Your Holistic Guide to the Autumn Equinox, with Jill Hoffman

I'm so excited to speak with Jill Hoffman, a Brooklyn-based Health and Lifestyle Coach, about the autumn equinox and how it affects each of us. Check out our chat below, where Jill and I talk shifting from summer to fall and three easy ways to handle the change with grace and holistic style! 

AC: As today is the fall equinox, how does the shift from summer to fall affect our bodies?

JH: During the summer months, most of us experience an accumulation of heat in the body that will turn into dryness in the fall. If we don’t work to balance out this dryness, during winter our sinuses will become irritated and can become a breeding ground for a viral or bacterial infection. Autumn is also the season to retreat. It's your time to savor the abundance of what you've harvested in the spring and summer months and to focus on the health of two of your major organs of elimination ~ the skin and the colon. Just as the leaves start to shed from the trees and reveal their inner core, the fall season beckons us to turn inward and let go of waste. It is a cleansing period and a time of transition for the earth and our bodies.

What are three lifestyle tips to help support this shift from summer to fall?

1. Transition to eating foods that are in season. Fall offers a bounty of grounding and nourishing fruits and vegetables that are important to balance out the dryness that naturally occurs in our body. These might include root vegetables such as sweet potatoes, beets and turnips. Eating 2-4 apples a day provides good fiber for colon health and malic acid to support your skin. Trade up your raw salads for more cooked, warming foods to help you prepare for the winter months.

2. Increase sleep. It is natural for our bodies to slow down this time of year. As our rhythm starts to bring us more inward, our need for sleep increases. Unfortunately, as our schedules tend to get busier as we move towards the winter holidays, we often ignore this craving. Now, more than ever, it’s important to be sleeping by 10pm. This is so we can stay in tune with our circadian rhythm and support detoxification. If you have a hard time winding down, dim the lights in your home after sunset and avoid using any devices after 8pm. Create a “wind-down” routine that starts at 9pm which might include yoga, meditation, warm bath or anything that makes you feel warm, cozy and nourished.

3. Dry brush your skin. Your skin is your largest organ of detoxification and is also our “face” to the world - we want it to look good! Right underneath your skin is your lymphatic system, which is essentially the garbage disposal system of your body. Waste and toxins are transported through this system so that they can be expelled through the detox organs. However, it is common for the system to get sluggish this time of year. By using a dry brush every morning, you are essentially giving your skin a “workout." It stimulates your lymphatic system and ushers the waste out of your body, thus improving the appearance and complexion of your skin. Also, using a dry skin brush will naturally boost your energy - just like regular exercise!

How have you created your own holistic space?

I love learning about energy and so the concept of Feng Shui has really resonated with me. I am currently in the process of fixing up my home office space. I have been studying the Bagua Map and am trying to apply the concepts to this space as well as my entire home. The first step was to make sure that my desk, stove and bed are in the command position. It makes so much sense how not being in command of your space can create chronic stress in the body. Reducing stress is something I am really passionate about in my work with clients, and I’m so grateful have this new tool to experiment with and to share with my community. 

by Anjie Cho

Jill A. Hoffman is a Health + Lifestyle Coach and has been working with clients since 2013. She specializes in teaching busy women how to be fully nourished so that they can experience radiant joy. Jill received her training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition’s cutting edge health coaching program. She is a board certified Holistic Health Coach and a member of the AADP (American Association of Drugless Practioners). Jill is currently working on certifications in transformational coaching and thyroid health coaching and is the founder of the Healthy Thyroid Movement. Jill lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, Chris, and 7-year old rescue pup, Toby. You can learn more about Jill and her work by visiting cravehealthwithjill.com.

