🕯🍁Equinox balance blessings and inspiration for a nourishing Fall

A motherload of herbal medicine musings, healing rituals, and journal prompts to flow this season

Dear sisters,

Wishing you all equinox blessings of balance. On this powerful portal of equal day and night, I’m reflecting on balance, nourishment, and releasing the old to bring in the new.

I’ve been attuning to nature’s cycles these past weeks as we’ve been approaching the Fall equinox (in the northern hemisphere). I’m settling into routine and embracing surrender, healing rituals, and earth medicine to down-regulate my nervous system.

Photo by Summer Kellogg

Embodying the flow of Fall

This Fall, I’m devoted to refining my afternoon and evening rituals to transform my productive energy of the day into a sweet, sensual, creative, and restorative energy in the sunset hours. I’m mastering moving my energy from solar to lunar, yang to yin, productive to relaxed, disciplined to surrendered.

As we shift seasons, the body can become increasingly vulnerable to imbalance. Which is why the equinox is always an opportune time to retreat back inwards and to check in.

What feels most nourishing right now?

This is my guiding question to balance.

I’m bleeding as I’m writing this and in the clarity of my moontime release, I’m appreciating the nourishment of earth medicine. I’m flooding my system with herbs and wild foods. Through deep nourishment I am restored.

Rather than a heroic approach to healing through restrictive diets, cleanses, and exercise punishment, I’m interested in the feminine way of seeking balance by adding nourishment rather than subtracting or restricting myself. Earth’s nourishment is enough to bring us back into balance. When we deeply nourish ourselves, we don’t desire what harms us. We don’t need to work hard to detox the body. The body is wise and creates new nourished cells as the old are released.

I notice this phenomena of effortless release in how I spend my time.

When I choose nourishment, I release numbing habits.

When I play my guitar, I spend less time scrolling social media.

When I find writing that captivates me, it doesn’t cross my mind to watch TV.

When I prepare myself meals from organic, whole foods, I don’t crave junk food.

When I flood myself nettle tea first thing in the morning, I forget to drink the cup of coffee I pour myself.

Lately, I’ve been feeling like Will Ferrel in Old School, drinking a quart infusion of Nettles, brewed cold overnight. It’s so good. SO GOOD.

Nettle is a nutritive, nourishing herb full of vitamins, minerals, enzymes. She is grounding, calming, and energizing. As a tonic, nettles builds new tissue, heals, and replenishes. She is both a beauty herb creating radiance in the hair, skin, and nails, as well as a digestive system tonic, aiding in the absorption of nutrients, cleansing, and supporting organs of elimination. Nettle is a kidney tonic and so healing to the adrenals. An ally to feminine well-being, nettle is adaptogenic, anti inflammatory, and immune boosting. Nettles regulates menses, builds blood, nourishes pregnancy, and aids in production of breast milk.

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Inspiration for a nourishing Fall

Fall is when nature teaches us how to release, let go, ground, restore and fortify for the coming Winter months. As the leaves turn, we are asked to nourish the invisible; the deep places of our roots, ancestors, and soul.

Fall is like the sunset of the day. At sunset, just as the equinox, we harmonize the balance of light and dark.

But beware, anxieties often arise at this seasonal change.

Ayurvedic medicine teaches the seasonal shift from Summer to Fall brings on cooling, vata vibes.

Vata dosha is the Ayurvedic mind-body element associated with air and space. It’s light, cool, and dry in nature, and it governs all movement and processes in your mind and body—including processes like blood flow, elimination, breathing, and the movement of thoughts in your mind.

Vata’s wind element can leave us feeling ungrounded. And while all the goodness of root vegetables are available for support, it's not always easy to feel so rooted in our bodies at this time of the year. Many of us struggle with sleep as vata rises, the skin can become prone to more dryness, and the mind can feel scattered and ill at ease.

Cultivating waning energies within us and our homes are essential for our nervous systems to relax and heal through nights of deep sleep. Meditation can support us in down-regulating our nervous systems.

Try my meditation Melting Anxiety with Pure Awareness to explore this.

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Healing herbs I’m working with

In additional to my Old School affair with Nettles this month, these are the healing earth medicines I’m working with:

Immunity & Adaptogens:

I made myself a tincture of ashwaganda and shatavari over the Summer, letting the roots sit in Kettle One vodka for 8 weeks!

• Ashwaganda - Used for millennia in Ayurveda, it is considered “rasayana”, or an herb that promotes the body’s vitality and rejuvenation. It is also used to balance various conditions that arise from 'vata dosha' imbalances and is employed as a grounding and nourishing herb, supportive to female well-being. Ashwagandha is traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine as an adaptogen and a nervine to help cope with stress and supports overall cognitive health.

