The seasonal guide
Living with the Hong Kong year.
Ayurveda is a seasonal medicine. Humidity, typhoons, air conditioning and the long damp winter all shape what the body needs — here is what to eat, how to move and when to rest, month by month.
The Hong Kong year · tap a month · you are in autumn
The air dries out and the mind speeds up.
The humidity drops, a breeze comes through the towers, and skin dries before you notice it. Movement without grounding.
What the season is doing
By late September Hong Kong finally cools, the humidity drops and a breeze comes through. Vata — air and space — rises with it: dry skin, cracked lips, constipation, light sleep and a mind that will not settle.
In one line
The air dries out and the mind speeds up.
The daily rhythm
7am
Warm and oiled
Warm water first, then ghee or oil with breakfast. No cold or raw mornings.
12:30pm
Warmest, wettest meal
Soup or stew, something sweet at the end, eaten sitting down.
9:30pm
Oiled feet, low lights
Oil the soles, socks on, screens off. Vata sleep breaks easily.
Eating
- Warm, oily and grounding: soups, stews, ghee, cooked roots, dates, soaked almonds.
- Have something sweet, sour and salty at each meal.
- Pull back on raw salad, crackers, popcorn and cold drinks.
- Eat at the same times each day. Regularity settles Vata more than any herb.
Moving
- Slow, grounding yoga or a steady walk — not the fast intervals of summer.
- Gentle strength work twice a week, finishing with a long savasana.
- Alternate nostril breathing morning and evening.
Resting
- Warm sesame oil self-massage two or three times a week before bathing.
- Oil the soles of your feet and put socks on at bedtime.
- Screens off by 9:30pm. Vata sleep breaks easily.
The tastes to lean on
Six tastes, arranged for the weather outside. This is the simplest lever you have.
Favour this season
Sweet
Ghee, cooked roots, dates, rice
Sour
Lemon, tamarind, fermented rice
Salty
Rock salt, miso, seaweed
Go lighter on
Bitter
Raw greens, strong coffee, dark chocolate
Astringent
Crackers, popcorn, dry beans
Pungent
Dry chilli, raw onion, excess spice
If the season is sitting on you
Dry skin, lips or eyes
Sesame oil on the skin after bathing, and ghee with dinner.
Constipated or gassy
Warm water on waking, cooked food, and no cold breakfasts.
Waking at 2–4am with a busy mind
Oil the feet, drop the phone, and keep lights low after 9pm.
Small seasonal remedies
Warm sesame oil
Self-massage two or three times a week before bathing.
Ashwagandha in warm milk
Grounding for a scattered mind and light sleep.
Ghee with dinner
A teaspoon melts dryness from the inside out.
Seasonal reset
The autumn reset
Five days of warm, oily, soupy food — ghee, roots, dates, stewed fruit — with a 9:30pm lights-out. It rebuilds the nervous system before winter asks more of it.
Ayurveda works alongside, not instead of, your medical care. I do not diagnose disease or replace your doctor. If you are pregnant, on medication or managing a condition, adjust with your practitioner first.