Top 5 Autumn Wellness Practices To See You Through The Season

I won’t lie, holotropic breathwork can be a physically and emotionally intense practice. However, when you come out of the other side, I promise you will feel like a new person. Holotropic breathwork takes you through controlled breathing patterns to produce an altered state of consciousness. Once in that state, you’ll find you can move beyond your body and ego, helping you to reach your true self. It’s here that you’ll be able to better connect to yourself, others and the natural world. It’s a great autumn wellness practice since it requires deep introspection to match the energy for this time of year. 

During a session, you will be guided through the fast breathing technique for a few minutes or hours. Due to the intensity of the therapeutic exercise, I would advise seeking a trained facilitator to guide you. A quick search on Google will bring up several local sessions where you can sign up for either one-day or week-long workshops to ensure you are in safe hands.

While there are plenty of types of massage to choose from, including Swedish, deep tissue, hot stone and more, in general, they have similar benefits. In the autumn, we are likely to spend more time indoors being less active than in the summer months, and our bodies can stiffen up. Manually working the muscles aids relaxation as it helps reduce any built-up tension or anxiety in the body. It’s also great for staving off seasonal illnesses like the common cold since massage can remove toxins by improving your blood flow and immune system. 

Massage is also wonderful to incorporate into your autumn wellness practices to promote a better night’s sleep. We require more sleep in the autumn as our bodies slow down to conserve energy during the darker months. Ask your massage therapist to use oils with calming scents like lavender, ylang ylang or chamomile, and you’ll drift off in no time!

Using sound for healing is an old practice dating back to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians – who believed vibrations and sounds could positively impact the human body. Now, sound bath sessions are used to aid anxiety, tension, low mood and, in some cases, reduce pain. As a qualified Level 1 and Level 2 Sound Healer from Peter Hess Institut, I am very passionate about adding the healing powers of sound baths to my autumn wellness practices. This time of year is about settling into yourself and relaxing! 

I highly recommend finding a weekly sound bath session to attend. During a session, trainers will create soothing sounds using crystal bowls, Tibetan singing bowls, bells, gongs or a combination of all four instruments. The best thing about attending a session is all you need to do is turn up! While a sound bath can induce a deep meditative state, you don’t have to go that far if you’re still new to meditation. Instead, you can just breathe deeply and let the vibrations do the work for you.

Don’t get me wrong. I love binge-watching a Netflix series as much as everyone else. However, as things slow down in the autumn, I prefer to swap my screen time with getting my nose into a good book. Excessive screen time is linked to increased cortisol levels. Similarly, action-packed TV shows can leave you feeling more exhausted despite your body being inactive. On the other hand, reading can help settle your nervous system thanks to the calming nature of taking things at a slower pace – even if it is an action-packed novel! 

Reading is the ideal cosy autumn wellness practice as it forces you to slow down. This is precisely what mother nature is asking us to do at this time of year. It also requires you to be more present as you are actively reading. You’ll find your thoughts are creative and inspired the more you read. If you need some recommendations, check out my previous blog on books on my personal reading wish list!