KatieGustafson.Co | The Practice

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The Fall Edit 2024

Fall is undoubtedly my favorite season. I feel a bit like Mr. Fitzgerald in that life seems to offer a second, and equally romantic, Spring, or new beginning when early October rolls around. Ah, the sweaters, jackets, and boots, oh my! 

Yet I’m also well acquainted with the struggles and temptations that come along with the changing seasons. The days get shorter, schedules mount up, self-care tends to wane, and I often feel a dank, subtle chill of loneliness sneak in. 

Have you struggled much with seasonal depression?

I have…big time. That said, I’ve learned the hard way how vital it is to intentionally manage expectations and routines in order to stay connected to daily hope and healing. In light of this, I like to send out a Fall Edition of sorts—full of new ideas and opportunities to stay on top of our self-care game and intentionally surround ourselves with beauty as we head into the coming months. If you follow fashion, it’s a bit like that thick, bounding, September Vogue edition boasting fall’s most delicious offerings. Pure magic. 

This year, I’m more excited than ever to explore some new opportunities to connect to yourself and your community in life-giving ways. 

All too often we’re tempted into autopilot—that sleepy trance of contained chaos—and end up just going through the motions. I don’t know about you, but I want to feel alive and awake in my experience this fall, savoring each moment like a gift—or that inaugural pumpkin spice latte. 

Here are a few ideas to support you in this pursuit. I think you’ll find something you can enjoy despite the hectic demands of the season.

  1. Book Club: One of my favorite new offerings this year has been the Experiential Book Club, where we meet virtually once a month to work through an interactive book that helps support you creatively, spiritually, financially, and emotionally. This year, we kicked things off with my favorite, The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron.  Come January, we will pivot to Money, A Love Story, by Kate Northrup, to ignite a new, healthy relationship with money, something that tends to be a charged or taboo topic of conversation.   Want to be the first to know when registration opens?  Join the waiting list.  

  2. Podcast: Podcasts are my favorite way to consume thoughtful and insightful content on the go.  I’m always looking for new ones to check out.  Fun fact, I’m launching my own next Spring (Stay tuned!), but in the mean time, I have been loving The Enneagram 2.0, brought to you by my friends and colleages, Beatrice Chestnut and Uranio Paes.  I love it because it goes so much deeper than type.  It truly moves you from enneagram information to transformation, power packed with tons of application.  

  3. App: Heartstone by Tracy Anderson.  I’ve been a Tracy Anderson devotee for well over a decade,  and continue to be blown away by her innovations in the wellness/fitness world.  Most recently, her Heartstone meditation app that combines gentle mindful movement, weighted rose quartz stones, and vibey music to bring ethereal connection, mind, body, and spirit.  It has taken my meditation game to a whole new level.

  4. Product:  ARMRA colostrum.  Ever since my cancer diagnosis in 2021, I’ve been committed to protecting my health and carefully curating an arsenal of effective, proven supplements along the way.  ARMRA is central in the mix.  It truly is a revival for your immune system, as the tag line suggests.  As we become more and more convinced of the importance of gut health and how it’s vitality spills over onto literally every other aspect of our health, this product is like a nourishing force field to promote and protect it. It’s benefits are countless. I’ve even replaced my collagen and a few other supplements I’ve used for years with it!  Game changer.  

  5. Cozy: Maison Louis Marie No. 4 Bois de Balincourt is the fragrance I always come back to.  When they created a candle with the scent, I was over the moon.  It’s equal parts clean, romantic, and earthy.  A perfect transition from summer to fall and a classic scent that invites the dreamiest aesthetic in your home or office.  

  6. Bonus! Fashion Crush: The Zara Cropped Trench is my new favorite transitional staple.  It elevates any outfit and screams chic with a hint of edge at a super affordable price.  The Fall Edit would not be complete without a pop of fun fashion!

Alright y’all, that’s a wrap!  May your pumpkin spice lattes by hot, your morning walks, crisp,  and your tall boots, heeled.   

Love & Gratitude,

Katie