Sun is setting earlier and rising later. It’s getting darker. A lot of powerful things happen in the dark. We’re going into a sacred “cave time”. 

Before settling in… take time to acknowledge what you’re taking into the cave with you? What did you let go of this past season? 

Imagine the coloured leaves of fall as a big fire. What did you burn away? And is there anything else that needs to go? Anything else you don’t want cluttering you while you rest in the winter cave?

We often think of the cleanse season as the spring, and it is… but there is an important releasing in the fall, that enables our bodies to focus on restoration over the winter. 

Its a bit like cherishing something so important to you, but you can see it, because there’s a bunch of other stuff piled on top of it.

Take a pause. Acknowledge what’s important. 

What do you need to cherish and preserve over this winter?

Another way to look at it, is imagining winter as a big sleep.

Do you just collapse into bed with your clothes on from the day, without going to the bathroom, without cleaning yourself off first?

A bit of preparation before you go to sleep will make that sleep time more potent. You’ll wake in the spring with more energy.

Apples are a simple intestinal cleanser. And they’re delicious and in season right now!

Some simple things to prepare;

• Clear your bowels – do a light intestinal cleanse. Customizing this to your individual needs. Then you literally aren’t carrying “shit” from last season in your body over the winter. Something simple like including more fibrous foods can be enough; apples, root vegetables, oatmeal.

• Spend time outside or by a window, in the early evening, saying goodnight to the sun. Notice how this time shifts, sun setting earlier and earlier. Just as you, need to get to bed, earlier and earlier. It will help with the diurnal shift, and improve your sleep patterns. Did you know the sleep we get before midnight is critical for organ and cellular repair? 

DNA repair happens, when you’re sleeping, before midnight!

• Acknowledge what is important to you? Where do you want to devote your energy over the winter months? What isn’t important anymore? Where do you intend to de-invest your precious energy? (bit like heating your house, you want to close up any leaks, so you’re not sending your precious heat into areas that aren’t important to heat over the sleepy winter) 
• Start a nourishing warm diet. As it gets cooler, your body needs more internal warmth to keep its inner fire going. Eat and drink warm foods. Soups, teas, broths…skip the cold smoothie, and reach for some oatmeal or something else slow and warm.

• Lastly, SLOW DOWN. The natural world, is going to sleep, it’s not a time to get shit done. It’s not a time to move fast. Go slow. If you find yourself sped up, intentionally move slower. Whether it’s walking one step at a time SLOW…. Or brushing your teeth SLOW…. Your nervous system needs the SLOW, to be able to complete regeneration and repair processes which are essential maintenance for our health. GO SLOW….