Entering a new season always provides us opportunity to change our diet and lifestyle practices. Seasonal Eating is my most favorite nutritional teaching. It is simple (which is refreshing in a world that has become so nutritionally complicated) and it encourages us to be in alignment withthe rhythm and wisdom of nature. The magnificent truth is, at every season,mother nature gives us the perfect foods to eat to help us to stay balanced,well and that prevent the common winter cold and flu.
Elson Haas writes in Staying Healthy With the Seasons, "Winter is when nature is at her restingseason, quiet, withdrawn, deep in the earth and the roots." It is important then, that we follow nature's lead right now, and find stillness,rest and relaxation.
In our society that is so hard to do, especially without guilt, but if you follow the wisdom of nature, it is such an important principle to cultivate. If we don't conserve our energy now, then we won't have the high quality optimum energy we require for Spring and Summer. This creates imbalance and poor health.
It is so important to give yourself permission to rest, sleep deeply and relax. As a society we collectively push through our fatigue with sugar and caffeine, yet our fatigue is our body’s way of letting us know we need to slow down and restore. Unfortunately for most people, fatigue is ignored and it takes getting adrenal burnout or getting sick, that gives us the forced slow down our body desperately needs.
Before you get run down and depleted (if you aren’t already!), follow the wisdom of nature and as we open the door to winter today, also open the door to slowing down and giving your body, mind and soul the nourishment and attention it needs and deserves. It amazes me what the body and mind have the capacity of doing and how and where they carry us every single day. We must acknowledge it, thank it and honor it with conscious rest.
It is very natural to feel more tired, withdrawn, less motivated and sensitive during the winter months. We naturally go through a life-death cycle in our year and the seasons guide us, we just need to be conscious, surrender to that higher intelligence and follow its lead. Where summer is the most yang, vital, energetic, busy, outward time of the year, winter is the most yin, still, inward and reflective time. When everything reawakens, births and comes to life again in Spring, much of nature falls, dies, and goes back to the roots in the earth in fall and winter. We can't always be yang, we need to welcome and embrace yin just as mother nature does. That is the balance.
This doesn't mean we do nothing and lay idle for the entirety of winter (we're not bears afterall!). It is still important to move your body, spend time in nature, eat well and be purposeful, it is just done with less intensity and with more time for stillness in between. So for the next 3 months, give yourself permission to go within, be less busy, curl up on the couch, sleep deep, dream, reflect,stay home more, stay warm, eat warming and nourishing foods, drink tea, eat soup and warming one-pot meats, roast your root vegetables and stew your fruits and just be.
And in between your rest, I also encourage you to take in Vitamin N (Nature).The most underrated yet essential nutrient for vitality. In the stillness of cold of winter there is magnificent beauty outside. Walk, X-Country ski, getinto the mountains, snow shoe, skate, ski, sled and look at the beauty that surrounds you every day. Step away from your house and your screens and bask in the glory of nature no matter how cold it gets. Beauty awaits you!
Remember, what you do from January to December is more important than what you do from Xmas to New Years. This month offers opportunity for learning and realizing what works for your body and what doesn’t. The extra sugar, alcohol and food in general will likely remind you how good you actually feel when you do eat clean. Weave your healthy meals and snacks around the holiday celebrations, drink lots of water with doTerra Slim & Sassy or lemon to flush your system, take your digestive enzymes and probiotics to help the gut deal with the extras. Sweat, exercise and move your body so that you maintain the weight you are at today. Most importantly, whatever you eat, choose quality food and eat with a good heart.
Over the holidays and before we step into a new year, spend some time acknowledging all of your accomplishments this year and being grateful for where your body has taken you. We don’t often stop to think about what we accomplish in a day, but when we do, we realize that every day we are making progress and working toward fulfilling what is most important to us in our lives. This is a great journaling exercise.
My gift to you is my webinar, Seasonal Eating: Transitioning to a Winter Diet and Lifestyle.
Learn about the importance of seasonal eating and the most balancing foods to take in at this time of year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0rGwyGDeYI
If you have never listened to my Seasonal Eating series before, I encourage you do so as it adds another layer to your Nutritional Foundations. For those that have heard this session, I hope you will listen again as there may be some new insights and messages you are meant to hear now. Gift yourself 1 hour and have it playing in the background while you are working, or preparing a meal or just sit with a cup of tea, relax and enjoy this beautiful teaching.
I want to thank you for a fulfilling year. My work is one of my highest values (family and health are the others). Every time I have the opportunity to sit with you in a session, inspire you at a lecture, give you food for thought in myvideos and write a meaningful and educational article, it fills me up. You give me the inspiration to do what I love to do and I am so grateful for that. I hope that I have inspired, educated and guided you and I am truly honored to be part of your wellness journey. I hope that my work has had a significant impact on your health and life. It has also been such a joy to see clients again after many years and new ones join my practice. No matter where you are in your journey it is a pleasure to guide you and I am here to help. To be able to sit with you and hold space for you to share, talk about your challenges,explore your health and relationship with food and help you realize your goals is such an honor. I am truly blessed and grateful for you.
I look forward to continuing to offer you valuable and impactful programs and services in 2021.
I wish you all a wonderful holiday season. My wish for you is to take time to relax, restore, rest, reflect, slow down, eat nourishing food, celebrate, do the things you love to do and be grateful for your body, your health and all that you have accomplished this year.
Yours in health & vitality,
Amy
.svg)
