Back to school...for all of us.

autumncozy.tumblr.com

And suddenly, that’s it.  Summer has ended.  On Sunday  I was lying out in the garden, lolling on the lawn, dog at side, book in hand.  Today, abruptly, it’s autumn.  My fingers are feeling the chill as I type.  Yes, already.   And it’s back to school.   For all of us. 

Autumn used to be my favourite season when I was young.  I loved the fresh sparky energy of September; it was inexorably linked with new starts.  Call me weird but I enjoyed the start of each school year – new books, new shoes, new pencil case. The feeling that you could wipe clean the slate and make things good.  Maybe.  Now?  Not so much.  I have shifted allegiance to spring.  If you’re interested in seasonal living, check out The Natural Year.  J

Meanwhile James is heading back to school.  I think, to be honest, he’s relieved.  And, once again, I have to extend some grateful thanks to Tesco Clothing for getting him kitted out.  Actually, the whole clothing thing is a bit of a headache right now.  Last Christmas he was shorter than I.  Somewhere around March I suddenly realised I was eyeballing him and now he’s overtaken not just me but Adrian and is lurking somewhere over the six foot mark.  Nothing fits.  NOTHING. 

‘It’s okay, Mum,’ he said stoically, trousers flapping around his calves, straining to do up the buttons on his shirt.   I got him a gym membership over the summer and he now has more muscles than is right and holy for a nearly 15 year old.  Plus he beats me hands (and legs)-down on the cross-trainer.

‘No,’ I said.  ‘Just no.’ 

And, in the nick of time, the nice PR for Tesco sent us an online voucher and so we’re stocked with trousers and shirts.   They’ve upped their game too – the trousers have been a bit thin in the past but this time they are pretty solid. Impressive.   I hadn’t realised Tesco also do branded stuff online so we managed to nab him some Nike sports shorts and, what the hell, a pretty snazzy T-shirt too. 

I was reading something the other day about how one shouldn’t buy school clothes from supermarkets but, for the love of God, when your child is growing like a weed (and you’re not made of cash) who, honestly, has the choice?  This kit is fit for purpose – does what it says on the label, and it looks and wears just as well as other, more expensive, brands.   In fact, having bought kit from both Tesco and M&S in the past, truly I can’t tell the difference. 

Anyhow.  I’m grateful that he’s going back to school not looking like an out-take from Oliver.  Except…damnit!  Clean forgot to get his blazer cleaned and haven’t a clue where his shoes are and, and… 

 I too am making a bit of a fresh start.  Tomorrow, I’m heading off to Grayshott Spa for a week’s Health Regime.  Not pampering stuff this time (sadly it’s all abdominal massages and castor oil packs rather than sybaritic loveliness) but what the heck.   I’ve been sliding a bit lately – the odd bottle of wine here, the odd bottle of Kummel there.  Time to get a grip.  J 

The Natural Year...

There were primroses along the banks as the SP and I walked up into the woods this morning. The wild garlic was shooting up and a haze of green was shimmering over the forest floor. Spring is dawning. The earth is waking up again.  It put me in mind of my second book, The Natural Year, which I wrote when I was living on the Somerset Levels.  A very different landscape, flat wetlands punctuated by soft bosomy hills.  Every day I walked with Monty, our boxer, and noticed the tiny shifts in the world around me and felt how they were echoed within – in my body, my mind, my emotions, my ‘soul’. 

Certain times of the year resonated in different ways.  They had a different mood, a different ambiance and it felt to me that it was important to honour that, to shift the way I lived to fit with the cycles of the year.  That there were times to be all outward and gung-ho but equally times to go within, to bring the focus inside.

Yet society goes right against this – demanding that we’re always up, always switched on, always bright.  It completely ignores the natural cycle of life, the wheel of the year. 

So I wrote The Natural Year.  My puny attempt to redress the balance, to suggest ways of bringing more natural rhythms into our lives. 

We have spent the last century or so desperately running away from nature. We have sought to control the natural world, to bend it to our will, to allow ourselves to live free of its dictates. We have ignored the wisdom of the ancient earth-keepers, those who held faith with the Earth.  We have been arrogant and careless. 

And we pay a price. We become sick in body, sick in mind and sick in spirit. 

Anyhow.  I started The Natural Year with spring.  Because, to me, it symbolises new beginnings with the bursting of fresh life, the optimism that comes with lengthening days and increased sunlight. We come out of the mystical soul-time of winter into a season which is unashamedly about the physical.   It’s a great time to start on a new life-plan because you’ll be working with the thrust of the year, moving with the energy of its natural rhythm. 

So, if you want to make changes in your life, now is a great time to get started.

The Natural Year was originally published by Bantam Books but I recently had the rights reverted and now (thanks to Kim Jewell) it’s available for download to Kindle.  I’ve kept the price low – so hopefully it’s within reach of everyone’s pockets.  Check it out here and here. 

It’s a smorgasbord of all the stuff I learned from all the fascinating people I met when I was writing a weekly natural health column for the Daily Mail; plus my own interests and researching.  The idea is that it will take you through the year, offering suggestions and hints and tips. You pick those that resonate and let the rest drift by…it’s not a draconian plan or bullying regime by any manner of means. 

I’ve also created a visual board for it on Pinterest and intend to post up odd bits of information along with lovely images that sum up the shifting seasons.  So do drop by and check it out periodically. 

Let me leave you with some thoughts for spring. 

Key focus: getting into the body, working on your relationship with your physical self. 

Secondary focus: starting to think about your life, about introducing change, if that is what you need.

The main tasks: introducing a healthy diet; starting to exercise; detoxification; tonifying the body; boosting the lymphatic system; increasing flexibility.

Questions to ask yourself: How do I really want to live my life? The rest of my life?  How do I want to treat my body? Am I willing to take responsibility for my health? Am I willing to take responsibility for my mind? 

By the way, if anyone would like to review the book for your blog, drop me a line.