As the seasons change, we also feel a shift in our bodies. A yearning for warm blankets, deep sleep, nourishing soups, and long walks among falling leaves. During this transition, it is important to go inward and listen to your body’s needs as it prepares for colder days, flu season, and the holidays filled with indulgent food and family overwhelm.

Here at Boost, we welcome the shorter days and cool weather as a balance to summer’s recent heat and intensity, with practices that ground and nourish in a deep way. This may mean slowing down and making small adjustments in exercise, diet, and even sleep routines that help maintain well-being throughout the winter months ahead.

The changes in seasons place additional demands on our bodies. In particular, we are more physically and mentally vulnerable as seasons change and, therefore, more likely to get sick or experience low moods. As we enter into Autumn, a seasonal tune-up may be just what your body needs to thrive in the coming months. We have provided you with ways to support your body during this time of transition deeply.

How you can support your body during the fall transition:

• Nourishing soups, stews, & bone broth using seasonal veggies such as squash, apples, brussel sprouts, beets, cabbage, carrots, and bell peppers
• Herbal teas such as chamomile, ginger, turmeric, lavender, & chai tea
• Joyful movement outside in nature or inside on a yoga mat
• Mindfulness & meditation (Try Qigong mindful movement)
• Deep, restorative sleep/ a shift in bedtime
• Hydrate with herbal tea and lemon water throughout the day
• Enjoy time with loved ones
• Prioritize self-care

Body Scan Practice

Here’s how to listen to your body on purpose. I recommend intentionally practicing, even if just for a 1 to 5-minute “self-check-in” daily. You can also take up to an hour to go deep with it and explore the sensory landscape of your body. Noticing where you hold tension. I recommend this practice in which you deliberately let your mind roam over your body, looking for tense spots so you can begin to notice where you hold tension.

Sit up in a chair or lie on the ground and close your eyes, breathing naturally, then gradually more slowly and deeply.

Feel either your feet on the ground or the parts of your body touching the ground. Just feel that contact, that grounding with the earth.

Then deepen the breath.

Now let your breath wander and simply notice how you feel. To take this deeper, notice areas that feel tense, blocked, or stuck. Use your breath to imagine massaging out that tension or releasing the blockage. Is there anything in your life that you associate with this tension you’re holding?

Hold this awareness so that when you return to regular awareness, you can draw on that skill to use anytime without even having to meditate.

Healing Bone Broth Recipe

This healing, nourishing bone broth can be sipped in your favorite mug or used in soups & stews. Bone broth contains collagen that helps to heal and strengthen the lining of our gut, thus supporting our immune system during the colder months.

What You Need

Bones and carcass of one chicken 
4 garlic cloves 
1 yellow onion
1 sliced lemon 
1 shallot 
1 tsp turmeric powder (or fresh turmeric)
1 tsp ginger powder (or freshly grated ginger)
1 tsp Italian seasoning or other herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano 
½ tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste
6-8 cups of water 

How It’s Done:

Add the bones left over from a whole roasted chicken (including legs and wings that may have been on the serving platter) to a large pot or Dutch oven.

Top with filtered water until generously covered (about 12 cups). This should reduce down by about 1/3 or 1/2, leaving you with 6-8 cups of bone broth.

Next, season the broth, add garlic, onion, lemon, shallot, all spices, and a bit of salt and pepper. 

Then add apple cider vinegar, primarily because the acidity breaks down the collagen and makes it more abundant in the broth. 

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for at least 10-12 hours or until reduced by 1/3 to 1/2. The more it reduces, the more intense the flavor will become, and the more collagen will be extracted. We find 12 hours to be about right.

Strain and discard the bones. Either use immediately or store in glass jars and freeze for up to 1-2 months or more. Just be sure to leave a couple of inches at the top of the jar to allow for expansion in the freezer.

Note: Bone broth typically gelatinizes when refrigerated because of the collagen content. But don’t worry — that’s normal. When reheated, it liquefies once again, just like store-bought chicken broth.