Autumn’s blustering winds invite us to huddle in and cozy up.
After the joyful summer of frocks and bathing suits, I absolutely enjoy pulling out warm fuzzy boots, hats, cloaks and scarves. We all know the feeling of a cold gust of wind, as we dig our hands deeper into our pockets, or pull up our scarves and collars.
There are also moments where a cold wind blows and then you turn a corner, and feel the warm sun dramatically burst out from behind thick clouds warming your face and finger tips instantly. The cold instantly forgotten.
It’s a little sensual actually. The dynamic dance of warmth and coolness in the Autumn, and the peeling and putting on clothing layers as we do - which is also a dance.
Summer has a lot of activity to be sure, and so does the Fall season.
It just looks different.
And this is one of many things this season as taught me – how to change and evolve my expression and activities.
When we think of seeking answers to our big and small life questions, we either ask Google or find a book. This is great for the mind and maybe even for the intellectual soul, and yet there is a certain gap with it for me.
So, I learned to seek answers in the soil, the trees and the wind.
At first, I decided this was a pointless activity as I live in a dense city. Is a park full of lawn grass and trees implanted from elsewhere actually ‘nature’? Is the tunnel effect of wind blowing through sky-scrapers really telling me anything?
But thankfully, with lots of help from Eastern and Indigenous wisdom, I softened to my judgements and resistances, and started to allow. (Note: I’ve shared a practice below, inspired by wisdom of working with seasons shared with me).
Turns out, all the elements and seasons are in constant communion. The key to listening, is… well listening. Like tuning your inner radio to the right channel and sitting back to listen in enjoyment.
Spring brings the birth and blossom of leaves on bare trees.
In Summer, they hold strong, do the great work of leaves for the planet, and provide shade to those who picnic below.
The Autumn brings the dance of death and letting go, which gives us stunning colourful hues on trees and on the ground.
On a quiet Winter day, we may see a bare tree, but we know the tree is alive digging deep into its roots taking time and nourishment for itself. We also know the fallen leaves provide the soil a necessary layer of insulation that supports the creatures who live there.
These are all forms of expression. One is not superior or better that the other.
The preferences we may hold live only in our mind, where wind doesn’t blow, leaves don’t fall, and often new life doesn’t blossom.
One of the most pointless activities I witness is the complaining we do about weather.
Here in Canada, we are famous for complaining about the weather.
In Scandinavian wisdom (similar weather belt), I found a beautiful philosophy: ‘There is not bad weather. Only poor choices in clothing’.
It seems cute, but it is actually so profound.
There is a palpable difference in vibe when you visit a place where the residents are not in conflict with the season or weather; and by extension the external reality that surrounds them. There is joy and courage and appreciation of different activities, different expressions and the spirit of evolving uniqueness.
None of this happens when we are stuck in the mind, wishing the weather was different.
More than the other seasons Autumn calls us to this, as it is the season of letting go.
Letting go often feel like loss and grief.
I think that’s why in all her wisdom, the Earth gave us the deep rich colours that we associate with Fall. A reminder that this is a beautiful process and to be gentle in ourselves, to take our time as we ready ourselves in the weeks and months to come.
There is an inordinate faith available here, if you tap into it.
Because letting go is only possible as an act of trusting and surrendering.
We let go, because it is time for us to dig deep and nourish ourselves with the knowing of our Soul & Spirit , or whatever your definition of hibernation or winter rooting may be. This isn’t about becoming a hermit. But choosing activities and spaces and people that nourish you, and who you can also nourish.
We do this, so that when the Spring comes, you and I, like the flowers and leaves, burst forth with more colour, more vibrance and more joy than we did the year before.
Working with the Seasons: A Practice
As you breathe deeply, think about the season that has just ended - the joys, the stresses, the wishes and desires - regardless of whether they were fulfilled or not.
Bring your thoughts, your effort, your energy back to yourself.
There is no other.
There is nothing else in this moment.
As you continue to breathe, remember that you Know Yourself.
And while you already Know, you are also learning, moving, shifting, evolving.
What do you need to let go of?
A repetitive thought? A belief that if you try something you will fail? A person? A behaviour? A job? A habit or story you’ve been nurturing that hasn’t been serving you?
Breath.
What was the birthing moment of this idea, thought, or emotion?
Where did it spring up in your life?
If it is a person, remember that is not an exploration of them, but rather the energy (or feeling) they bring up in you.
This is the Spring season within you.
Maybe, if the habit or thought or situation, as you experience it is horrid and painful right now. But, when it started, it was good, beneficial, or helpful.
The is the Summer within you.
Ask yourself what the learnings or teachings are.
Are you your learning boundaries, courage, sovereignty, freedom, connection? Are you learning who you are, what you like and dislike? Are you being confronted with inconvenient inner and outer truths?
Notice your emotions, more memories around this, more stories, feelings, perhaps people from your childhood.
Emote, as needed. Breathe.
It is Autumn within you.
Ground yourself. Feel your feet, your sit-bones, your back - whatever part of you is touching the ground. You have roots, even if you can’t see them. Root yourself into Earth, go deeper to find the strength and nourishment you require.
Give yourself permission, the release what needs to release from every part of your being.
Remind yourself, that at Autumn’s end, all will be released.
It is inevitable.
Receive what you need to and accept yourself in your body, in your reality, in your season exactly as you are. This is important, because you will never be this again.
If available to you, feel the thing/s you need to let go of as dancing leaves on a blustery Autumn day.
Thank them and all they are associated with, because even the horrid parts made you who you are today and brought you here.
Forgive them and yourself as needed. Watch them change colour, if that pleases you, as they fall away and are carried by the winds.
Do this until you are bare and empty like a Winter’s tree.
Return to your roots, and ask yourself what you now require for your own nourishment.
Honouring emptiness and the void is a practice.
This is our inner Winter.
When unconscious, we fill it with things that become addictions.
But you are conscious, present with yourself, you are here.
Bring your eye inward. Focus, not the on bareness, emptiness or void, but into your roots, what you already have, what you are grateful for. List those things, and feel them support you, as they are part of your grounding system.
Feel yourself through the cold snowy Winter, roots getting deeper, stronger, more nourished and courageous; better equipped to weather the storms that rage inside and outside us. Feel yourself standing tall, strong and still with the Earth while the activities of the world whiz by.
If you cannot feel it, visualize it and then trust that vision.
Allowing feeling and honouring the void is like building a muscle - it is takes practice.
When we release big things, there is a sense of identity confusion. We do not know who we are without a person, a habit, a belief. It is a blank canvas. Terrifying and also exhilarating, because we get to remake ourselves anew. This is what transformation looks like - messy, teary, scary, indescribable and freeing. And this is the time for it.
Embody cycles, as you return to Spring and all the inspiration and courage within you, bursts forth and creates new blossoms, new ideas, new thoughts, maybe a new habit that supports you and it good for you, new friends & lovers, new knowings, new opportunities, and a new version of you.