Summer-Fall Transition Tips

As we transition into autumn, it is important to take some time to slow down and prepare our bodies for the new season. Heat has accumulated in our bodies over the summer, and we want to expel this excess pitta from our system, from our tissues, lymph, blood and liver. We want to engage in practices to build and support our ojas, our vitality, in order not to get depleted with the change of seasons. The fall or vata season has the qualities of dry, cold and mobile, and we want to balance them with moisture, warmth and stability so we do not develop symptoms of vata imbalance such as irritability, anxiety, colds, constipation, allergies and gastric reflux.

Here are a few tips for this transition:

Eat three regular meals a day with snacks in mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Good snacks are fruit, especially apples and pears with skins. They help detoxify pitta. You could have one of each per day up until the end of October.

Eat fewer raw foods, and add more greens to your meals as they are bitter and astringent in nature and good for relaeasing pitta.

Do more lateral yoga poses and twists and practice cooling breaths such as sitali.

When you use the neti pot make sure to use nasya oil afterwards to keep the nasal passages moist.

Consider an oil massage practice for your body at least 10 minutes before showering. Use sesame oil, ideally with other soothing essential oils like sandalwood, lavendar or rose.

Consider embarking on a 2 to 4 day kitchari cleanse. This rejuvenating practice supports and strengthens your digestion and immune system and helps prepare the body for the change in seasons.

Kitchari is a combination of split mung dal and basmati rice cooked with spices. I did a 4 day cleanse last week, and here is a picture of my kitchari and the spice mix I made. A spice mix is called a churna, and this is a vata churna. The churna can also be used to season cooked vegetables.

I have also included the recipe for the vata churna.  If you would like the recipe for my fall kitchari, please contact me at dhelfeld@starpower.net, and I will send it to you.

Vata Churna

Churna means powder in Sanskrit, and churnas are mixtures of a variety of spices.  Grind the spices that are whole (I use an electric coffee grinder that is dedicated to spices), and mix them well with the powdered spices.   Store in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid at room temperature out of the sunlight.  You can make more or less of the mix, but use the same proportions.

1 T cumin seeds

1 T coriander seeds

½ to 1 T fennel seeds

1 T fenugreek seeds

1T turmeric powder

1T ginger powder

1 t asafoetida (hing)

Grind the seeds and put in a glass jar along with the other spices.  Stir to mix and store in a dark place.  Use with kitchiri, dal or vegetable dishes.