Adjusting to Fall: Three Activities for Gardeners to Achieve Balance

"Our work in the garden is not like other work we perform.
To make up for this loss of grounding and stilling work, adding in more opportunities for stillness can bring calm and a sense of balance.
Curl up in your favorite chair.
Fill a corner of a room with houseplants and sit beside them. Imitate your plants and add stillness to your day."

October 29, 2019

Mother Nature has blessed us yet again with a change of seasons.

The fall season is a season of movement and transition. We are transitioning from hot to cold and wet to dry.

Ayurvedic health and wellness experts tell us that this is the time of year when, like the garden, we also need to change to achieve balance.

So, here are some other activities that can benefit gardeners as we transition out of our gardens and into our homes.

Take time to ground yourself by increasing the amount of stillness in your day.

Our gardens are a natural place of stillness and silence for us.

Even when we are weeding, we are grounded and quiet. We are focused on a single point of connection with the earth.

Our work in the garden is not like other work we perform.

To make up for this loss of grounding and stilling work, add in more opportunities for stillness to bring calm and a sense of balance.

Curl up in your favorite chair.

Fill a corner of a room with houseplants and sit beside them. Imitate your plants and add stillness to your day.

Add warmth to counter the cold, dry air; eat warm foods.
Dig out your crockpot so you can have a warm, cooked meal every day.

Enjoy warm drinks like coffee and herbal tea.

Enjoy spices and herbs that are warming, like cinnamon and ginger.

Microgreens of basil and mustard greens are very warming as well and happily grow on the kitchen counter.

At bedtime, a little cup of warmed milk with a pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon and sugar is a lovely way to end the day.

Finish some of your remaining garden tasks indoors.
If you have items you need to go through, bring them indoors where it's warm, and where you have a sink you can fill with warm, soapy water.

Clean off the cobwebs and the grime.

Go through your aprons and your gloves.

Tidy up the bins that have been catchalls in the potting shed or garage - where you hang your hat in the garden.

I recently washed up some pots and baskets along with some miscellaneous junk I had on my garden shelf outside the front door.

Somehow, it was easier to address the clutter by evaluating the items inside a warm house than standing or sitting out in the wind and cold.