Happy Fall everyone!
I am just returning from a beautiful week in Colorado where I joined a group of extremely experienced physical therapists, bodyworkers, movement educators and anatomists for a 5 day cadaver dissection lab.
Gasp…what? “Thats insane,” my family said. “How can you handle that?” Little did they know I’ve done them before but this was surely the longest one!
My answer to all who questioned why I would want to do such a thing….knowledge! The deeper into these bodies I can see, the more I can understand our patterns, habits, defaults, and how to create a new relationship with the form we occupy. I am grateful for the experience, for the gifts we received along the way and for the teachers we carefully and respectfully dissected over the 5 days.
Now I cannot tell a lie…always been a terrible liar! It was extremely challenging and emotional the first 2 days as our cadavers stories in their bodies unfolded. Yet as we developed a new sense of working with them, everyday became a little easier knowing they chose to offer the gift of their forms for our exploration.
So every day I created a ritual for myself to clear my energy and offer my deepest respects and gratitude for the ability to look deep within the layers of being.
We were situated close to a beautiful national park called Garden of the Gods. It has these amazing red rock formations scattered around, hiking trails, nature, and even had several deer show up to offer their spirit guidance. I would sit each day at lunch, sometimes with my lab mates and sometimes solo. Gazing about these magnificent rock formations, listening to the rustling wind, watching the leaves blow by, the colors in the sky continuously changing and taking slow deep breaths to fully embrace what I needed to clear out, a letting go of any lingering thoughts that didn’t serve me in the least, stories that weren’t actually mine!
Sometimes the land will speak to you -- if you listen.
Its the beautiful season of Fall and we can see release everywhere -- demonstrated by the trees - their natural loss of leaves shows us that letting go is a natural part of our existence.
The trees don't die, they simply draw their energy inward preparing for a period of growth where their inner resources become more important than their external expression.
With fall we take the time to turn our attention inward and tend to the inner letting go.
The days are becoming shorter and darker this time of year and if we look at the natural world we can see there's an organic slowing down and a turning inward happening all around us.
In Chinese Medicine this is the time of the metal element.
A time for focusing, gathering, and collecting. After the height of summer which emphasizes activity and external connection we now have the opportunity to turn inward and move slower. This is also a great time of year to reflect on letting go both psychologically and physically. Just as the trees lose their leaves this time of year, we may also feel the need to let go of what is no longer serving us.
Taking the time each day for self reflection, listening inward, and letting go was just part of my self care.
Creating some simple seasonal practices are a beautiful way to weave more intention and wellness into your life.
Fall and winter can make one feel cold and tired.
One of my daily traditions during this season is to take a hot foot bath with mugwort. Afterwards I apply moxacones on the first acupuncture point of the Kidney meridians. It warms my entire body while also promoting good sleep and helps give you a little booster if you feel a tad low. I do this in combination with some relaxing activity like finger knitting or reading something inspirational, meditating. This has been by far one of my favorite treats to self. I’m a big fan of hot baths with herbs and flower medicine.
Feet are the foundation of the body’s energy system, and often the most overlooked in self care.
According to traditional chinese medicine six meridians (energy channels of liver, gall bladder, kidney, bladder, spleen, and stomach) run through the feet. Another great way to care for your feet while stimulating these meridians for optimal functioning is to use a small ball to roll your foot bed out on. It softens the tissues of the plantar fascia, stimulates the meridians, brings ease to tired or tight feet, and promotes an overall sense of relaxation that spreads up through the legs.
I suggest you roll your feet out first, hot foot bath with mugwort puck, and then a little moxibustion on kidney point 1.
Located on the bottom of the foot, Kidney 1 is the lowest acupuncture point on the entire body. This relates to the point’s best-known use, which is to drain excess from the upper part of the body, especially the head.
In acupuncture terms, it is called excess qi or Wind or Yang, but it’s actually an intuitive concept to which Westerners can easily relate.
It’s what we mean when we say someone is “all in their head.” Basically, a whole bunch of energy, which should be evenly distributed throughout the body, gets concentrated in the head. This causes us to over think and obsess on things, feel anxious and eventually depressed, and experience physical symptoms such as insomnia, headaches and migraines, dizziness, and even poor vision and nosebleeds.
Kidney 1 is a mechanism for dispersing all the stuff that most of us have swimming around in our heads, preventing us from the emotional calm and physical comfort we crave.
A natural insomnia remedy
Ask most people who suffer from insomnia why they can’t sleep and they’ll tell you it’s because they can’t turn off their mind. Kidney 1 to the rescue!
Insomnia caused by relentless ruminating is exactly the type for which Kidney 1 is great.
Your lifestyle and diet also play a role in a healthy transition of seasons.
Our immune system will function at its highest when we’re getting enough sleep, eating healthy, staying hydrated, and getting plenty of vitamin C from foods. Foods rich in vitamin C include broccoli, cantaloupe, cauliflower, kale, kiwi, orange juice, papaya, red, green or yellow pepper, sweet potato, strawberries, and tomatoes. Try to eat seasonal foods when you can for optimal nutrition. Our bodies are very much in sync with the seasons rhythms and often need the foods grown at that time of year to sustain balance.
So much of your immune system lies within your digestive tract. There must be a proper balance of good bacteria versus bad bacteria (some research suggests 85% good vs 15% bad is optimal). Eating excess sugar results in the equivalent of having a high-school party at your parent’s house and having it overrun by unwanted party crashers. The party crashers are the bad bacteria, which, when these colonies proliferate, may result in sickness.
Sugar causes systemic inflammation in the body, manifesting as either joint pain, organ distress, diabetes, and possibly a cold.
As for movement practices its a time of slowing down here also. Taking the time to add some yin postures, restorative yoga, or somatic movement can be simply divine. Allowing you to be close to the ground, supported and nurtured by the earths embrace.
For guided practices in yin, restorative and somatic please take a look at my on demand page 👈🏼
I wish you all a sweet transition of seasons in body mind and spirit. Please don’t hesitate to reach out, let me know what I can assist you with and what topics are of interest.
As we move into Winter I’ll be sharing some yoga practices with the addition of acupressure points. Stay tuned, stay happy, stay healthy!
Until then, BE WELL!
Angel
"In the deep fall, don’t you imagine the leaves think how, comfortable it will be to touch, the earth instead of the, nothingness of air and the endless, freshets of wind?... And at evening especially, the piled firewood shifts a little, longing to be on its way." ~ Mary Oliver
Join us for Morocco 2020 yoga retreat: SOUL DUST JOURNEY
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