Mindful living in autumn: small habits that support the practice

Autumn in Japan arrives with a particular quality of light and a drop in temperature that the body registers before the mind does. The practice changes with the season, and so does everything around it. This is about the small habits that make the transition easier.

Sleep and the shorter day ¶

The days shorten noticeably in September and October in Japan, and the body's sleep pressure shifts with them. Most practitioners find they want to sleep earlier and wake earlier in autumn, which is worth following rather than fighting. An earlier morning practice, even fifteen minutes before the household wakes, tends to be more consistent than an evening session when the day has already accumulated.

The quality of sleep in autumn also tends to improve compared to summer, when heat disrupts the deeper stages. This is a good time to pay attention to what a well-rested practice feels like, so you have a reference point for the harder months of winter.

Seasonal food and the practice ¶

Practicing on a full stomach is uncomfortable regardless of the season, but the timing of meals shifts in autumn. The body wants heavier food earlier in the day, which means the gap between dinner and a morning practice is longer and more comfortable than in summer.

Root vegetables, which are abundant in Japanese markets from September onwards, are worth incorporating if you are not already eating them. Satsumaimo, gobo, and kabocha are all available from local markets through the autumn months. They are not yoga food in any mystical sense, but they are filling in a way that sustains a morning practice without the heaviness of a large meal.

The quality of attention in autumn ¶

There is something about the autumn light in Japan, lower and more directional than summer, that makes it easier to be still. Mika has noticed this in her own practice logs: the notes from September and October tend to be more specific, more observant, less distracted than the summer entries.

Whether this is the light, the temperature, the post-summer settling, or something else is hard to say. But it is worth using. Autumn is a good time to introduce a meditation practice alongside the physical practice, or to extend the savasana that you might have been cutting short in the heat.

The season does not practice for you, but it creates conditions. Autumn in Japan creates conditions that are worth paying attention to.