boosting your immunity

Morning mists, a chill and damp in the air, leaves mellowing red and yellow… autumn is upon us. And with the mists rolls in a different kind of energy. After the expansive energy of summer the colder months offer an opportunity to restore, reflect and re-nourish ourselves. Our polarity therapist Jane Seaman offers her thoughts on going with the flow in autumn, boosting your immunity and preparing both body and mind for the winter ahead.

We often have a romantic idea of the autumn: cosy nights in, the changing colours of nature, and dynamic, blustery weather that brings a tangible freshness to the air.  As well as these gorgeous changes to the environment around us, we need to recognise that the new season triggers changes in our bodies and minds too…

Changing seasons

The spring and summer months inevitably encourage us to spend more time outdoors – enjoying our local area, travelling and exploring a little more, and spending long lazy evenings outdoors watching the sun go down. These seasonal activities connect our bodies more closely to nature than at other times of the year.  We feel more relaxed in our minds, feeding off the sense of joy in the air, and often in the summer we find that being healthier comes naturally.

Once autumn rolls around we meet a different kind of energy. The colder months offer us an opportunity to restore, reflect and re-nourish ourselves. It’s important that we recognise this, and allow ourselves that opportunity.

If we try to continue with the same lifestyle patterns year-round, we could be making life hard for ourselves.  For many people the arrival of autumn and winter can provoke negative thoughts and feelings of depression. We begin to dread the evenings drawing in, and this weakens our immunity system.

Let’s break that pattern and try something different this year.

Your immunity

Your immune system is constantly bombarded by incoming experiences and interactions, especially as autumn approaches.  Our lives change from being heavily outside to mostly inside, where we are less connected to nature. During this time it is important to ramp up the support networks for the immune system – using the dynamic energy of autumn to prepare for the long winter. I like to follow a four-method approach, based on these key ideas:

  1. Move your body to increase awareness: Utilise the benefits of exercise and movement therapy to keep the blood and energy flowing.  Yoga will mobilise your joints and stretch out your muscles; walking stimulates deep breathing of fresh air; and swimming is an ideal low-impact conditioning exercise. Find a class or movement therapy that you enjoy, as this will increase your motivation.
  2. Clear your mind: Find space and clarity after what may have been a hectic summer. Check in with your emotions. Join a meditation to de-charge your mind and just be in the moment for a period of time.
  3. Connect, relax and nourish your body: Be prepared to recognise and release any stagnant energy that may have manifested as pain in your body. Polarity therapy treatments sessions are a way of moving, activating and balancing the energy which underlies your physical self, relaxing the nervous system and helping people cope better with stress. Massage is another excellent way to release tension in the muscles, as well as improving circulation at a time when we may be becoming more sedentary.
  4. Check out your nutrition: Ensure that your ‘engine’ is being fuelled correctly! A nutritional MOT is a wonderful way to see which foods and supplements are best to strengthen your personal immune system.

Conscious preparation

Take some time to think about how well you’re currently supporting your immunity. Perhaps there are some lifestyle habits that you could harness now, to serve you through the winter months? I recommend small actions, such as
de-cluttering your home, which in turn will de-clutter and clear your mind.

Jane Seaman

Want more pearls of wisdom…? If you’d like to learn more about personal strategies for boosting your immunity for winter please email Jane at [email protected], or to book a treatment consultation click here

Fancy meditation…? For details of Jane’s Friday evening guided meditations click here

 

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