Ayurvedic Fall Approach

What does dinacharya mean?  Daily routine. In Ayurveda (the science of life) routines are a vital part of our daily existence. What we do on a regular basis is how we cultivate good or bad habits. When we get out of our routine is when we lose focus on our goals and our habits tend to shift. Learn a Fall dinacharya practice to help keep the vata dosha happy and balanced.

Transcript

Welcome to the peaceful power podcast.

I'm your host Andrea Klassen.

And today we are diving into are you Vedic tips for the fall season.

Alright,

So this is my favorite season.

I love the fall activities.

I love what you can wear in the fall season.

I'm all about the sweaters with like cut off denim shorts.

I just love like just the cozy atmosphere.

I'm not a big pumpkin spice pate person,

But I do enjoy going to apple orchards and you know maybe trying some apple cider,

Pumpkin patches,

All of those things you know all of those activities that you associate with the fall.

I love.

And here in Minnesota,

You know it is kind of a sharp change,

Though it's happening a little later than it used to be.

You know,

It's still in the 90s as I'm recording this and it's like September 2 so it's a little warm still,

We will be,

We will be transitioning though,

As we always do.

That is the one thing you can kind of count on with the seasons is there is is slow change,

And in our you Vado we start to look at those slow changes right now.

So even though it might be you know in the 80s and 90s where you live to you start kind of making those shifts ahead of time so that way when we do drop down to like the 60s and the 50s,

And it just stays there like that becomes our new high,

And you know,

That is something that we want to make those adjustments now,

So our bodies aren't as prone to getting sick,

Because what happens in the fall.

A lot of times we get we get sick.

We have allergies more.

So,

Making sure you know if you do a neti pot,

You do your neti pot,

Especially if you have the fall allergies I know I got into some ragweed the other day.

I got to do some neti pot to kind of shake it out of my nose because ragweed always irritates me.

And another fall practice is maybe you have elderberry syrup.

So I personally like to make elderberry syrup I ordered my elderberries.

They should be arriving,

You know,

Sometime within the next week here so I can start making my elderberry syrup.

Same thing with fire cider if you like fire cider maybe that's something that you make every season as well.

So those are some of the practices that you might start to tune into,

You know what other things do you normally tune into at this time.

For myself,

If you have listened for a while I love Hallmark movies.

And so it's also the time I watch Hallmark movies,

All year round.

And I do review them on a separate Instagram account.

I don't even know what it's called I think it's like Hallmark channel.

I'll have to get that the show notes,

But I do review every movie.

And then come October mid October is when they start showing the Christmas movies.

And so it's kind of like,

They're a little bit ahead of things here over in Hallmark land,

But they've started showing fall movies in August.

Now I should say fall in quotations because this season,

It hasn't really been fall,

But that is their their theme is usually fall.

And so that's something where that's actually what are you going to suggest you know,

Getting ahead of things,

Looking ahead because that's when I'm going to start that transition into the next season.

So I'm going to share a few tips for how you can make those transitions and I'm also going to share some tips,

Based on your dosha,

Because the fall season is associated with the Vata dosha.

And if you're prone to going out and Vata which honestly quite a few people are and that's been a huge imbalance that I've been seeing kind of across the board,

Especially the last couple years but I think this year in particular people coming out of kind of that pandemic and we're just put a lot on our plate,

You know how many activities can we sign up for how many things can we just go out and do.

And that can kind of get us a little bit imbalanced especially in that Vata dosha.

So making sure that you are paying attention to even though you might be a kapha,

Prakrti or you were born kapha,

You know that's what it means.

And you're not necessarily prone to a Vata vikrti,

That means imbalance.

You still want to be aware of these things because these things can kind of pop up and kind of come out of nowhere.

If we're not really paying attention to these practices and to routines.

So the first thing I would suggest is keeping your Agni high.

So what is your Agni?

Agni is digestive fire.

And so we want to make sure things are flowing because Vata,

An imbalance of Vata is constipation.

So if we start to show signs of constipation,

We'll know that,

Oh,

We might be starting to build up a Vata imbalance in our body.

So we want to make sure we're having maybe some bone broths,

Soups for dinner.

That's one of my favorite things to have.

You know,

How can you kind of lubricate those intestines so things are flowing?

Having warm water versus your cold,

Ice cold water.

So making subtle shifts like this,

That's how you're going to help keep your Agni high.

The next tip would be sipping on warm water or tea.

So again,

As that seasonal shifts,

Maybe instead of that pumpkin spice latte,

Which probably has a ton of sugar.

I haven't looked it up,

But I'm sure it has a lot of sugar.

