Autumn: the season of letting go.

There is always mention of the winter blues, but what if you're head first into fall with a heightened sense of anxiety or a heavy hearted depression?

Nature is a mentor for change. We watch everything innately brace itself for winter in an unfiltered reality of seasons and life. The landscape reflects letting go. Surroundings are shifting. The trees let go of leaves, squirrels scurry for acorns and deer begin to roam.  It’s this seasonal evolution we’re here to bear witness to and experience deeply for ourselves. 

For many, autumn is a favorite, but what if you are feeling less than stellar?  It's a good time to give yourself a little breathing room. The wild mood swings of this transitional season can leave us a bit moody too.  If fall is a time of fluctuating emotions loaded with triggers of the upcoming holiday season, there are some things to keep in mind as you navigate through these quieted months.

Honor your grief. 

In the wheel of the year, autumn is a container for us to process and acknowledge what needs to be healed. This time of the year holds open for our grief. Not only loved ones we have lost, but our own life losses. All of those tiny deaths; the outcomes, wishes, and plans that never came to be.

  With any surfacing feelings of grief and sadness, you are not alone. As much as we love all things pumpkin spice, it’s no coincidence that we crave things to warm and comfort us.  It’s easy to buffer. To head to the couch for some binge watching or amazon shopping. We can find a million ways to distract ourselves, but can we take a moment to breathe with what we’re feeling? 

Tap into courage.

  Courage means to live in the truth of our heart. Can we be courageous enough to be with our emotions?  To befriend uncomfortable feelings and begin to understand their meaning. Writing in a journal or a conversation with a friend can help flush out what’s going on in the mind. Why are we feeling sad this time of year? What is causing us to feel a little more anxious? Let things move through. Clear the heart and let go of whatever is ready to be released.

Create space to heal.

   There is a great scale of grief. From the small disappointments to the heartbreaking losses, nothing is too small to be recognized and reconciled. However, as I move with my own grief at the loss of my father, I know that it is a process with no rules. It isn't a quick healing. Going on a walk in the woods or taking ten breaths will not flip a switch that makes it all better. But when we are ready, it gets us closer to what we need to feel to bring us from sadness to peace.

Harvest lessons.

Collect your successes. Cut your losses. Release efforts that aren’t supporting your goals. Gather only what is essential and let all else fall away. Maybe there’s a pain you have incubated long enough. The obstacles, the struggles, the pitfalls are all part of your growth. They are in fact what move us a little closer to our truth.

Take your emotional pulse. 

Before you can rush toward your future plans, are you bypassing where you need to be right now?  The high activity of summer kept us going and experiencing. Process it all without attachment. Without getting stuck in a story of who you are based on what you did. Give up the unmet expectations of what you had envisioned. Be present in this moment.

Track habits. 

Notice if you are cycling through patterns that keep you making the same choices. Identify what you are ready to change.  Anything that no longer sustains you drains you. You aren’t required to keep doing the same thing again and again. Pull away from the most habitual behaviors and allow something fresh to settle in. 

Slow down.

As the sun's intensity fades there is an energy of contracting, moving downward and inward. More than anything, we begin to miss all those hours of extended light. Allow for more rest as your circadian rhythm attunes to nature’s grand design. Budget your energy. It resources your vitality. Rest.

Find social balance.

Initially, it takes a lot to acclimate as we push away the worry that winter will draw us into darkness and isolation. In the covid era, the fear is even greater to let go of our robust social schedule and spend more time indoors. Some of us never want to be put back in the box of our homes. Some of us can't wait. Know what you need. Have a plan for the right amount of socializing that feels like good medicine.

Move closer to that which restores you.

   Remember when support is needed, we can reach out to our friends, mentors, or therapists. Nap, take a warm bath, or get a massage. Take a minute to connect to the body. Bring in a full inhale and slowly let the exhale go. Find a trail to move your body and do a little leaf gazing. Spend some time in the sanctuary of nature.  

We are in the darkest time of the year as we move toward the winter solstice. Called inward we befriend our shadows and renew in the unknown.  Courage is an antidote to grief. Empowered in our ability to handle the emotions as they come, we strengthen our confidence and remember our own emotional fluency. Once we allow ourselves a chance to empty and release, we come to this precious void.  

  Root into your courage. Open up to pure potential and refresh a belief in possibility. In this unburdening move toward a lightness of being. Live with heart and let go of anything that doesn’t serve its soulful beating.