• Shatavari - Also known as satavar, shatavari is a highly revered in Ayurveda as an herb that compliments women’s health and is considered the most important Ayurvedic botanical to support the reproductive system. Shatavari is an Indian word that translates to mean “she who possesses one hundred husbands” because she is FERTILE. This profound herb can be incorporated into herbal formulations, infused as tea, and used to create liquid extract.

Medicinal mushrooms:

I’m cooking shiitake mushrooms and brewing reishi on my stove top for tea and bone broths.

• Shiitake - The beneficial properties of shiitake mushrooms have been prized in traditional Chinese medicine for over 6,000 years. The antioxidant activity of polysaccharides (beta-glucans) contained in shiitake help maintain cell integrity and fight free radicals. Shiitake supports immune health to help you stay feeling your best and supports the body’s immune defenses to stay feeling healthy.

• Reishi - Reishi has been cited thousands of years ago in several texts and scripts as being a tonic for emperors. At one time this mushroom was specifically used under the prestigious vestiges of the ruling class, but it has since made its way into the pantries of us common folk. Traditional and contemporary Chinese medicine admire it as a tonic benefiting vital energy or "Qi". Reishi is a polypore mushroom, growing in damp, dark forests and the occasional rotting log. Reishi mushroom supports immune health to help you stay feeling your best and supports the body’s immune defenses to stay feeling healthy.

Nourishing roots:

I’m drinking warm decoctions of burdock and hot infusions of dandelion tea.

• Burdock - Burdock has been an important botanical in Western folk herbalism and traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years, primarily valued for its cleansing and skin smoothing properties. This powerful root medicine heals the divine masculine within. This herb is highly effective, gentle, and multipurpose. It promotes the flow of bile and also increases circulation to the skin. Further, it is a mild diuretic and lymphatic. Burdock is used widely as an alterative and blood purifier.

• Dandelion - Traditionally used to support liver health, healthy urinary function and has mild diuretic action, dandelion is a sunny, subtle, yet incredible plant that has been used for centuries in traditional medicine practices all over the world as a restorative tonic, edible food, and in herbal beers and wines.

Nervines:

I’m enjoying linden herbal infusions at sunset! This has become such a sweet evening ritual. Pulling out a quart of Linden from my refrigerator at 6pm and drinking to mark the evening is so delicious and refreshing!

• Linden - Linden calms anxiety, releases worry, grounds into the body and heart. She is an ally for inner peace, support and love. She works as as anti-inflammatory, digestive aid and heart tonic - strengthening to the heart and nourishing to the cardiovascular system. Linden relaxes the body, relieves tension in the muscles, relax spasms & cramps.

Heart opener:

I’m anointing myself with her oils and and sipping her steeped petals…my main gal, rose, the Queen. I could, and will, write an entire book on rose. She is one of my greatest allies.

Dream magic & consciousness shifter:

I’m burning foraged Artemisia and meditating with mugwort medicinal tea.

• Mugwort - There’s so much to say about Mugwort. This podcast episode is a good place to start.

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Healing rituals I’m doing this Fall

I’m slowing down and prioritizing rest and relaxation.

I’m indulging in self-massage and lovingly gazing at my body.

I’m saying yes to ritual baths, saunas, hot tubs, and any time with water.

I’m cooking nourishing meals like this lamb stew. (I use EVOO instead of vegetable oil and lamb bone broth instead of beef broth.)

I’m watching sunsets and taking evening strolls alone and with my beloved.

I’m reading poetry, listening to music, and playing instruments.

I’m saying no to things that I dread or feel draining.

I’m creating boundaries and closing holes where my energy has been leaking.

I’m ending my work day before the sun goes down.

I’m ditching my phone and dedicating days to digital detox.

I’m meditating and praying.

I’m sitting in ceremony.

I’m receiving in my dreams.

I’m shamanic journeying with my clients.

I’m cultivating gratitude each day.

I’m cuddling my husband, loved ones, and furry friends.

I’m giving myself more alone time.

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Journal Prompts for settling into Fall

What brings you into balance?

How do you ground and relax? What are your tools?

What feels most nourishing for you?

What are you cutting away or releasing?

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Share, like, comment, and connect

Thank you for reading. Reach out anytime by just hitting reply and connecting with me Insta, I love hearing from you

Please share this post with the wonderful women in your life.

With so much love, 

Christina

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