Transitioning into Autumn a Guide
Autumn is celebrated as the season of reflection, awareness and mindfulness. Nature begins its hibernation as vivid greens are replaced with warm ambers, and the energy shifts from vibrant to mellow, where nurturing yourself feels even more vital.
On the Autumn Equinox (March 20 or 21), day and night are of equal lengths. This signals the need to balance light and darkness within us, honouring the harvest of efforts and intentions for your life set earlier in the year.
This season is a reminder of change. It reminds us that our bodies, minds and surroundings are always developing, focusing on the impermanence of life and encouraging us to stay present. It reminds us to preserve our energy, a chance to reconnect with ourselves and protect our immunity. Consider these next few months preparation for winter by setting yourself goals of regularity, nourishing your body and resting your mind. And as the leaves fall, we like to imagine the beauty of letting go–surrendering to the temporary nature of everything around us.
During this time, your skin (as a reflection of your environment), will require some extra nurturing and nourishment. It will crave lipids to help support barrier function and desire warmth to cocoon and protect. At LTCO, in place of the cooling elements we provide throughout Spring and Summer (such as our cool towels, the cooling infusive mask, jade rollers and lymphatic drainage massage), we will work with a few more warming aspects and stimulating techniques. This can look like applying masks to increase blood circulation, incorporating more LED light therapy (allowing for more massage time inside the treatment room), as well as warming up our beds and hands to support your therapy.
As the Autumnal elements sap our skin of hydration, we’ve put together a guide and skin shop edit so you can support your body at home:
Skincare
Sleeping in deep hydration masks to infuse a dose of water and moisture while you rest.
Try – Josh Rosebrook Advanced Hydration Mask or Sodashi’s Plant Essence Replenish Mask.
Introduce a consistent double cleanse routine–we highly recommend a pre-cleanse oil to restore lipids on the skin while performing an intentional cleansing ritual.
Try – MV 9-Oil Radiance Tonic
Compressing the skin with the gentle MV Muslin Cloths after submerging in hot water and holding onto the skin for a gentle steam treatment prior to removing the product
For those with environmental reactive skin, these weather changes can provoke eczema or dermatitis flare-ups. We encourage supporting skin strength in products such as MV Daily Soother, Josh Rosebrook Vital Balm, and Mukti’s Vitamin Booster Vital B Elixir to help boost barrier-function and reduce any redness while alleviating dryness.
For those more resilient, but who may experience sluggish skin, the opposite can be true–the need for more intensive exfoliation to encourage healthy cell turnover. Mukti’s Vitamin Booster Vital A Elixir or dermal rolling can assist.
Herbal Tea
To purify the skin internally you need to make sure your other ‘organs of elimination’ are running optimally, so that toxins don’t recirculate and come out of your skin. We’re talking gut, liver lymphatics and kidneys. A good gentle way to do this is with herbal teas such as Living Skin’s Detoxify Tea Blend.
Liver & Gut Love
Eating nourishing foods and easing off alcohol and sugar will support your liver in ensuring it can do its job properly meaning it won’t rely on your skin. The lovely Freya Lawler has shared a nourishing, hearty stew to support your insides, here.
Introducing a good probiotic into your daily routine plus fibre rich foods like psyllium husk, flaxseed and chia will help keep your internal environment balanced.
Try – Vita-Sol Putrity Wholefood Powder for ease.
Lymphatic Cleanse
The lymphatic system is a network much like the blood circulatory system. However, operates as a disposal system by removing toxins, helping to carry immune cells and acting like a blood filter via the spleen. This system doesn’t have a pump like the heart, so it relies on movement to work properly. Exercise, movement and dry body brushing daily are just some ways to get the lymphatic system eliminating well – so your skin doesn’t have to.
For one step further, Infrared saunas are an effective form of eliminating these toxins too. They operate at a much lower temperature and heat the body from within rather than with the air like as a traditional sauna does. Infrared saunas encourage blood circulation to help relieve inflammation, stiffness or soreness experienced by cooler weather, relax muscles and carry off metabolic waste products, while delivering oxygen-rich blood to the muscles for a faster recovery.
Try – Nimbus
LED Light Therapy
LED Light Therapy is designed for an instant ‘glow’, boosting cell renewal and collagen production. The red and blue lights work to stimulate blood circulation which can accelerate tissue repair, void acne bacteria, decrease inflammation, improve skin tone, texture and clarity and decrease under eye wrinkles.
All you need is 20 minutes to see the benefits of a little light.
Book Here