Four Ways to Stay Full of Energy, Keep Tiredness at Bay This Fall

Humidity, cold and stress can take their toll on the body in fall. Try these four ways of giving internal energy levels a boost to help keep tiredness at bay.

Warm drinks

In fall, try swapping sodas, fruit juice and sparkling water for warm drinks. Sipping warm -- not boiling hot -- drinks before and after meals helps prevent the loss of heat while also favoring digestion. Herbal teas with lemon, ginger, rosemary, fennel, aniseed and cinnamon warm the body and invigorate. Try them instead of tea or coffee for breakfast. For those with nervous temperaments or who are quick to anger, sip on peppermint tea, which is stimulating but fresher.

Eat orange

To load up on antioxidants and tasty flavors, tuck into fall vegetables. These seasonal stars are mostly yellow or orange in color, and grow underground on the surface, like carrots, beetroot, parsnips, pumpkins, potatoes and sweet potatoes. Your gut will thank you for the soothing effect of these easy-to-digest veggies. Foods that particularly invigorate the spleen and kidneys -- veritable reservoirs of energy -- are dates, grapes, pears, potatoes, cucumber, carrots, melon, cereals, licorice, honey, cinnamon and aniseed.

Get to bed early

It's not always easy to slow the pace with today's ultra-connected and busy lifestyles. When the days get shorter, we should, however, respect this drop in energy and slow down our activities. Unless you're a natural night owl, you can snuggle up in bed from 10:30pm with no reason to feel guilty. Reading a book, doing breathing exercises, inhaling in a few drops of essential oils (Roman camomile, lavender, niaouli) or listening to music can help you drop off.

Try yin yoga

Close to meditation, yin yoga is a slow and gentle stress-bursting activity that's a great for fall. Holding floor-based poses for three to four minutes forces us to slow down and listen to the feelings and sensations of the present moment. This "time out" can be highly beneficial in the evening, to stretch the body thoroughly and nourish the immune system. If you have trouble getting motivated to go out, try an online class in the comfort of your home.