Ahhh, the beauties of Autumn! How truly amazing it is that Mother Nature gifts us, year after year, with choirs of colour, smells of earth, and dancing leaves as they meander through the air to lay a carpet beneath our feet. A day of Thanksgiving is hardly enough for this bounty.
In Autumn, the harvests are being gathered and celebrated. We can be glad for the summer of sunshine, shorts, flip-flops, and friendships. We can enjoy the freedom of movement without big jackets and boots and outdoor activities: “Earthing” with grass beneath our feet. Yayeee!
Then the weather gets cooler and the days shorter even though the sun sets more brilliantly. It can really feel a bit sad when the time changes. And it can be difficult to let go of wanting more sunlight.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Autumn is actually one of the Five ‘Seasons’, also known as Elements or Rhythms.
Wait. What? FIVE seasons??
Well, actually, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter enjoy the company of another Rhythm/Season called “Earth”: the ‘Equinox/ Solstice.’ All five are metaphors, and the Rhythm of Earth signifies the transitions between each season.
So, with their divine sense of Yin and Yang, these five primary impulses of nature are alive and are processes within all of nature, our planet, and its inhabitants. Each has its unique properties, and each person is all 5 Seasons. Each person also has a predominant (and sometimes a close second) rhythm that influences personalities, health, and mannerisms.
Autumn essences are of Faith and Inspiration.
On the flip side, emotions in grief and the inability to let go can bubble up. It’s very much like those gorgeous leaves here in the Maritimes: so beautiful, awe-inspiring, yet preparing to fly from the mother tree and lay at our feet to become a home for wee creatures in winter. This dichotomy of yin/yang, hanging on and letting go, despite changes in our climate, is strong and desires balance. If letting go seems hard, gratitude and faith bring harmony. They invite the mindset away from the coming cold season and the past one. Appreciation brings our presence to the moment of Now – our point of creation.
In Eden Energy Medicine, there’s a little physical exercise that helps bring balance for this Rhythm.
- First, place your hands on the outsides of your upper legs. Breathe in deeply as you look up to the heavens, open your arms wide above you.
- Then, as you exhale with an ‘Ssss’ sound, round your upper body with your arms round in front of you (a bit like carrying a big bushel of apples). It might feel like you’ve got a huge beach ball, fingers almost touching. Imagine you’re holding your world and its grief. Gather everyone you love in your circle.
- Then, inhale deeply, opening your arms and yourself and throwing your head back. Surrender and release everything to the universe, trusting the processes of Life as much as you can.
- Exhale as you did before – with the ‘Ssss’ sound, cradling your troubles and/or all things good. Inhale again, opening up wide to the heavens. Let go of what you can. Releasing.
- Once again, exhale ‘ Ssss,’ rounding the arms and upper body. Allow the fingers to touch. Cross your hands and bring them to your heart. If you can, feel the holding on and surrendering. Cherish what is precious to you. And send yourself some love.
This awesome Rhythm of Autumn reminds us of the sways of life—the holding on and surrendering, the wild laughter of children diving into a pile of leaves, the hunkering down (preferably with hot chocolate) on cool evenings, and balance in the now. It’s up to us how we’re going to perceive it all. Know that all shall be well.