Autumn – a time to turn inward and accept the Power of Change
Perhaps your inbox is bombarded with tips for the season – pumpkin-themed recipes, back to school tips, Halloween happenings. I know many of us love this time of year. Yet for some it forbodes an impending doom – summer is gone and winter will be upon us with all its frigid cold and dangerous icy patches!
Finding Meaning in the Season
Let’s take a breath and consider what this time of year has meant over the millennia for many cultures that experience the four seasons and confer its symbology into their philosophies. Fall is a time when the energy we spent outwardly growing and producing fruits all summer is mostly spent and then that energy converges inward to prepare for winter’s hibernation and storage of energy until life’s rebirth in spring.
In health terms, if we choose to live in tune with the seasons, our physical and mental energies turn inward also. It’s the perfect time for reflection, and warming our hearts and spirits with gentle activity and meditation. I like to take this time of year to revisit my purpose and values.
Over the summer, I was busy enjoying outdoor activity, engaging with friends, and allowing a bit more freedom into my schedule. Now, I want to hunker down and get back to the core of why I’m on this planet. Here are some suggestions to help you take advantage of the inward turning of life’s energy so that your roots may be well mulched to endure the long and cold winter months.
My Tips for Harnessing the Power of Change
- Journaling – not your thing? Never done it before? Need enticing? Start with a beautiful book in which to write your deepest thoughts and dreams! I love Paperblanks. I’ve gone through many of these over the years and delight in getting a unique new design each time.
- Mindfulness for the Beginner – ok, I’m no one to talk about having a devoted meditation practice, but over the years I’ve learned there are so many ways to incorporate mindfulness without sitting on a cushion or chair 30 minutes twice a day as experts such as Deepak Chopra recommend (although I do believe this is an admirable and worthy practice). The important point of meditation is to give that monkey mind we all have a break and focus on being in the present moment, so try one of these methods that fit into your life if sitting still is not appealing.
- Take in Nature – this can be as simple as walking around the block and collecting fallen leaves, or visiting a nearby stream and listening to it gurgle, or laying outside and looking up at the infinite sky for a few minutes. Again, this is all the same as #2, which we really all need as much of as we can get.
- Weightless floating – a friend recently visited the local Float Club and commented on how she was able to release control and tension more and more and more during her hour session. This can be useful for the very type A person who is constantly in action and has trouble turning off. Here’s a link to a local place to try.
- Let go of that which no longer serves you – This takes courage and willingness to look at yourself from the inside, and identify what you have accumulated so far this year that is not for your highest good. You can consider consulting a therapist or a good friend to help you identify old patterns that you are ready or in need of releasing. Some people like to write these things down on paper and burn them in a fire.
- Acupuncture – many of my patients say that acupuncture helps them shift energetically so that the previous 5 tips are accessible and useful. Acupuncture works by releasing energetic blockages within our bodies thus restoring homeostasis when the natural flow of energy is reestablished. Breath comes easier, patience is more attainable, and stress is more manageable. Here is more information about Acupuncture on my site and in Wikipedia.
What do you usually do and think when energy shifts and we are facing the the power of change? Please, share in the social media with me or contact me personally!
I hope this article has been helpful for anyone who could use a shift or who was just curious about how to best utilize the change of season!
