How freeing it is to let go,
To shed the parts of me that once flourished,
To surrender to the unknown.
There is no purer form of trust in allowing myself to shed,
To crack,
To crumble,
Knowing that it is only this unraveling that leads to true becoming.
So I lean into the fading light,
The darkness,
The cool air on my skin,
And I breathe.
I let myself be carried,
Trusting that even in the silence,
Life moves through me.
Just like the lungs need to empty and the trees must loosen their golden leaves,
It is in this space,
This stillness,
This quiet hollow left behind,
Where I can truly listen and find my way home.
I invite you to find a comfortable way to sit,
Whatever that looks like for you today.
Any seat is a good seat.
Just allowing yourself to become comfortable in whatever position you find yourself in.
And when you feel ready,
You can close down the eyes if that feels safe or just soften the gaze down,
Beginning to turn your awareness inside,
Noticing sensations in the body,
Noticing without the need to change or control anything,
Just noticing everything going on inside,
Scanning your internal landscape.
Can you begin to feel into the effortlessness of the breath right now?
So no control,
No technique.
Notice where the breath feels most vivid for you.
Maybe that's the expansion and contraction of the ribcage.
Or for you,
That might be the temperature of the air as it enters the nose and as it leaves.
Feeling the breath in the body.
With each inhale,
Feel the spaciousness,
The sustenance,
The nourishment it brings.
You can let every exhale melt off a little layer of debris,
Feeling a deep drop down with every exhalation.
Feel your outer hips cascading down,
Plugging you further into your seat.
Feel the parts of your body that are connecting to the earth underneath of you,
The ankles,
The pelvic floor,
Connecting to this earth's energy.
Even if you're sitting in a chair or on a bed,
You can be aware of the earth's energy underneath of you.
This living organism that has been here for billions of years,
Nurturing and supporting all life.
From this grounding and nurturing energy,
Can you feel the spine rise up?
From the base of the spine all the way up to the crown of the head in a way that feels soft and easy and stable.
As you sit in this soft and stable space,
Begin to deepen the breath now.
Every inhalation bringing new beginnings,
New possibility.
Noticing the pause at the top of the breath,
The space in between,
Allowing that pranic energy to circulate in the body.
And with every exhale,
We can release and let go,
Starting the cycle again.
Every moment in transition,
Every breath,
A letting go,
A new beginning.
Can you begin to feel how the breath mirrors the transitions in life?
So from day to night and night to day,
Each lunar cycle from new moon to full moon and full moon to new moon.
The summer flows into autumn,
Winter,
Spring,
And then back again.
Each breath,
Inhale to exhale,
Exhale to inhale.
Each moment arising and falling away,
Arising and falling away,
Arising and falling away.
And so in this time of autumn that we're in right now,
We can see that there is really so much beauty in letting go.
Trees shed their leaves in full trust that spring will return in full bloom.
Just as we let go of every exhalation,
We allow ourselves to empty completely in full trust that we will be rewarded with more life force.
And yet we so often cling when we aren't ready to let go of something,
Or when we're afraid of what we're losing,
Afraid of the unknown.
And Alan Watts has said,
To have life,
To have its pleasure,
We must at the same time let go of it.
And really this clinging comes from fear.
And letting go comes from trust and faith and courage.
So can we feel inspired by this season to release and let go of the things that we cling to?
So now can you again bring your awareness to the parts of your body making contact with the ground underneath of you?
And now can you visualize and feel your roots?
Growing from underneath of you.
Grounding you into this earth that you are part of.
And from that energy,
From the earth's energy,
From your roots,
Can you feel it moving up your spine?
And can you visualize your spine as the trunk of a tree?
Strong,
And stable,
And elegant,
And beautiful.
And can you see and feel your branches reaching out in all directions?
Vast and colorful leaves at the end of each branch.
Each leaf representing a part of you or a part of your life.
Emotions,
Relationships,
Material possessions,
Thoughts,
And beliefs that you hold.
Can you just take a moment to scan the leaves and see what's there?
Just observing and noticing what appears on your leaves.
What colors are they?
What are the shapes?
Now can you begin to see the leaves changing to vibrant colors of red,
And orange,
And yellow?
And slowly,
One by one,
The leaves start to fall.
Notice what leaves you shed first,
Whether it's a difficult relationship,
A job,
A limiting belief.
What,
Intuitively,
Does your mind know that you need to release?
And can you allow yourself to take the seat of the witness here,
To simply watch what leaves need to fall from your branches?
Knowing that in order to stay as strong and stable as you are to your core,
In order to bloom vibrantly and beautifully again,
These leaves need to fall.
And can you let them fall with full trust?
Can you release them from your being into the soil around you?
Staying grounded and centered in your breath,
Knowing that even though your leaves are shedding,
You are whole.
You remain strong and stable,
Grounded and rooted.
Trusting that new life will soon grow from your branches,
New possibilities.
New possibilities,
New relationships,
New ways of thought.
But through these seasons of fall and winter,
You can use this time to turn inward,
To reconnect with yourself at your core,
To rest,
To begin anew,
And just taking a few moments here to watch your leaves fall.
Notice what it is that your mind intuitively knows that you need to release,
And just simply watch them fall,
Landing around you in the soil.
A beautiful release.
Staying centered in your breath.
Whatever emotions arise,
Just allow them to be there.
Knowing that just like the breath rises and falls away,
Emotions and thoughts do the same.
They come,
They go,
They pass.
Just allow it to be.
And slowly beginning to come back to the room that you're in now.
Noticing what you're feeling,
Any sensations in the body.
Again,
Feeling the parts of your body making contact with the surface that you're sitting on.
Feeling the touch of your clothing on your skin,
The subtleties of your breath.
Maybe you start to find little bits of movement,
Wiggling the fingers,
Shifting side to side.
And in your own time,
You can open the eyes and fully come back to the room.
And if you feel called,
I do invite you to journal on your experience here.
Writing down anything that came up for you,
Anything that was obvious that you feel you need to release or let go of.
And if you have any questions or comments or anything,
You can always reach out to me at any time.
And thank you so much for sharing this practice with me.
I wish you a beautiful day.
