have a couple of care-systems in place at home and on the road.

• If I don’t “have to” go anywhere, I choose not to. Staying put can be super-grounding during a season of lots of movement.
• Spending as much time traveling by foot or bike helps me reconnect with my body during this flighty, spacey, heady time of year.
• Headstands are not great for me this time of year. I avoid them. Handstands, supported shoulderstand, legs up the wall and forearm balances are a-ok!

Please share your experiences with this season and your tips and tricks for feeling good in autumn.

CONNECT//

What is coming up in your practice these days? Do tell. Where are you hoping our next retreat will be?  What are your questions and thoughts about practice moving into the new season? Share! I love hearing from everyone in the community and can’t wait to connect even MORE.

Keep in touch. Stay close. I love you, and I love hearing from you.

• email: love@samadhirush.com
• voicemail: speakpipe
• twitter: @kellysunrose
• instagram: @kelly_sunrose
• facebook: Kelly Sunrose Yoga

NEWS//

• FOLLOW YOUR RISE :: We have a couple spots left for our autumn retreat in Sedona, Arizona. October 13-16. Space is SUPER-LIMITED. Sign-up here.
• The Sunrose Yoga Shop is full of offerings to support your practice: guided meditations, courses, books. Check it out. Check it innnnnn.

• YES ^ CHECK IT OUT.

LISTEN//

You can download the episode to any device right here.

Thank you so much for being here.

Insights from past years:

• 2014
• 2013
• 2012
• 2011
• 2010
• 2009