The capability we have to heal ourselves through balanced eating is a blessing we must learn and share. We are all connected with, and a part of nature’s beautiful rhythm.
In the warmer seasons, the ‘Yang’ of the year, we focus on eating brighter ingredients. The energy of raw fruits and vegetables stimulates us, bringing us into harmony with our lively surroundings.
In the cooler months, we emphasize nurturing our being with more warming foods, building our blood to boost our immunity and support the resilience of our bones and joints.
The ‘Yin’ of Fall and Winter brings us deeper into ourselves. Eating to attune with the rhythm of Autumn involves more rooting and grounding.
Nuts, seeds, squash, apples, wild rice, spinach, beans, and more salt added to our foods allows us to start pulling our energy down and inwards.
We also prepare meals by simmering and baking our ingredients, as this allows the food to retain a sense of mellowed vigor, assisting us in staying level and grounded during a time of seasonal transformation.
The abundance of locally-grown ingredients is never more apparent than during harvest time. The upper Midwestern apple and corn season aligns beautifully with the Earth element & Late Summer, inviting us to eat more sweet and nourishing foods. Corn, rice, millet; sweet & yellow potatoes and onions; carrots, tofu, peas, cabbage, amaranth; garbanzo & soy beans, and apricots & mangoes are all beneficial superfoods to incorporate into healing recipes during this time.
Late Summer & The Earth Element
“The Earth element regulates the center, that which is constant; harmonizing the effects of the four seasons.” - Inner Classic
This fifth season marks a transition point between the change in seasons. It is recommended to enjoy a light fast and eat less before the transition from Summer to Fall, just as from Winter to Spring.
Spices that stimulate our digestive fire - Agni - and our Spleen-Stomach organs are associated with the Earth element. Garlic, onion, black pepper, leeks, ginger, fennel, cinnamon, and nutmeg are all prescribed as healing antidotes during Late Summer. These tonify our lungs and digestion and prevent stagnancy and excess that accumulate just before the turn from Summer into Autumn.
Making curry or kitchari with local squash, basil, bell peppers, and tofu is a supportive way to introduce beneficial vegetables and spices into a cleansing Earth-element ritual. Swapping out wheat and processed grains for fresh sweet corn and potatoes during the Late Summer also helps balance dampness that accumulates as a result of deficient Spleen Qi & Liver excess.
Meditating, slowing down, taking breaks to walk and enjoy nature, journaling, and finding more time to still, nourish, and center ourselves energetically aligns us with the Earth element.
Autumn & The Metal Element
As true Autumn and “Vata” season reigns later on, throughout most of October and November, we witness a complete transformation of our environment. We will want to start reaching for foods that ground our mental activity, and support combatting dryness and brittleness in the body, as the winds and cold rains set in. One of the best ways we can add more moisture to our tissues is by salting our foods enough. Making soups, and baking and roasting food is also in accordance with the theme of retaining and storing more of our energy. Spices that correlate with the Metal element are black pepper, rosemary, thyme, garlic, onions, fennel, and mustard seed.
The Metal element represents the emotions of grief and sadness; the energy of “letting go”. An Autumn Yoga practice emphasizes postures that synthesize our emotional experience with the sensitive and impressionable nature of our lungs. In TCM, our lung channel is paired with our Large Intestine connective tissue. The LU & LI are associated with our throat chakra, Vishudda.
Yoga asanas that stretch and open these connective tissue pathways include Urdhva Dhanurasana (upward-facing bow), ड़alabhasana (Locust), Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog), Dandayama Dhanurasana (Standing Bow-Pulling Pose) & Ustrasana (Camel). Meditating on the Meridian pathways of the Lung and Large Intestine while practicing any Yoga pose will also help release stagnancy and help to open the entire connective tissue network, allowing Qi to flow unobstructed throughout the entire body.
Everything is connected.
The Sour Flavor
“The Fall is the time to organize the open and perhaps scattered patterns of the previous warmer seasons. To stimulate this activity in the body, to focus mentally, and to begin the process of contraction, add more sour flavored foods.” - Healing with Whole Foods
Sourdough bread, sauerkraut, olives, pickles, leeks, aduki beans, rose hips, vinegar, lemons, sour apples and grapes all compliment the salty flavor and move energy down and in. We begin to incorporate more of these flavors as Autumn progresses into Winter. To counter the drier climate and support the lungs, moistening foods are emphasized to counteract excessive dryness in the body; tofu, tempeh, soy milk, spinach, barley, millet, pears, apples, seaweeds, mushrooms, almonds, pine nuts, peanuts and baking with honey or maple syrup instead of sugar are ingredients that help support the body’s ability to adapt during the dry season.
The emotional connection between our Lungs & Large Intestine becomes more apparent when we think about their shared physical role in purifying and restoring our body. Our lungs purify us through the air that we breathe, and our colon is purifying our body’s digestive process. The pungent flavor of onions, garlic, ginger, turnip, daikon radish, and cabbage supports purification and detoxification. In addition, beta carotene, found predominately in dark leafy greens and golden root vegetables, protectively coats the mucous membranes in the body. This boosts our immunity and protects our vital organs. It is no coincidence that along with the dive in temperatures arrives a bounty of protective vegetables, ripe from the garden and ready to aid our defense against the common cold and other seasonal ailments.
There is also a very protective energy in consuming vegetables that were grown in our local soil. We want to eat as close to home as possible to be in alignment with our surroundings. When we enjoy the bounty of our local environment, we are less likely to suffer from disease caused by imbalance in the body and microbiome.
For more on this healing wisdom, I highly recommend Paul Pitchford’s seminal work ‘Healing with Whole Foods’, a necessary addition to any healer’s home library. Of course, the best teacher is always nature herself. When we enjoy more time out in the wild, present to each season’s familiar patterns, we naturally align with the foods we are meant to be eating. There is an effortless enjoyability in keeping our daily menu fresh and local, highlighting a favorite flavor or ingredient and letting the tastes and textures harmonize from there. It is highly meditative and calmingly absorptive to immerse oneself in the preparation of food, allowing the senses to travel wherever the utensils lead. There is no better place to practice presence and awareness than in the company of a counter full of ingredients, waiting to be cheffed up into something amazing.