Autumn is my favorite season of the year. Living in Memphis, TN, I do miss the very vibrant colors of Autumn that I remember from growing up in a more northern climate. While certainly not the same, I’m thankful that the leaves do change color here. I’m also very thankful to receive regular reflexology that helps keep my body in a more balanced state avoiding as many Autumn (and year-round) health challenges as possible.
Autumn means the Farmers’ Markets are winding down their seasons. The seeds planted in Spring and early Summer have produced their bounty and abundance, and have been gathered and preserved for the Autumn season and the Winter months ahead. Autumn is the time when the plants “let go” of their produce. The trees, likewise, “let go” of their leaves. The harvest bounty is gathered in and preserved. All of this is in anticipation of a season of rest.
Some years the seeds have received exactly what they have needed to thrive and produce a glorious harvest. Other years all the pieces of the puzzle do not seem to come together as well, and the bounty is much smaller. An example that comes to mind is the very compromised apple harvest last year compared to this years incredible abundance of those red and golden orbs. Quality of the seed planted, weather, insect invasions, soil conditions, nutrients added, how they’ve been tended during the season are all contributing factors for all plant life.
Our lives and therefore, our health often faces the same challenges. Are you able to let Summer go and embrace Autumn reaping benefits of a “bountiful harvest” in your own life, or do you feel stuck? The way we treat our bodies during the preceding couple of seasons affects our health for the next couple seasons. Have you eaten healthy in the Spring and Summer giving your body excellent nutrition to enter the Autumn and Winter seasons? How about exercise? What is the condition of your “soil”? Have you hydrated well? Did you soak up Vitamin D from the sun? Have you benefited from regular reflexology, which helps to maintain health and wellness within all the systems of the body?
The beginning of this season of rest is usually a very busy one for most as we anticipate the upcoming holidays and prepare our homes and our lives to celebrate, before we truly arrive at our Winter’s rest. By Thanksgiving we may find ourselves already worn out from traveling down the Hustle-Bustle Highway leading to January 2nd. This lends more urgency to evaluating how well you have prepared to enter the season. Those who have prepared well may be better able to handle the extra demands. Are you lamenting that you haven’t done as well as your pre-season intentions? What can you do now to help minimize the negative effects you may experience as a result?
Autumn’s health challenges generally correspond to these areas: lungs, immunity, digestion, and skin. Contemplating how we could all move toward improving our health and wellness even as we enter the season, I found the writings of Deborah Barr, a Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor. Her suggestions are so well presented (and copyrighted); so, I’m simply leading you to her page: WholeHealth Resources. The suggestions are for activities and nutrition best suited to the season. Among them is “Fall Renewal Soup,” a spiced veggie variety. The recipe sounds quite tasty.
As Deborah discusses in her article, imbalances in the body bring on the health challenges we face. Reflexology has as one of its main benefits, the ability to encourage all the systems of the body back to a balanced state, helping to restore wellness. As a reflexologist, I do not treat for illness or health challenges. I certainly do not diagnose any of your aches and pains or any other condition. That is the responsibility of your medical professional. What I do is offer you a complementary option for help keeping your body in a balanced state or help encouraging it back to that place where you are able to live life more fully and healthier.
As discussed above, this is the beginning of a very busy season of the year. It is so easy to forget to take care of yourself. Will you make self-care a priority in your planning, and will that plan include reflexology? In the Memphis, TN area, give us a call to schedule your reflexology experiences. You’ll find our phone number and email under the CONTACT button above. To find a reflexologist in other areas of the country visit the American Reflexology Certification Board or Reflexology Association of America. Both sites include member directories.
Understanding the way we treat our bodies in the preceding seasons effects their wellness in the next, following some of these simple suggestions may prepare you for a healthier Spring and Summer next year as well!
