Welcome to between summer and autumn.
Finding peace in times of change.
There are moments in the year when one season has not quite ended.
And the next has already begun to whisper.
The air still holds a little of summer's warmth.
Yet the light is changing.
The leaves are still green,
But here and there among the branches,
A flicker of gold appears.
Summer has not quite released its hold,
And autumn is quietly on its way.
And this is a season between seasons.
It's a gentle beating place,
A threshold.
And maybe you are standing at a threshold of your own.
Something may be changing around you or quietly changing within you.
You may not yet know what comes next.
You may still be holding the warmth of what has been seen,
While sensing a new season beginning to stir.
So for these next few moments,
There is nowhere else you need to be.
Let this be a peaceful pause,
A place to breathe,
To soften and to remember that you do not have to hurry through change.
So find your comfy space warm and cozy.
Feel your body soften and gently close your eyes.
Feel the surface beneath you steady and supportive.
And just notice where your body is being held.
Take a slow easy breath in.
And then just breathe out with a soft sigh.
Breathing in gently.
And breathing out slowly,
Letting go of any stress or tension.
Simply meet your breath as it is.
Breathe in.
And with your exhale soften a little around your shoulders,
Your jaw,
The space between your eyebrows.
Let your hands rest easily.
And let your body know that for now it can settle.
As your breathing finds its own quiet rhythm.
You see yourself at the beginning of a peaceful country path.
It is one of those beautiful late summer days.
When the sun still carries warmth but the air feels clearer than it did only a few weeks ago.
This beautiful path stretches gently before you,
Winding between hedgerows,
Trees and open fields.
So you begin to walk at an easy and hurried pace.
There is a softness beneath your feet and a light breeze moving through the grasses beside you.
You feel the sun touch your face.
It's warm enough to remind you of those summer days.
But gentle enough to tell you that the season is turning.
Pause for a moment and just notice the sky above.
It's so wide open and washed with a tender blue.
A few clouds drift slowly overhead.
And they are moving without strain.
Without needing to know exactly where they are going.
And maybe something within you now begins to ease.
And as you continue along this path.
The last wildflowers brighten the edges.
Small bursts of color,
Summer's lingering gift.
Bees are still moving amongst them,
Gathering what remains,
While the seed heads sway alongside the petals.
Bloom and seed,
Ripening and resting,
Summer and autumn all here together.
Do you realise that nature does not draw a hard line between one season and the next?
Nature does not wake one morning and become entirely different.
The change arises in small signs.
A cooler breath of air at dawn.
A spider's web jeweled with dew.
The first blackberry darkening in the hedge.
A leaf edged with amber.
And the shadows beginning to stretch a little farther across the earth.
Change comes so quietly.
One almost imperceptible moment at a time.
And that may be the same for you.
Because you don't have to leave one part of your life behind all at once.
You do not have to have everything understood or decided.
Or neatly complete before something new can begin.
You are permitted to be in between.
And that may be to carry love for what has been and curiosity for what is becoming.
To feel ready in one moment but uncertain in the next.
To be changing without rushing yourself.
So take a fuller breath in.
And as you breathe out quietly say within.
I can meet change one gentle moment at a time.
Again,
Breathing in the steadiness of the earth beneath you.
And breathing out any need to know the whole path ahead.
And just repeat.
I can meet change.
One gentle moment at a time.
As you continue walking along the path.
It brings you to an old apple tree.
Its branches,
They reach outward in every direction.
Some leaves are still holding the deep green of summer,
And others are beginning to soften into gold.
Among them hang ripe apples.
They are round and sun-warmed,
The quiet abundance of months of light,
Rain and growth.
You rest beneath this tree for a while and just feel its presence beside you.
The roots are reaching deep into the air and branches are moving freely in the breeze.
They are grounded,
Yet responsive.
Steady,
Yet always changing.
The tree does not resist the cooler evenings.
It does not cling to every leaf.
Does not worry about the passing of those wonderful summer days.
But it does not hurry either towards autumn.
It simply meets this day.
Receiving the sunlight that is here.
Responding to the air that is here.
And trusting the wisdom held within its own living rhythm.
So take a moment and just let that wisdom reach you now.
You can be rooted in who you are when life moves and changes around you.
Can hold the memory of summer's warmth without asking summer to remain forever.
Without needing to know everything.
Without needing to know everything the new season will bring.
So for a few breaths now just imagine your own roots reaching gently downwards.
Not physical roots but those of a feeling of connection.
So that you become connected to the ground beneath you,
Connected to your breath flowing in.
And flowing out.
Connected to the quiet,
Enduring center within you.
So a deeper breath in.
And feel that steadiness.
Breathe out and just soften into the support beneath you.
Breathe in.
Receiving what this moment offers.
And breathe out.
Releasing the pressure to be anywhere else.
Maybe there is a change in your life that has felt uncertain.
So just let it rest lightly at the edge of your awareness.
You really can trust your ability to begin again.
And that is with your patience,
Your courage,
Your tenderness,
The quiet wisdom that has carried you through other seasons.
You feel now a small sense of reassurance.
The breeze is stirring the branches above you now.
One golden leaf loosens and begins to float down,
Turning slowly through the sunlit air.
It is dancing with the wind.
Moving into the next part of its journey.
And you watch as it comes gently to rest upon the earth.
You notice that the tree is still whole,
The sky is still wide,
And the sun is still warm.
Life has changed by one small leaf and life continues.
Just place a hand over your heart now and feel the quiet movement of your breathing beneath your hands.
And just offer yourself these words quietly.
I honor where I have been.
I am present with where I am.
I trust myself to meet what comes next.
Just take your time with those words.
Breathe them deeply into your heart.
I honour where I have been.
I am present with where I am.
I trust myself to meet what comes next.
Beautiful.
Now the afternoon light begins to deepen.
And turning the path,
The grasses and the leaves have now become a beautiful shade of gold.
It's not quite the summer light.
And it is not yet the rich amber of autumn,
But it is a light belonging only to this moment between.
And this is the gift of the threshold.
It asks you to notice what could easily be missed.
The beauty that exists before everything is resolved.
The life that is here while one chapter gently overlaps another.
The peace that can be found not by stopping change,
But by meeting yourself kindly within it.
So you slowly make your way back along the path now.
You are carrying the warmth of the sun.
The freshness of the breath.
The steadiness of the apple tree.
And that quiet dance of the golden leaf.
With every step you feel yourself returning.
Not to exactly who you were before.
But to yourself as you are now.
You are here in the moment.
And you are breathing.
You are growing.
You are changing.
And you are whole.
And gently and slowly you begin to notice the surface beneath your body.
Notice those sounds around you.
Feel the air against your skin.
Take a slow nourishing breath in.
And just breathe out.
Roll your shoulders if that feels good.
And just stretch gently.
Remember that you don't have to rush into the next season of your life.
You can stand for a while where the two seasons meet.
Welcoming the beauty.
Noticing the first quiet signs of what might be coming and finding peace here.
In the sacred changing moment between.
So when you're ready.
And carry this steadiness with you.
This wisdom.
One breath.
One step.
One changing moment at a time.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey into the in-between.
Until the next time,
Namaste my friend.
