🍂 One of Ayurveda’s simplest teachings is: like increases like + opposites bring balance. Fall makes this beautifully easy to understand: As we move into autumn, nature becomes cooler, drier, lighter, windier and more changeable. These are the same qualities Ayurveda associates with Vata dosha = air + space. So what happens when the world around us becomes increasingly Vata (airy + spacey)? We may begin to feel more Vata within us as well. Think: 🌬️ anxiousness or racing thoughts 🌬️ difficulty falling or staying asleep 🌬️ dryness of the skin, lips or bowels 🌬️ constipation or irregular digestion 🌬️ cracking, stiff or achy joints - arthritis 🌬️ feeling scattered or ungrounded 🌬️ cold hands and feet 🌬️ fluctuating energy 🌬️ greater sensitivity to stress Ayurveda doesn’t simply ask, “How do we get rid of the symptom?” It asks, “What qualities have become excessive, and what qualities would restore balance?” If the season is cold, dry, light, mobile and irregular, we intentionally invite in: Warmth, moisture, heaviness, stillness, rhythm, nourishment. 🍲 FAVOR WARM, COOKED FOODS Think soups, stews, curries, kitchari, root vegetables, squash, cooked grains, warm breakfasts and nourishing fats. Favor naturally sweet, sour and salty tastes while reducing excessive raw, cold, dry and crunchy foods. Add warming digestive spices such as ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin and fennel. This isn't the season to live on iced coffees, smoothies and giant raw salads while wondering why you feel cold, scattered and depleted. 😉 🧘 CHOOSE GROUNDING MOVEMENT Walk in nature. Practice slow yoga, qigong, fascia work and strength training. Vata already brings movement. We don't always need more movement — sometimes we need movement that brings us back into our bodies. Grounding, stabilizing, feeling. 🫶 MAKE OIL YOUR FRIEND One of my favorite fall practices is abhyanga — warm self-oil massage. Warm sesame oil is traditionally used for Vata season but you must try our Tri-doshic body oil, it is divine. Massage the body before bathing or showering.

If you are still cooking with aluminum foil or in coated cookware, please take a listen to the wonderful information below and see if some other options may feel better for you. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcgklCds1z3/?igsi=cjVlbzgyZWk0N2hn

I’m not even sure I have the words for this one yet, but it looks like I'm going to be a SPEAKER at the 83rd International Conference on Ayurveda & Cancer Care in Pennsylvania this October. 🥹 I’ll be sharing my story — from losing my Dad to esophageal cancer, to facing my own diagnosis of Barrett’s esophagus, and the beautiful thread of practices, teachers, ancient wisdom and everyday habits that led me deeper and deeper into understanding wellness. What once felt like one of the hardest chapters of my life became the catalyst for so much of what I now teach, share, and have built through Human Habits. And somehow that story is taking me to an international stage. ✨️ Even more surreal? I’ll be sharing the stage with one of my longtime heroes and teachers, Dr. John Douillard. I genuinely cannot believe I just typed that sentence. This little dream of helping people understand their bodies, reconnect with themselves, and realize how much power exists in their everyday choices just keeps growing. From helping our peeps here in Lloydminster to now presenting in front of many in Pennsylvania. From being the student soaking up every bit of wisdom I could find, to being invited to stand up and share what I’ve learned. Human Habits is going international. 🌎 I am excited, I am terrified and I am deeply, deeply grateful. Wish me luck, friends. 💚 We’re doing this. 83rd International Conference on Ayurveda & Cancer Care 📍 Coopersburg, Pennsylvania 📅 October 21–23, 2026 ✨️For Dad. ✨️For everyone searching for another piece of the wellness puzzle. ✨️And for the reminder that sometimes our hardest chapters become the ones that give our lives the deepest purpose. 💚

Before the notifications, the responsibilities and the world starts asking things of you. Ayurveda has long encouraged waking during Brahmamuhurta — traditionally the peaceful period before sunrise, often described as beginning about 96 minutes before the sun rises. Why? Because this quiet transition from night into day is considered especially supportive for clarity, contemplation, spiritual practice and intentional living. ✨ Benefits of rising before the sun: • Creates mental spaciousness — giving you quiet time before outside information and responsibilities begin competing for your attention. • Supports your natural circadian rhythm — consistently waking around the natural light-dark cycle can help reinforce the body's internal clock. • Offers a beautiful window for meditation + prayer — Ayurveda and many other ancient traditions consider the pre-dawn hours especially supportive for inward practices. • Makes room for intentional movement — gentle yoga, qigong, stretching or walking can wake the body gradually rather than rushing from sleep directly into stress. • Allows you to choose your state before the world chooses it for you — breathe, journal, visualize, pray, practice gratitude or simply sit quietly. • Encourages a consistent daily rhythm — one of Ayurveda's foundational principles for supporting balance is dinacharya: living with a steady daily routine. • Connects you with nature's rhythm — instead of beginning the day under artificial light and immediately reaching for a screen, you get to witness darkness slowly become light. It doesn't have to mean a complicated 90-minute morning routine: *Wake a little earlier. *Open the curtains. *Sip some warm water. *Take five deep breaths. *Move your body. *Say thank you. *Watch the sun come up. ☀️ Sometimes wellness isn't about adding more but rather remembering how humans have lived alongside nature for thousands of years. How simple can it be? Rise to align to the rhythm of the day.

If something about this week's breathwork resonated with you, I’d love to invite you to keep exploring this work with me. I’m Alyssa Wack — a trauma informed breathwork facilitator and emotional integration coach. I work with those who are curious about why they think, feel, react, and relate the way they do — and what it actually takes to change the patterns that keep repeating. A lot of my work lives in the space between “I know this already” and “I’m actually living it.” We can understand our patterns intellectually, and still find ourselves reacting from the same old places when we’re triggered, overwhelmed, disconnected, or in the middle of a difficult relationship moment. Or maybe we are facing conflict/tension in our day to day and struggling to see what's underneath or how to move forward in a way that creates lasting change. Breathwork, emotional work, embodiment, and tools like emotional freedom technique (EFT) can give us another way in — not just to understand ourselves, but to actually work with what is happening in the moment as it's happening. I’ve put together a few simple practices you can come back to in real life: New to active breathwork? Start here 20-Minute Breathwork Reset EFT Reset And if you’d like to experience breathwork in a more personal or private setting, I also offer private 1:1 and couples breathwork sessions — a space to slow down, work with what's present, and explore what's underneath the challenges you may be facing in day-to-day life, in yourself or your relationships. You can find me on Instagram @alyssawack, lately I've been exploring something new so you can also find some of my work on Substack, or reach out directly at [email protected] if you’re curious about working together.