Crisp mornings, a different slant of light, and the leaves on the trees beginning to change. If you are anything like me, you are feeling like your bed is especially cozy these darker mornings. I am also finding myself craving different foods as the lighter fare of summer give way to autumn’s harvest.
This idea of harvest includes more than the plants in our gardens. This is also a time of gathering energetically. It can be beneficial at this time of year to finish projects we’ve started earlier in the year, tidying up our internal garden for the coming winter and the quiet turning inward.
Sometimes that can be hard to navigate. The outside world often seems to be working against us, always presenting more tasks and more opportunities. With the shorter hours of daylight, we can feel like we have less time to do more.
Amid the demands and pressures, including the ones we place on ourselves, it’s especially important to create nourishing spaces in our day, physically, emotionally, and energetically. One of the best ways to do that is to get in sync with the natural rhythm of this time of the year instead of trying to fight it. Autumn is all about the shift from heat and energy to rest and replenish. If you’re feeling frazzled, this might be a good time to look at your daily schedule and see if you can identify places to downshift.
It has become part of my personal practice this year to embrace the growing darkness by making my morning yoga practice a slower, even more mindful candlelit one. It becomes a lovely ritual, deliberately preparing the space, spending time in meditation beforehand, and then bringing that intention into movement. As the sun rises, I feel relaxed and ready for the day ahead. You could just as easily make this candlelight yoga practice part of your routine before bed.
Some other ways to sync with the season…
Get out for walk, especially if you are accustomed to high-intensity exercise. Take time to notice the brilliant color of a fallen leaf. Listen for the calls of migrating birds. Inhale slowly and notice the cooler temperature of the air and the way its scent has changed and deepened.
Journaling can be a wonderful way to build in a few moments of quiet and allow space to reflect on what is going well and what seeds you might want to plant in the year to come. It can also be very helpful for working through sadness and grief that might arise this time of year.
Finally, this is the perfect time of year to cultivate a practice of gratitude. If we begin or end the day allowing a moment to reflect, we can usually find there is at least one thing we are grateful for, however small it may seem. It doesn’t mean we don’t acknowledge the difficult things in our lives or project a false positivity. We open a small space for letting in the good. What’s more nourishing than that?
How are you called to shift with the season?
With love,
Kathleen