Ayurveda and the Subtle Shift Into Fall

The leaves are actually changing in my neighborhood.

It feels weird and too early, but I also think it’s a beautiful reminder of how the seasons actually shift.

It’s usually not just—BAM!—the trees are suddenly adorned in oranges, reds, and yellows.

One tree begins to change while its neighbor is still completely green.

The morning air starts to feel a little cooler. The days incrementally get shorter. The earth slowly becomes drier and browner.

The change is subtle and gradual.

And Ayurveda asks us to pay attention to these subtle shifts.

Fall and part of winter are considered Vata seasons. Vata carries the qualities of cold, dry, light, mobile, and changeable, and even before fall fully arrives, we can begin to feel those qualities accumulating around us and within us.

And we love Vata.

She feeds our imagination. She creates movement and possibility. She helps us adapt, change, feel inspired, and experience joy.

But like everything in Ayurveda—or really, in life—more isn’t always better.

Too much Vata can start to feel like scattered thoughts, lighter sleep, dryness, unpredictable digestion, anxious energy, overwhelm, or simply the sense that everything inside you is moving a little too fast.

Vata is wonderful but mischievous, and she will take over if you don’t pay attention.

This is one of the things I love about Ayurveda: we don’t have to wait until something is really wrong to care for ourselves.

We notice.

The whispers and nudges that urge us to say no, yes, or simply choose differently.

The slightly cooler morning.

The drier skin.

The restless mind.

The instinct to start doing more when perhaps what we actually need is a little more grounding.

Ayurveda has traditionally placed special attention on seasonal transitions for exactly this reason. They give us an opportunity to release some of what has accumulated from the season before and begin preparing our bodies and minds for what is coming next.

And fall is an especially interesting time to practice this.

Because nature is beginning to slow down, turn inward, and let go…

while our culture is about to ask us to speed up.

School starts. Schedules fill. Then come the holidays, travel, shopping, hosting, expectations, and a whole lot of doing.

The season itself is asking for warmth, rhythm, nourishment, rest, and grounding at almost the exact moment the world around us begins asking for more.

Which is one of the reasons I think fall is such a beautiful time to learn Ayurveda.

Not so you can follow another set of rules perfectly.

But so you can begin noticing what is happening within you and respond before you’re completely exhausted, wrung out, and on edge.

That noticing—that gentle, ongoing attention—is really the practice.

It isn’t something we figure out once and move on from. We keep listening, adjusting, and learning what helps us feel more like ourselves.

And that is so much of what we’ll be practicing together in Living Ayurveda this fall.

Nine Friday mornings from September 11–November 20, learning the wisdom of Ayurveda and how to actually live it—with more compassion and a lot less perfection.

If this feels like something you’re craving as we move into fall, I’d love to have you join us.