Can the Weather Affect My Anxiety? Yes, and Fall is the Season When You Might Need Extra Support
The Fall / Autumn season can be tricky for anxiety sufferers. In this podcast we are sharing tips to help you transition into Fall feeling calm and protected.
Along with it's beautiful colours, autumn, being a season of transition, can herald signs of imbalance like nervousness, insomnia, constipation, erratic digestion and suddenly dry or cracked skin to anyone sensitive to change.
As the Autumn season is dry and light by nature it is provoking to vata so it is valuable for anyone suffering from stress or anxiety to know that this is the season that can be the most challenging.
Ayurveda's richly supportive science offers some beautifully simple ways to protect yourself, calm your mind and nourish your nervous system.
Some tips to help you calm anxiety during Autumn:
Get in Step with the Season take walks in nature, engage your senses in noticing the sights and sounds around you. Hear and feel your feet connecting with the earth. Be careful to keep your ears warm and cover them if it's windy. Many anxiety sufferers feel uncomfortable with the wind blowing around their ears.
Oil your body. Massage yourself with warm sesame oil. Sesame oil is lubricating and warming to your skin, joints and muscles. It will help ease anxiety and alsoprotect you from dryness, cracking joints, and stiff or achy muscles.
To use nutrition to ease Autumn anxiety favour warm foods that are sweet, mildly spicy, and salty. These are the tastes that increase moisture in the body and help us feel grounded. Try pumpkin soup, seasonal vegetable stews with a little olive oil and black pepper, and baked apples with cinnamon and cloves.
Porridge with cinnamon, walnuts and maple syrup makes a grounding and nourishing Autumn breakfast.