Well Fed Woman // Fall into Winter: Seasonal energetics, Food lists, Rituals, & Routines for the Cozy Witch
- Dr. Anne Ferguson
- Sep 15
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 17
Welcome! This post explains the seasonal energetics of autumn and early winter from the points of view of TCM, Ayurveda, and Celtic traditions. It also includes food lists and fun seasonal rituals to embody the seasonal energetics.
Seasonal Energetics
Fall: Portal to the West
This is a “portal through which death occurs.” This is a time of sutika where the veil is thinnest between our world and the otherworld(s).
Ayurveda: Vata season, where the Vata dosha (Ruled by the elements of air and ether) is dominant. As the Fall can bring cold and wind, this can create imbalances in us that manifest as coldness, dryness, flightiness, insomnia, anxiety, etc.Therefore, it’s important to have structure and routines to remain balanced. And, vata loves structure and routines!
Chinese Medicine: Fall is ruled by the element of metal and governed by the lungs and large intestines. Fall is the time of year where the yang of summer is waning into yin, and we are shifting from movement to stillness. It’s a time to harvest what is nourishing to us and release what no longer serves us. Our lungs bring us life with our breath (nourishment), and our large intestines eliminates what we no longer need (release). When balanced through appropriate seasonal routines, we have nourishing breath, healthy elimination, and we are able to grieve and let go gently, while also being able to hold on to memories that are precious. When out of balance, we suffer respiratory issues and emotional processing issues.
Early Winter: Portal to the North
This is a portal through which we can access void consciousness and really lean into rituals of rest, warming our inner hearth, dreaming, and visioning in fertile darkness.
Ayurveda: Early winter is still ruled by vata (see above).
Chinese Medicine: Winter is ruled by the element of water and governed by the kidney and urinary bladder. Winter is a deeply nourishing yin time, granting us much needed rest, reflection, and visioning with which to be reborn in the spring time. There is an energetic need for retraction and hibernation as our qi flows more deeply inside of us. This is an invitation to go deep within ourselves, to connect with our root self. The elemental ruler, water, always flows toward life. To maintain a healthy flow and ease throughout this season, we must embrace routines and rituals that allow rest,rejuvenation, and easeful flow.
Food Lists for Fall & Early Winter
PLEASE NOTE: Take what resonates and leave what does not. These routines are meant as guidelines to deepen your embodiment with the Earth’s seasons. It does NOT need to be perfect. I certainly do not adhere to all of these things. I recommend choosing 1-2 to really integrate into your life this season so that it is truly embodied. The following year, you could add 1-2 more. This season is about slowing down to regenerate, and it’s only through slowness and presence can we truly integrate and embody something.
GRAINS It is best to eat these as cooked grains.
Best: Amaranth, oats (cooked), quinoa, basmati rice (white or brown), unprocessed wheat // Small Amounts: Barley, millet //Avoid: Buckwheat, corn flour (chips, bread, and tortillas), dry oats (granola), polenta, rye
DAIRY
Best: Butter, buttermilk, kefir, milk, sour cream, cottage cheese or queso fresco, yogurt (fresh) // Small Amounts: Hard, smelly cheeses // Avoid: Ice cream, frozen yogurt
OILS
Best: Almond, ghee, sesame // Small Amounts: Avocado, castor, coconut, flaxseed, mustard, olive, peanut
SWEETENERS With vata, moderation is key. Even the healthiest form of sweets can cause imbalance in excess.
Best: Raw, uncooked honey, maple syrup, molasses, brown rice syrup, sucanat // Small Amounts: Date sugar // Avoid: Brown sugar, white sugar
FRUITS
Best: Baked apples, apricots, avocados, bananas (ripe), blackberries, cantaloupe, cherries, coconut, cranberry sauce, fresh dates (not dry), figs (fresh), grapefruit, grapes, lemons, mangos, nectarines, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapple, plums, raspberries, strawberries (ripe), tangerines // Small Amounts: Apples (sour is best), pomegranate // Avoid: Dried fruit of any kind, cranberries
VEGETABLES Cooked vegetables are best. Most raw veggies will disturb vata.
Best: Avocado, beets, carrots (not as a juice), leeks, mustard greens, okra, onions (well cooked), parsnips, shallots, acorn squash, winter squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, water chestnuts // Small Amounts: Broccoli, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumber, eggplant, green beans, kale, medium chilies and hot peppers, mushrooms, potatoes, radishes, seaweed, spinach, sweet peas, zucchini. Lettuce, spinach, and any leafy green can be eaten uncooked with a creamy or oily dressing occasionally // Avoid: Alfalfa sprouts, artichokes (unless served with a butterlemon sauce), asparagus, bean sprouts, Brussels sprouts, cabbage (even cooked), raw vegetables, snow peas.
NUTS AND SEEDS Nuts should also be eaten in moderation, and lightly roasted and salted. Dry roasting should be avoided. Nut butters are fine.