Let's see what teas we can have.

You know,

What are some teas that we enjoy?

I'm a fan of the red rubus tea by Numi,

I think.

N-U-M-I.

And there are other teas that I kind of make myself.

I'm always a fan of red raspberry leaf tea.

But you know,

What teas do you like?

Because I have a client actually who's an agronomist and she works in the fields and with grass.

And she does not like teas because she's like all they taste is grass,

You know,

Because she's out there and she knows these plants so well.

She doesn't like to sip on them.

So,

You know,

Maybe you can find something,

You know,

What can maybe sweeten the pot a little bit.

You know,

So we tried a few different examples for her to kind of find something that maybe she would be able to take.

So green tea is usually a little bit better bet than maybe the dandelion and the red raspberries and the nettles,

Which are going to taste like plants that she's very familiar with.

So for you,

What would that look like?

Now for pranayamas,

Pranayama is one of my favorite ways to kind of settle into the body.

It's something that I do pretty much with every yoga class that I teach.

Alternate nostril breathing is one of my favorites for grounding that vata dosha.

And so you can kind of Google,

Go on YouTube and you'll find a video on how to do it if you're not familiar.

Bromery is another one.

So that's the bumblebee breath.

That one I also love to do.

And if you work.

So I work with some 65 plus population.

And if people have hearing aids,

What I found instead of putting your fingertips in your ears in case anyone else teaches yoga.

So if anyone in your class does have hearing aids and that does not feel comfortable,

They can just put their make their hands into cups and cup their ears.

And that's one way that I found to do Bromery with that population.

But those would be two breath works that I would recommend incorporating five minutes into your day,

Whether that starts your day,

Whether that be how you transition from work mode into home life mode,

But a way to kind of bring yourself back to center.

Another tip at this time of year in particular,

Getting to bed on time.

So early to bed.

We all know the sun is setting earlier and it keeps getting earlier and earlier.

And so,

You know,

Before we know it's going to be dark at five o'clock here in Minnesota.

So making sure that we adjust that bedtime.

So even though it might still be light out.

Well,

Not really that late anymore.

It's about 830,

830 now.

So we want to go to bed between nine and 10 still.

So make that transition now.

Well,

The sun is kind of easing you into it.

First,

Trying to go from that summer bedtime,

Which might be for some people 11 to midnight.

Can we start backing that up and back it up by 15 minutes for a week or two and then slowly shift down?

Don't try to adjust your bedtime from midnight to 10 o'clock because you're just not going to sleep well.

You're going to battle some insomnia.

It's not going to go over great.

So that 15 minute increment is going to be a little bit more easeful in your transition.

Next up,

Abenanga.

So self massage is great to kind of get the lymph moving.

It's great for warming the body up.

It's great to ground the body.

You can do it before you shower.

You can do it after you shower and just using whatever oil you have on hand.

Sesame oil works great.

I make my own lavender oil.

Lavender oil is really easy to make as well.

So just whatever you your skin does well with.

That's what I would recommend.

And then finally,

The last couple are yoga poses.

You want to be focusing on forward bends,

Twists and extensions.

So those are ways to kind of pacify that vata dosha in your practice.

So things that are going to aggravate the vata dosha are back bends,

Lateral,

So a ton of laterals and then a ton of inversions.

So that's going to kind of make that vata dosha increase.

And then finally,

Eating warm,

Cooked food.

So we touched on this a little bit with your agni,

But having that soup,

Having your root vegetables,

Those are usually the last things to come from your garden.

So,

OK,

Now we've got the squash coming in.

Now we can start to enjoy the squash.

You know,

How can you enjoy what is growing around you?

And if you have your own garden,

You might be able to see,

You know,

Some of those root vegetables are the last things to come in.

You know,

The carrots,

The butternut squash,

Any of the squashes,

Actually pumpkins,

All of that starts to come in more towards,

You know,

Mid to late September or even October.

So just kind of seeing what's growing right now,

What is in season.

And those summer light vegetables like those salads,

Can we start transitioning away from salads to,

Again,

That soup or cooking some like sauteed vegetables versus your salads.

So those are some tips for in general what you want that fall season to look like.

Now,

With your dosa,

What do we got going on?

So that fall season,

Your vata dosa,

If you're a vata dosa,

Here's what you want to avoid.

Cold foods and drinks,

Raw foods,

Being out in the wind without your head being covered.

So vata actually lives in the ears.

So if it can get a little extra windy there,

You might feel a little ungrounded and spacey.

And I've had many people who said that like,

Yeah,

That resonates a lot because on windy days they come back and they feel a little spacey.

