In my world I’m now mostly out of the garden ‘pottering’, and in the house, the season for reading is coming, and in anticipation of the next seasonal change I’m reading Wintering by Katherine May, a lovely reflection of life and the change it goes through. Often we think that transformation has to be quick, to be over and done with in no time at all. Wintering shows us otherwise.
Wintering is a lovely phrase, but how is winter already only a month away? Where again did the year go? I remember my father telling me how fast his life passed by, now I’m thinking exactly the same thought, wasn’t it just January a minute ago when I sat in the clinic after the Christmas break and thought “well here goes another year”!
As we move into the colder months, there is a change in pace, the light, in what seems to be no time at all goes as the days get shorter, and darker now nights creep in. In these Autumnal last few weeks, I’m busy cramming in dog walks, and getting my herbs and spices ready for winter cooking and remedy making.
There is the desire to do less, sleep more, stay warm and cosy, coming in from the cold after work, makes it harder to go back out to exercise. It seems so much easier to just not bother and instead curl up in the warmth with a book.
As the light goes, our moods can change, and our motivation can wain, for some of us the loss of light is significant, SAD a known disorder, where the body is missing the light can have profound effects on moods.
But the reality is that we all miss the sunlight, a vital part of of lives, getting out into the light should remain important, ideally at lunchtime when the light will be at it’s best. Have some lunch and then make time for a 20 minute walk, helping not only your vitamin D levels but also your blood glucose balance after a meal.
With Autumn harvest our foods start to change, the salads, juices and cold foods are replaced by sustaining, nurturing soups, stews and casseroles. Our foods become heavier to help our bodies deal with the colder weather. Root vegetables helping hold heat into our bodies providing the fuel to keep us going, bone broths, and warming spiced drinks, those spicy smells reminding you that in a blink of an eye it will be Christmas!
