Autumn Health

Autumn brings us the opportunity to re-evaluate our rhythm and routines.

Autumn  brings us the opportunity to re-evaluate our rhythm and routines. After a summer filled with late dinners, slow mornings, travel, beaches, camping, road trips, travel food, berry picking, jam making and a different schedule every week, I am ready for the regular Monday-Friday  school routine. Summer was rich and fun, but a bit chaotic. Even for those not tied to a school schedule, the fall time is a great  opportunity to re-evaluate our rhythms and routines, our diet, sleep and exercise schedule. If you already had a routine in place before the  summer rest and travels, or if your child’s school and activities force  you into a routine, returning to rhythm is a lot easier. Regardless of  the situation, this time of year is a great opportunity to look at our  schedules and make sure we plan enough time for our self care. I am a big proponent of making a weekly schedule that includes time for  exercise, meal planning, and down time.

Sleep and Exercise

Start with sleep. It is of utmost importance that you get enough sleep this  time of year. Count 8-9 hours back from when you have to get up in the  morning and that is your bedtime. The days are still as long as the nights, so the tendency is to stay up late. There are probably too many  things to do. A good night’s rest will help us move through the day more present and equanimous.

If you don’t already have an exercise routine, the best way to make sure you do exercise regularly is to schedule it in on your calendar. i.e. Monday and Wednesday 9-10 am yoga, Tues and Thursdays 8:30-9:30 am walk. Friday 8-8:30 am weights. Saturday hike. Sunday rest. Make sure you schedule in time for exercise that includes brisk movement, stretching and strengthening.

Diet

In today’s world no one is given the time to be sick. Fear of missing  work, school, Harvest time brings us many fresh fruits and vegetables in season. Yet the cooler temperature demand more warm foods. I love cooking most of my vegetables, except for the lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes that go in a salad. Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and zucchini make a nice ratatouille.  Sauteed and roasted green beans can replace french fries. Grilled zucchini is delish! Vegetables that are cooked and grains that are  sprouted are easier to digest and easier on the system. This is the time to start having more soups!

Decide when are you going to plan your meals so that you can shop and prepare accordingly ahead of time, i.e. go grocery shopping on Wednesdays, cook  extra foods for the week on Sunday. This will prevent you from eating unhealthy foods or ordering take-out at the last minute.

If we eat our meals at the same time everyday, our GI track will start to anticipate digestion and secrete the necessary digestive juices. When the food arrives in our stomach, the environment will be prime to digest  it well. Many digestion issues can be solved with just these simple  practices: eat your meals at the same time every day, chew well, eat  slowly and be present with your food. This can also help with weight  loss, because when we don’t eat regular meals, when we go hungry, we  send the message that we are in starvation and the metabolism slows down (except at night, when is good to observe a 12 hour fast).

Rest and Activity

When planning out a rhythmic schedule on the calendar include time to rest: i.e. when you come home from work, sit down with a cup of tea, take a short nap, or play a music instrument before making dinner. This can take only 15-30 minutes. Try to alternate a period of rest after every  intense activity.

Having a schedule also helps us determine if we have over-scheduled ourselves. This is a huge problem with school-age children these days who are  enrolled in too many after school activities at the detriment of their  health and that of their parents. If we truly mark down on our calendar  everything we need to do, then we can see if all our needs and our scheduled activities are more than can fit in a regular 24 hour day. Is every activity truly necessary to improve your life?

Are you allowing enough time at the end of the day and the end of the week  to rest and digest your experiences? Stressful encounters, traffic, even a lot of conversations need to be processed and digested by our unconscious. If we are constantly moving from one activity to another, especially if while talking, or with music or TV in the background, our mind and body does not get to process and emotionally digest our experiences. This can cause both digestion problems and nervous system  overwhelm.

Energy and Fatigue

This  time of year may also bring more fatigue. Adjusting to a new schedule requires more energy. Maybe you are getting up earlier but still going  to bed at the same time as during the summer. Even just a few hours of  missed sleep during the week can cause fatigue. Adjusting to the  changing weather, the cooler nights and mornings, while still dealing with the hot days, also requires more energy. Even the angle of the sun,  the way it falls into our eyes in the afternoon, requires more of our capacities to be on board, which requires more energy. Rushing, worry, stress and tension are also energy vampires.
So be gentle with yourself if you are feeling more tired during this time and try to rest!