So instead,

Enjoy if you're a vata,

Epsom salt baths or steam rooms,

Restorative yoga,

Sipping on hot water,

Your abanyanga,

And then early to bed.

So a lot of the practices that I discussed,

Those are perfect for that vata season.

And then if you are going to do an Ayurvedic cleanse,

Because that is something that a lot of people market at this time.

You know,

Vata dosas actually only want to do it for three to five days.

So not longer than that.

Otherwise,

That's too much on that vata agni.

And it's usually in detriment to what you want to achieve by doing a cleanse.

So if you're a pitta,

What should you be looking at in the fall season?

So avoiding spicy ingredients like hot sauce or cayenne pepper or maybe really spicy salsas.

Night shades that aggravate pittas such as tomatoes,

Peppers,

Eggplants,

And then vigorous exercise.

So if you're usually a runner that runs just sprints and sprints and sprints,

Maybe you slow that down.

And that's only if you feel that vata dosha rising.

So instead,

Or in compliment,

So if you are going to do the vigorous exercise,

Balance it with some grounding yoga practices.

Lighter strength training sessions,

That's going to help if you feel a little spacey or ungrounded.

So again,

By lighter,

It doesn't mean lifting lighter.

It might mean instead of doing that HIIT class,

You focus on more strength training.

So instead of doing like a timed,

I'm going to work for 40 seconds,

Rest for 15,

You are going to do 10 to 12 reps and go for strength and then rest in between sets.

So that's something to kind of focus on if you're a pitta and you like to lift weights,

How you can kind of make it more vata pacifying.

And then sleep for pittas as well and getting to bed by 10.

Routines that incorporate self-care.

And then an afternoon grounding practice such as a walk in nature,

A meditation practice,

Doing a few yoga poses.

That's going to help that afternoon fatigue that can sometimes hit that pitta dosha.

And then the pitta cleanse,

If you want to do a cleanse,

If you've seen one advertising,

You're like,

Yes,

I want to do one.

Five to seven days is what's recommended for the pitta.

And then finally,

The kapha dosha.

You want to avoid eating between meals.

So usually the kaphas might be,

Might enjoy snacking,

But they don't necessarily need to.

They might be just grazing.

You know,

We've all done it.

Like I do it where I'm like,

Oh,

I'm having a snack and I'm not really hungry.

That's that can be a kapha treat.

Eating too much at once.

So sitting down and having way too much food because then it can make you feel sluggish and then being home every single day.

So kapha's love to be home there.

They can be the home buddies.

But what can happen there is they need that little bit of breakup or shake up in the routine.

So maybe you have one night a week where you have an activity.

So let's say for myself,

I went to tennis lessons.

That was my activity out on Thursdays.

So that was my night away from being at home.

My son has swim lessons on Tuesdays.

That's another night that I'm out at home,

Away from home.

So little things like that to kind of break up maybe the monotonous routines that can happen with kaphas that are really good for vatas.

But kaphas can get stuck again.

So we're trying to avoid that stuck energy.

So what to enjoy instead.

Early lighter dinners.

And again,

Going to bed early.

Movement to start your day.

So kaphas do really well if they get up and get get that workout out right away in the morning and then not too heavy a food.

So for root vegetables for a kapha,

Maybe you would enjoy it as a soup versus,

You know,

A ton of like your,

Your butternut squash cut up into little pieces.

Those are going to be a little bit heavier and then dance,

Flowing yoga and then just being out in nature in general is going to be really good for that kapha dosha.

And so for a kapha,

A fall cleanse can be anywhere from seven to 12 days.

They typically will do the best with a cleanse because they're,

They're just nature and their property can handle it a little bit better than the other two dosha types.

Alright,

So that's what I have for you this week.

This month I'm going to air two back to back interviews.

So the next couple weeks are going to be interviews and they're all about perimenopause.

So both are perimenopause focused episodes so I'm super excited to share that with you.

Because I am going to be hosting a retreat,

My retreat here on September 11,

And then I am going to a retreat,

The following weekend in Boston.

So I will be sharing a little bit about my experience with hosting my first retreat and then I'm going to share my experience with going to the retreat here in Boston,

The next weekend so that will be my next solo show because I want to share a little bit about my experience behind the scenes of how everything went and if you're kind of curious,

The retreat I'm going to is Sarah Jenks out in Boston or just outside of Boston is where she lives.

So that is what I have coming down the pipeline for September.

Let me know over on Instagram at seasonal Andrea.

If you have any questions or send me a DM with any of your eyes from today's episode.

All right,

Thank you all so much,

And go out there and spread your peaceful power.