The Fall Equinox is a time of balance between night and day.
It's a reminder to embrace the interdependence of opposites.
Balancing seemingly opposing forces is a skill,
And it offers us true harmony in our lives.
Without hunger,
We wouldn't know the beauty of eating food.
Without the company of others,
We wouldn't appreciate our solitude.
Without activity,
We wouldn't love our rest.
And without work,
We wouldn't enjoy leisure.
Practicing the postures of yoga is perfect for this time of seasonal change.
We approach a yoga practice with the intention of using our underlying energy,
Or prana,
In a balanced way.
For instance,
You may have heard the fundamental classroom cue,
Root to rise.
It's a phrase that means tap into your grounding force to extend or expand.
In other words,
We can only grow from a firmly rooted base.
Here in the northern hemisphere,
We're moving through the portal from the light half of the year into the shorter,
Darker days.
Many feel this is a bad thing.
There might be a sense of dread or fear during this time.
Although there's the reality of seasonal affective disorder and a natural aversion to colder,
Darker days,
I also see cultural teachings that play a role in our disdain of the oncoming change.
If you look deeply into your roots,
You may recall childhood stories,
Ancestral myths,
Or even religious foundations that associate light with good and even all things holy,
While darkness has been associated with the bad and the evil.
Darkness is not inherently bad.
We can look into nature to help us rewrite our story about the shorter,
Darker days ahead.
Nature reminds us balance is fundamental to life.
For instance,
The longer nights trigger a growth response and even the flowering of short day plants,
Like chrysanthemums,
Poinsettias,
And Christmas cactus.
Shorter days signal deciduous trees to drop their leaves.
When a tree is dormant above ground,
The roots are still at work under the earth,
Preparing for springtime.
By reparenting ourselves with new stories and changing our attitude towards darkness,
We can recognize it as an essential part of our soul's journey and appreciate this change of season,
Seeing it as an opportunity for rest,
Contemplation,
Rejuvenation,
And personal growth.
Indigenous cultures recognize earth-based wisdom and celebrate seasonal change.
Because of harvest and oncoming cold,
Themes like gratitude,
Remembrance,
Unity,
And interconnectedness are common.
The fall equinox is a good time to seek communion with your ancestors or the spirit world and see what messages or insights they may have for you in your journey ahead.
If you don't already take part in ceremony or have personal rituals for the change of season,
You could create space for that in your life or seek out a ritual-based community to help guide you.
I'd like to offer you a short,
Open visualization exercise.
On the surface,
Visualization may seem similar to meditation,
And they're both tools to help you take purposeful action in your life.
But the visualization process is different than meditation because it asks you to mentally follow the images and emotions that spontaneously arise.
After the visualization is complete,
You can integrate your experience into your life by letting it inform you while you're fully conscious.
I recommend you keep a pen and paper near you so that when the visualization is complete,
You can write down what you saw,
Heard,
Or felt during the session.
You will not want to listen to this visualization while you're driving or at work.
Locate yourself in a comfortable,
Quiet environment.
Although you can lie down,
You may consider using pillows to prop you up in a semi-resting position or to sit up in a comfortable chair so that you don't fall asleep.
I'll give you a moment to settle in.
Now that you're ready,
Allow your eyes to relax on an unmoving object.
Your eyes may be softly focused,
Even blurry.
I'm going to count down from five to one.
And with every passing number,
Very slowly blink your eyes.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Now close your eyes and feel your eyelids relax.
Feel your body becoming heavy.
Imagine you can relax a few degrees more.
Imagine that the core of your body is very relaxed and that sensation or quality is moving outward in waves.
Feel the muscles of your face relax.
Your neck,
Shoulders,
Arms,
And hands.
Draw in a deep breath.
Feel the lungs.
And as you exhale,
Feel your chest relax.
Spine.
Belly.
Lower back.
Hips.
Legs.
Feet.
And toes.
Feel the whole body at ease now.
In this state of deep relaxation,
You are safe and protected.
Imagine that your mind is just the surface of a quiet body of water.
On the surface,
It's very still.
But below the surface,
There's a great depth and there's a lot happening.
Let go a little more.
Feeling yourself relax three degrees more.
You might notice your mind drifting.
The outside world becomes less and less important.
And what is beneath the surface of the water becomes more vivid and interesting.
Notice how your mind is beginning to reveal imagery.
Almost like a dream.
You may hear words or have feelings.
Relax three degrees more.
Continue to observe all of the activity beneath the calm,
Quiet surface of the water.
It's almost as though you're watching a film.
If you see anything particularly interesting,
You will later remember and be able to write down what was of interest to you.
Relax a few degrees more.
Soon my voice will disappear.
You can enjoy watching events,
Having the feelings that are generated by your mind.
All you have to do now is watch,
Feel,
And take mental notes.
Now,
As you prepare for your journey back,
You can bring with you anything that was interesting or helpful.
Were you in a particular place?
Did you see any people?
Were you engaged in an activity?
Did you experience feelings?
Perhaps your thoughts were more abstract.
If they were,
Was there shape or color or pattern?
I'm going to count now.
With each number,
Feel yourself rising to the surface of the water.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And five.
You've emerged,
And you're awake.
You're welcome to reach for your pen and paper and write down anything of interest to you while I close out our session.
Acknowledging the seasons means shifting our mindsets and practices so that we can recognize ourselves in nature's rhythms.
The ensuing darkness of autumn and winter will complement the spring and summer by providing you with perspective and balance.
Use the change of season to remind you that nature is vast and much more beautiful than we can even conceive and that we are not merely observers but instead a crucial part of nature and all of life.
Allow the magical qualities of the season to be felt and provide you with well-being and spirituality that will be nourished by the profound change that is to come.
