Nutrition, health and wellbeing are intrinsically linked. When we’re conscious of our food choices and aware of our personal needs, we’re choosing the most responsible, liberating way of eating and living. Being mindful while food shopping, cooking and eating can greatly enhance this everyday experience.

The autumnal months are generally the most supportive of a good night’s sleep. Daybreak tends to coincide with the time we want to rise and it’s already dark when we want to go to bed. Our vitality-boosting vitamin D stores are still stocked up from the summer sun, and the general hum of back-to-school energy tends to keep our activity levels up during the day, leaving us more than ready to drift off at bedtime.

Our previous seasonal recommendations for sleep still hold, but today SOL expert Florence Neville shares how to sleep well in autumn, focusing on a few simple techniques that can make a big difference at this time of year.

Today, SOL nutrition expert Florence Neville tells us what to eat in autumn, sharing advice and ideas to help you feel nourished and content throughout the season.

Do you often experience moments of feeling present and calm? Or are you more likely to feel ‘super busy’ and overwhelmed as you rush from one commitment to the next?

It’s hardly surprising. After all, we live in a busy, fast-paced world. Many of us don’t just struggle to fit in work and family commitments, we must also deal with the mental work involved in organising and coordinating everything that goes into meeting these commitments.

In Chinese Five Element theory, autumn, with its clear blue skies and fresh air, is governed by the element Metal. Metal relates to the emotion of grief, to the lungs, skin and large intestine, and to immunity, boundaries and purification.

Today, SOL expert Florence Neville explains why autumn is the perfect time of year for re-establishing boundaries, resolving deep-rooted sadness and releasing what no longer serves us.

Chinese Five Elements Theory follows a five season cycle, dividing summer into two parts; early and late summer, because they both have a distinct and different feel. Each season corresponds with one of the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) and supports, nourishes and prepares the body for the next season, creating a constant cycle of wellbeing.

In late summer, fire’s exuberant summer gifts give way to earth’s natural abundance of crops to harvest, tree fruits to pick, and pumpkins to make pies with!

What is Loving-Kindness Meditation?

Loving-kindness meditation is about cultivating compassion and love through mentally repeating a series of phrases. It’s a meditation of care, concern, tenderness and friendship that helps create a feeling of warmth for oneself and others.

The practice was originally called metta bhavana in the Pali language – metta meaning love {in a non-romantic sense}, friendliness or kindness, and bhavana meaning development or cultivation.

Loving-kindness is unconditional, inclusive love. There are no expectations of receiving anything in return. We begin by loving ourselves, because without this it’s difficult to extend love to others. Then we include those who are special to us and, ultimately, all living things. Gradually, blending visualisation and meditation phrases creates a lived experience, the feeling of loving-kindness.