Practices to Transition Through Autumn With Ease
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September always seems to race in and change things overnight. It is naturally a time for beginnings; it is also a time of goodbyes, letting go to make room for growth and evolution. It is a time for transition and transformation. A time for embracing (or at least facing) the reality of change: the threshold between the 'known' and the 'unknown'.
Nature consistently demonstrates the Law of Change. Everything is always in the process of becoming something else. After all, the natural order of things is not sameness, but change. We can see this in the life cycle of plants and seasons, as spring buds turn into leaves that then evolve from summer green to autumn gold before they fade and fall to the winter earth.
While we rely on and even look forward to seasonal changes, we spend a lot of energy trying to resist change in our own lives. Because, even though we understand that nothing ever stays the same, this truth often provokes a natural response of anxiety and discomfort. It certainly does for me. And then, on top of this transition, is this year’s unique conditions...
WHY WE STRUGGLE WITH CHANGE
Change can be difficult for most of us. Self-initiated or not, change moves us through a transition zone which often creates a sense of groundlessness. It can be unsettling, even scary, to be in this in-between state of letting go of what we've known, to allow for something new to emerge.
In fact, to stay in our comfort zones, many of us even resist or suppress our own longing for change. Instead, we spend a lot of energy constructing our lives, working hard to make things the way we want them, to feel safe, in control. But (as we are learning in spades) no matter how much planning or arranging or clinging we do to make ourselves feel secure, there will always be circumstances beyond our control.
Again, while change is a constant, this September is like the great unlearning and relearning with our relationship to being with change. While we’ve all personally navigated great changes in our own lives, none of us have ever traversed this landscape before as families, communities, a country, and a world. A pandemic and sociopolitical upheaval are emphasizing that we really don’t know what is ahead of us.
But it is also teaching us that we can, and must, show up in the present moment—the threshold—so that we can consciously create and shape our new now together.
However challenging, resisting necessary growth and evolution for too long will eventually break you (us) down, make you (us) sick, or if you’re lucky, just force you forward ungracefully. It is simply healthier, on so many levels, to acknowledge and move along with the flow of change rather than to inhibit it. In fact, according to yoga and Ayurveda, our well-being is dependent on our ability to change. Our very survival is based on our ability to continually evolve.
LET’S DO THIS TOGETHER: PRACTICE NOW
Below you will find two of my go-to SOS tools when I need to feel more steady and open: my signature Sand Timer Pause for grounded-ness and a simple breath tracing technique to arrive in the flow of the present moment.
Plus, to support us this season, I am offering two upcoming special events to help us all sync up with and move more gracefully through transition and change. A Free Autumn Equinox Meditation and an Autumn Equinox Alignment Mini-Retreat.
FREE Autumn Alignment Meditation
Monday, September 21st
9:15am EST
Join us for an essential pause, as we enter the threshold between the expansion of summer and contraction of winter. Designed to cultivate a sense of grounded-ness while flowing with change and transition, this potent meditation will support you all season long. Register and receive recording access all season!
Autumn Equinox Mini-Retreat: Rooted, Rested, and Rejuvenated
Tuesday, September 22nd | 7-8:30pm
$35
Experience a deep release and renewal as we pause to align with the equinox, honor the cycle of life, and move gracefully through the doorway into autumn—and this time of great change on our planet. This practice will include mindful slow flow yoga, deep restoration, and an intention setting ritual. Register and receive recording access for 7 days!
PRACTICE NOW: SHORT TOOLS FOR AN INSTANT RESET