Best: Almonds // Small Amounts: Cashews, filberts, pecans, pinon, pistachio, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and any other nut not mentioned // Avoid: Peanuts
MEATS Meat soups can be particularly nourishing when you are depleted, fatigued or overcoming sickness.
Best: Chicken and turkey (dark meat), beef, duck, eggs, fresh water fish, lamb, pork, seafood, venison // Small Amounts: Chicken and turkey (white meat), shellfish
LEGUMES
Best: Mung beans // Small Amounts: Tofu, hummus // Avoid: Aduki beans, black beans, chickpeas, fava beans, kidney beans, lentils, Mexican beans, navy beans, pinto beans, soybeans (except as tofu or soy milk)
SPICES
Best: Anise, basil, bay leaf, caraway, cardamom, catnip, cinnamon, clove, cumin, dill, fennel, fenugreek, garlic, ginger (fresh), marjoram, mustard, nutmeg, oregano, pepper, peppermint, poppy seeds, rosemary, saffron, sage, spearmint, thyme, turmeric. // Small Amounts: Cayenne pepper, cilantro, ginger (dry), horseradish, mustard, parsley.
CONDIMENTS
Best: Mayonnaise, vinegar // Small Amounts: Ketchup // Avoid: Carob, chocolate
BEVERAGES
Best: warm water, spicy teas such as chamomile, cinnamon, clove, and ginger // Small Amounts: Diluted fruit juices // Avoid: All alcohol, black tea, carbonated mineral water, coffee, fruit juices, soft drinks
Rituals & Routines
Sip warm spiced teas, such as ginger tea, throughout the day.
Give yourself an oil massage every day. This will not only help the skin but will also help to ground the air energy that causes anxiety and/or sleeplessness. Sesame oil is an excellent winter oil as it is both nourishing and warming.
Take a warm bath with ginger powder to warm and stimulate.
Go to bed between 9:00 and 10:00 pm. Get sufficient rest. Adequate rest is the number one remedy for increasing the immune power of the body. Winter is the only time when we can really let ourselves sleep as much as needed. In fact, our not-so-distant ancestors used to enjoy an amazing amount of sleep during the colder months. Because there was no heat and electricity, it was not uncommon for people to sleep 14 or 15 hours a night.
Be okay with laying low—With the holidays at hand, we tend to spin out of balance in winter more than any other season. What were once local ritual traditions where families would meet to share in the warmth of home, hearth and nurturing stews, has now turned into the season of consumer-crazy spending, over-booked party calendars, plane flights and family dramas. Try creating more gentle holiday traditions. Keep it as local as possible. Stay inside. Light a fire.
Layer up—It may seem like common sense, but make sure to keep yourself warm. Avoid wearing too much black and dark blue during winter. I know, we all love fashionable and slimming black, but keep in mind, this color absorbs all light. Too much black leaves us with a feeling of vastness and emptiness, and these moods are already heightened during this season.
Avoid all raw and cold foods such as salad, ice water and smoothies in winter. Come on, mama, you know that your great-Grandma was not eating salad in the wintertime, and there was good reason for that.
Before bed, enjoy a mild sedative such as the hot spiced medicinal milk. Add 1/2 tsp. of ghee for even more vata-soothing and ojas (immunity) boosting properties.
Avoid loud music, excessive exercising, traveling, leftovers, cleansing/fasting and over-talking.
Exercise can be a little more active and warming in the cold of winter. This is a good time to practice warmer forms of yoga, if you are so inclined. Emphasizing backbends and laterals will keep your spirits awake and alive in what can be a dark time of year.
Sources: Shakti School & my own embodied experience
Immune Support for Winter & Seasonal Transitions:
Lung Support & Grief/Letting Go Support:
Digestive Support:
Women’s Health:
Glow: Rose Floral Mist
Visioning & Dreaming:
For Devotional work:
For Shadow Work:
For Deep Rest:
✨Go Deeper into the Seasons with Me ✨
This post is just one piece of a bigger teaching I call Well Fed Woman, a free bonus section inside my Yoni Herbal Substack. Well-Fed Woman is where I share expanded seasonal recipes, herbal allies, and embodied kitchen practices for women and families.
The Yoni Herbal itself is my living classroom for feminine body literacy, herbal wisdom, and cyclical care — a space where we remember the body as oracle and ally. Inside the Yoni Herbal you’ll also find Glow School, a seasonal beauty temple devoted to radiance, skin, and adornment rituals aligned with the rhythms of nature.
And if you want to go even deeper into the archetypal and energetic side of the seasons, I invite you into The Medusa Year — my mythic descent and initiation journey through Persephone, Domnu, Lilith, Aphrodite, Selkie, and beyond, held in the axis of Medusa and Babalon.
🌿 Explore the Yoni Herbal & Well-Fed Woman
💎 Step into the Glow School Temple
🌀 Enter The Medusa Year
This is Tantric Witch Journal, filled with magical and practical tools and rituals for riding and embodying the regenerative currents of the Earth's seasons. Enchant yourself!
magical tools and rituals for becoming fully embodied and fully ensouled.
Enchant yourself.
Comments