In autumn, not only the landscape outside the window changes. Our “autumn habits” are waking up, and they are not always useful. Someone plunges headlong into rash shopping, someone watches TV shows all day long, someone finds solace in the company of a refrigerator … We talk about the most common bad autumn habits and how to cope with the blues without any special risks.
What “unhealthy” temptations do we succumb to in autumn most often?
1. Sudden desire to spend money. “In my daily life, I am quite frugal. But when autumn comes, I get sad. And it starts! I like crazy buying things in stores that I don’t really need. It’s impossible to stop! It seems that if I have all these pretty things, they will make my life beautiful. And the thought is constantly spinning in my head: “Now, more than ever, I have the right to be reckless!” And the truth is, at the moment when I carry a pile of things to the checkout and pay for them, I feel really happy.
But then it turns out that my monthly budget is undermined, there is almost no money, and the things I bought have nothing to wear with. And again it becomes sad … “
Alice, 34 years old
2. Isolation from people. “I stay at home even if I know that I can go out and do something interesting. I go out to buy food, then I go home – and this is how my weekend goes.
Maria, 22 years old
3. Craving for casual sex. “At first I told myself that this is how I realize myself as a woman. I flirted wildly. Awareness came suddenly and in the most unfortunate place – in the bed of a new acquaintance. The sex was consensual, no one was drunk. Nevertheless, I cried and cried – because I put myself in a position of absolute vulnerability and never once thought about safety.
This time, I jumped on the subway right after work and went to a guy I met on social media. We exchanged jokes, everything was fine, he invited me to his place for a cup of coffee.
You don’t have to tell further – further would make Christian Gray blush with his 50 shades of gray. I didn’t say “no” to him, but cried because I only now realized that I could do it.
My random partner sat next to me and tried his best to calm me down and asked me about life. It must have looked comical. I was lucky – he turned out to be a decent guy, he listened to me all the rest of the night, and then he took me to my house in his car and advised me to be more careful in parting.
Katerina, 29 years old
4. The need to listen to sad songs. Probably, every girl has such a “pitiful” song hidden somewhere in her mobile phone. Why we like her, what strings of the soul touch her artless words, it doesn’t matter. It fulfills its role: it gives catharsis, purification and a sigh of relief.
Putting on the most desperate and hopeless pop music and crying to it is a classic of the genre. Here, as in many other things, it is important to stop at the right time.
If you’re specifically looking for only sad and sad content, it’s worth considering. Experts believe that people with depression are distinguished by such selectivity.
5. The desire to watch TV shows is, is, is …
Why is this happening?
Imagine that we meet with nature not only when we go on vacation. We ourselves are part of it.
All natural rhythms are in sync with us, whether we like it or not. Therefore, you do not need to scold yourself for the autumn tearfulness or for wanting to curl up. We are behaving in perfect harmony with this time of year.
In the ancient Indian system of medicine and the science of healthy life, Ayurveda, it is believed that one of the four elements corresponds to each season. And just as the element of summer was fire, which pushed us on adventures and made us believe in hundreds of possibilities in the morning, the element of autumn is air.
Imagine a windy and cool autumn day. Such a picture most accurately reflects what is happening in nature now – and what we feel inside.
At this time, a person remembers impermanence and change. He is preparing for winter, which, in the view of the followers of Ayurveda, looks like a turtle pulling its head into a protective shell.
In Eastern philosophy, it is believed that if we pay attention to the rhythms by which nature lives, and follow them, and not resist them, this will give us strength. As Ayurvedic expert Katie Silcox says, if we can do this, “we will tap into the most powerful source of strength—nature itself.”
“Keeping the Fire in the Hearth”
It is not so easy to see the beauty in the last flowers that have faded. But the ancient Indian science of life sees deep meaning in the changes and the eternal routine of life: from heat to cold, from night to day, from youth to old age. It is an immortal love that permeates everything.
Therefore, it will be much easier for Western man to live if he adopts this property: to honor the changes in nature in order to see what is behind them.
Many of us instinctively begin to do things in the fall that help us get through this period easily.
Our main goal at this time will sound like this: “we support the fire in the hearth.” And they will help real, correct and warming autumn habits.
1. Look at open flames more often. Go to the sauna and try not to freeze. This is as important for mental health as it is for physical health.
2. Drink warm ginger tea and don’t eat raw salads or reheated yesterday’s food. In the view of adherents of Ayurveda, there is no fire in such food.
3. Engage in more active sports than in the summer.
4. Allow yourself to sleep as much as you want. For our not so distant ancestors, 14 hours of sleep in the absence of electricity was the norm. If in the autumn you want to fall asleep already at 21 or 22 hours, this means that the body itself has felt the perfect time. Going to bed at this time in the fall is as natural to the body as waking up at dawn in early summer.
5. Try to wear bright or light colored clothes. As Cathy Silcox writes, “Too much black and you get the feeling of being empty and lost in a vast space, a feeling that is already heightened in winter.”
6. After vivid summer impressions, communication and travel, the time comes when you need to enjoy the warmth of home. If possible, avoid too loud music, arguments and endless moving. Meet friends at home. Light candles. This is the time when we no longer waste energy, but save it, accumulate it before the long winter.