Are you slipping into less desirable habits with the seasonal change?
How do you feel about this time of year?
Do you look forward to hunkering down in the evenings, perhaps with a blazing fire and a good book or does this time of year fill you with dread?
Perhaps you're filled with thoughts of too much time on the sofa, comfort eating and watching endless box sets and moving well away from your desired goals of feeling happier, healthier and slimmer. The summer holidays can feel a long long way away at this time of year!!
I hear you!
I have very mixed feelings about it. It didn't help that the clocks changed around the time a big storm hit the island and it felt like we were in a dark grey gloop for a couple of days.
On the one hand, Autumn gives me permission to be more quiet and solitary and to read. In reality, the temptation of snacking on sweet stuff in front of the telly and or scrolling social media is all too real.
We are creatures of habit and prone to creating beliefs around our habits which make it very difficult to break them. My story is, "I'm tired, it's dark and unwelcoming outside, I don't have the energy to be active. Making a cup of herb tea and sitting on the sofa with snacks will give me the relaxation I need. Far easier than going for a walk or heading upstairs to read or engage in a self-care ritual.
But seriously, there's a problem here. Snacking after dinner every night (yes, I slip into unhealthy habits too), whilst it gives me energy temporarily and is perhaps subconsciously why I want it as well as the sweet taste I love, is going to sabotage my health. I might get restless legs, get hotter and more restless during sleep and definitely feel more sluggish and tired in the morning. This affects my mood, my tolerance and my productivity. Add perimenopause in and my mood and energy feels like a rollercoaster.
Seasons and natural laws
Less day-light means we break more natural laws such as eating after dark and getting up before it's light. It also means less exposure to sunlight and since we are mini solar-powered batteries, we need light for overall energy production and health. Even when the sun isn't shining, you will still absorb the suns rays by being outside on those less inviting grey days.
Eating after dark puts a strain on our digestive system. Even healthy choices such as almond butter on rice cakes and nuts and seeds will burden liver due to their high oil content. Not to mention the not-so-healthy choices of chocolate, crisps, biscuits and cakes.
Healthy choices actually become unhealthy when we eat them at the wrong time of day
It is virtually impossible to avoid breaking this natural law in the run up to Christmas, but it makes sense to:
Begin and finish eating as close to sunset as possible
choose a lighter, healthy option such as soup, stews or simple clean proteins such as fish or chicken, accompanied with swollen grains such as short-grain brown rice, quinoa or potato and other vegetables
reduce or avoid processed foods which always contain less water and more salt
Save your favourite less healthy foods and drinks to have 1or 2x a week, a 20:80 ratio of less healthy:healthy maybe
A note about cacao (raw chocolate)
Ok, look, I know there's a massive leaning towards cacao as a plant medicine as there is with cannabis but can I just say that it needs to be treated with a great deal of reverence, respect and restraint. Consuming it everyday is not a good idea.
It is a 'drug' after all and while it may contain magnesium and other beneficial minerals, you are presenting all the drug with no water. All 'drugs' are chemical stimulants. Use it in very small amounts every so often ideally only in ceremony whether in a group or alone.
Sorry to those tea and coffee lovers out there. It's the same thing. Tea, coffee and alcohol also have a chemical effect on the brain and like cacao, can cause dehydration affecting the placement of electrolytes which can lead to an acidic state within the body. Prolonged body acidity can lead to inflammation which can lead to any number of symptoms depending on your unique make-up.
Our lymphatic system
Autumn and Winter-time are typically periods when our lymph is thicker which means you would benefit from less mucus-forming foods such as gluten, dairy and processed foods to enable the lymph to flow more freely. Our lymphatic system is responsible for clearing out our toxins and therefore keeping us free of illnesses such as colds, ear infections and sinusitis.
So, what am I doing?
I have re-committed to my desire to have a healthy evening routine. For now, this means not immediately sitting down and putting the TV on after dinner. It means cleaning up the kitchen and finishing off other jobs so I'm ready to start the next day without the washing up from the night before. It means going for a short walk maybe and definitely going up to bed earlier with a good book, maybe running a bath or watching some TV on my laptop because I know I won't eat in my bedroom.
As I said before, we are creatures of habit and a phenomenon known as habit-stacking (Atomic Habits by James Clear) will keep you stuck if they aren't healthy ones for eg; my tea, chocolate and TV. However, you can habit-stack in the right way for eg; drink water, go for a walk, do a focused activity like reading or a work project.
Accountability
What will you do to make the most of the the longer nights and shorter days?
What is one thing you will commit to this Autumn and Winter as part of your self-care?
Why not let me know by replying to this email and we can be accountability partners;)
Whatever you do, if you have a habit you're ashamed of or which means you probably keep it secret, tell someone. Not anyone, someone you trust. Getting it out in the open, speaking about it can be the one step that will trigger a series of positive actions on your way to living your best life.
As I always say, we have one life, let's not waste it, let's mine it for gold - let's clear out what doesn't serve us so we can uncover the gold that has always been there
If you are keen to let go of unhealthy habits and introduce healthy ones, I can help you. Relying on willpower alone is not a recipe for success. Get in touch or schedule a call here and let's talk.
My best wishes as we surf the countdown to the Winter Solstice (21 Dec) and the start of Winter, true hibernation. Only kidding!! Make it what you will. Sea-swimming has transformed my Guernsey winters!!
Much love
Sophie xox
I leave you with Jewels Wingfield's poignant description of this sacred time..
"As the light outside dims, the light within brightens: this is nature’s lore. We look at the tree in winter and it seems dead: the branches are bare and no life is showing. But underground the roots are busy receiving nourishment, they are alive and engaged with the mystery, communing with the earth.
So many of us recoil as the dark sets in over the cold winter months because as a society we have been taught to only value our external life and not our inner life. But in these darker months the light within us is shining brightly; inviting us to have a look and see what wants tending to in our hearts and souls. For our deeptime ancestors, the darkness outside would have forced them to go within as there was no artificial light - they could not carry on with practical tasks. They had to just sit with the warmth of the fire and the dark of the night; just this simple act can naturally take us inwards too.
Given that so many of us are needing to conserve energy because of high prices, one way we can do this is to consider spending more time sitting with just the light of a candle (and if you are lucky enough to have a real fire in your home, to sit just with the light of the fire.) Allow the stillness and the darkness to be like a blanket wrapping itself around you, inviting you to tend to your heart and what wants to be felt - that which gets lost in the business of daily survival.
It’s good to do some of this alone and it is also beautiful to do this with close friends or our beloved if we have one. It’s a way of being that has got so lost in our modern lives, but one which is rich with gifts if we are willing to look within and not recoil away from ourselves and from our vulnerabilities. I believe it can resource us in a deep way."