Non-Toxic Cleaning Products

No doubt the reasons for purchasing highly advertised and recommended cleaning products are almost all, if not entirely, based on the goal of keeping your home clean so that your family can live a long, healthy life. Unfortunately, purchasing these chemical agents most often accomplishes exactly the opposite effect, filling households with tainted air supply and ultimately resulting in a plethora of health issues including, but certainly not limited to, asthma, allergies, eye irritation and nausea.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has noted that indoor air quality (IAQ) can be anywhere from two to five times as polluted as the air we breathe outside. This is due to a range of factors including chemicals in decorating materials (like paint) and highly toxic cleaning agents. Store-bought cleaning products come with a laundry list of hard-to-pronounce chemicals, all of which you repeatedly release into your family’s internal atmosphere every time you use them to provide a “clean” environment. Fortunately, it’s perfectly possible to do away with these cleaning materials once and for all and still rest easy in a clean, non-toxic home. 

Switching to homemade, non-toxic cleaning supplies is as easy as looking up time-tested recipes online or in books and committing to using these substances in place of toxic agents. The best part? A healthier family isn’t the only positive outcome to making this change. Eliminating toxic cleaning supplies from your home is also a great way to ensure that children don’t accidentally come into contact with these harmful materials, whether snooping around in cabinets or lovingly offering “help” during cleaning times.

Aside from creating an all-around healthier living environment for you and your family, going green and non-toxic in the area of cleaning can save money by a long shot. Rather than paying per bottle for toxic concoctions, there are numerous ways to combine safe, cheap, regular household chemicals to create non-toxic cleaning supplies for your home, and many of these substances can be purchased for pennies on the dollar, especially in bulk. Not to mention many of these products also have other uses in the home, from laundry detergent to cooking to more.

On a global scale, reducing the use of toxic chemicals in your home also increases the quality of the outdoor environment as well as the amount of safe drinking water available to our population. When you use toxic cleaners, chemicals are released into the air, and though they most immediately pollute indoor air, they eventually make their way outdoors and, ultimately, into the ozone. Pouring chemicals into drains and washing them away results directly in pollution of the water supply we use for safe use and consumption, thereby reducing the already tiny 1% we have for use.

by Anjie Cho

Holistic Spaces Store

Sunshine Makes Us Happy!

SUN yantra Mandala, available at holisticspaces.com

SUN yantra Mandala, available at holisticspaces.com

I've said it before, and it's pretty believable during summer months, but sunshine literally makes us happy. Think back to the last time you spent some time in the sun. When you step into the natural light and feel the warmth on your face, how do you feel? Do you feel content, maybe even blissful? I sure do! 

As it turns out, this happiness we get from spending time in the sun isn't just psychological. The presence of sunlight actually physically makes us happier! Here's how. 

Sunlight helps us produce serotonin, which is the chemical in our brains responsible for keeping us positive and happy. In many people who experience depression, serotonin levels are lower than normal, which results in a lower level of happiness. This also explains the phenomenon, SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), where people seem to be more depressed in the winter. What don't we see a lot of during the winter? That's right, the sun! Sunlight can help us all to produce the right amount of serotonin to keep our spirits high and our smiles wide. 

Based on studies across the world, sunlight can actually help to combat certain diseases, like high blood pressure, diabetes and even cancer. Of course, spending TOO much time in the sun can actually lead to skin cancer, but getting natural Vitamin D in smaller doses can help prevent certain cancers. In addition, being in warm sunlight can loosen the body's muscles and tendons, which can be helpful in easing the pain of certain conditions like arthritis. 

Sunlight gives us more energy. Spending time in the sun also affects another of our brain's chemicals, melatonin. If you've never heard of it before, melatonin is the substance our brains release when it's time to calm down and go to sleep. The sun suppresses this chemical, making us feel more energized, and therefore happier! 

There are countless other perks to spending time in the sun, but it's very clear that one huge benefit is that natural sunlight can make us happy. In fact, without it, many people tend to become depressed and suffer from low energy, so it seems that the sun is actually an integral part of our happiness. So get outside and soak up some healthy rays!

by Anjie Cho

Holistic Spaces Store