Media

Email,  social media, the news, shows and movies tend to suck us into a time warp. Yet we live in a world where these media outlets can be a  necessary aspect of our lives and even fun. If we allocate a specific  amount of time each day to these activities we can maintain a media hygiene that is healthy and keeps us connected to the world around us.  It also helps if we build upon our tendencies in healthy way: i.e. I noticed that I like to be on my phone in the morning. Instead of feeling  bad about it, I paid attention to what I was reading. I realized that I was both cleaning out my email inbox and reading medical articles in the morning because that is when my mind was the most fit to do these things. So now I allow myself 30 minutes in the morning to check and  sort my email and read a few medical articles or interesting essays. If we allocate specific amount of time for email, social media and TV entertainment, this will help us live more in balance. And if you find yourself overindulging in media, ask yourself what is going on. Since  media causes a dopamine release in our system, we sometimes turn to it  as a coping mechanism for depression or anxiety. If that is the case, seek healthier treatment for what is truly going on.

While a healthy interaction with media could work well for adults, children  are much more sensitive to screens and media. I strongly recommend you avoid media and screen exposure for most children under 7 years old as there are many studies out there showing the damage it can cause to their developing brains and nervous system. Between 7-14 is best to  limit media to just a few hours a week, gradually increasing it as they get older. Teach and model healthy media habits to your kids!            

Colds and Flu

The changing temperatures plus the change in our routine puts extra demands on our immune system so we are more prone to becoming ill with  respiratory illnesses this time of year. In Chinese medicine autumn is  associated with the element of Metal and the Lungs. In many Christian  cultures this is the time of Michaelmas, honoring the Archangel Michael  slaying the Dragon with his iron sword. Waldorf school plays often  depict the breast plate, shield, and sword of Michael as made by dwarves  out of iron that has fallen from the sky: meteoric iron. This iron  brings courage! In Anthroposophic medicine, Iron is also associated with  the lungs and some lung illnesses can be related to trapped fear and  anxiety (lack of courage). Therefore this is a good time of year to support the lungs and the immune system by taking a remedy of Meteoric Iron.

Why is it so important to have a schedule?

When  we schedule our self care in first, not only are we healthier, but we have more time and energy to spend on all the other activities that are  important: work, loved ones, and passionate pursuits. Furthermore, the  body likes predictability. Our hormones are on a diurnal schedule and  the whole body relaxes when we follow a daily routine. Having a regular  rhythm, doing the same thing most days at the same time, helps us  develop habits. Our energetic body holds these memories, these rhythmic  imprints. I.e. if you always exercise at the same time every day, when  that time comes, the body will automatically want to move into exercise. This can also work to our detriment: if you always stay up late watching TV, our energetic body will want to repeat the same activity every night. It takes a bit of effort to establish a habit or break a  habit that is imprinted into our energetic system, our etheric body. The rhythm is meant to serve us, to help make our life easier. Once we develop a rhythm it will carry us through the day.

Having  a routine does not mean we have to stick with it at all costs all the  time. This causes stress and rigidity. It is important to honor those  days when we feel more tired or out of sink, or when other more important events interrupt our rhythm.

Establishing a daily rhythm and routine can be helpful to most people, but it is most important with children. Children that live a rhythmic life at home  and at school experience less stress, have more focus and energy for learning and are less likely to develop serious illnesses or behavioral issues.

Therefore, as the days are getting shorter, and the nights are getting colder, as the leaves start to change colors and the vineyards loose their mantle  of grapes at night, reconsider what are your rhythms and routines. Did you schedule in enough time for your self care (sleep, diet, exercise, relaxation)? And if rhythm and routine has not been your strength, this  time of year gives us another chance…

Another chance… to start an exercise routine

Another chance … to clean up our diet

Another chance … to go to bed on time.

Another chance … to attend to our health.

Warmly,
Dr. Daci