Fall as integration
I invite you to breathe.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Fuller inhale…
fuller exhale.
Notice: the part of our breath that holds at the top of an inhale?
Notice again: the part of our breath that leans into the exhale? That feels release and relief through an exhale?
That’s the fall equinox.
~
Fall is integration.
Not only a space of releasing our deadened leaves, but a time where we uncover our bones.
Where we see what rests living, and choose to integrate that which resides.
Where we focus our self-healing on the raw edges of us.
A tree doesn’t ask questions of faith in letting its leaves go – there’s no resistance, but rather, a self-regulation process. A cyclical and natural moment for understanding that which no longer serves it. And moving forward in its life cycle: knowing for a moment, it will rest bare. And trusting come spring, flowers will grace its limbs.
The fall equinox honors this turning point in a cycle.
Knowing you must let go of what no longer serves you, to rest bare throughout the winter, and to bloom again come spring.
~
These next three months encourage us to embrace the changing winds of fall and whatever magic is blown our way.
Fall is finding the trust in letting go; to allow whatever need be – our habits, patterns, ideologies, limiting beliefs – to release. There are parts of ourselves that we gather, that we bloom, that we extend outwards to see and bask in sunlight… fall asks us to keep a keen eye on what has served its purpose. And to begin to pull ourselves inwards again.
As we transition from the high tides of summer into the waning leaves of fall, it’s especially important to call in our scattered selves to center. Remember our bodies as tools for grounding.
To truly strip yourself down to the bones of who you are.
From here, we lean inwards.
~
These are times for adjustment.
The winds of change are gathering strength – on their breath, the promise of winter.
Welcome the autumn emptiness that leaves us feeling raw. When trees lose their leaves, do they not feel phantom limbs? The ghost of what was once there, teeming with life in reciprocal relationship, now stripped a raw edge?
Remember your bones.
The essence of your being. The expressions of you come and go – what sticks is your structure. The bones of who you are.
Allow things to fall away, allow yourself to feel raw edges, and to seek healing salves.
~
Inhale fully,
Exhale fully.
Remember the space between an inhale and an exhale? The trust that an inhale will always follow a breath released?
With our breath, we become a metaphor for cycles. With each breath, we honor the waxing and waning of the earth around us. Of the earth within us.