Living With The Fall Season: Cultivate Body Awareness, Balance from the Outside In. (part 1)

Though, this series is from 2012, I loved writing it so much that I wanted to share it again this Autumn of 2014 <3

AUTUMN

{Living with the Fall Season Part 1}

From The Outside In: Cultivate Body Awareness, Shift With Seasonal Changes.

This is part 1 of a 4 part series on how to better live in harmony with the seasons.  

Does one season resonate with you more than others? Ever feel out of balance as the seasons change? Do you think I am crazy for even asking these questions? If you answer "yes" to any of the above, this blog post is for you ;)

This 'Living with Nature Autumn' series is made up of 4 Parts:

Part 1. From The Outside In: Cultivating Body Awareness, Shift With The Seasonal Changes.

Part 2.  Stay grounded and balanced: postural awareness, spiritual bathing, self care to avoid sinus infections and neck pain.

Part 3. Inspire your creative voice: honor your dreams, stay hydrated, and get crafty...

 Part 4. Harmony through proper food, meditation, and, movement therapies.

Photo by Nishaan Sandhu, Slade, Kentucky, 2009

AUTUMN

Living with the Seasons Part 1

When a sultry summer in Kentucky fades into Autumn, change, movement and an array of new sounds fill the air. It has always been my favorite change of season and one  of the things I most miss about living on the East coast. There, the fall always seems long, magical, crisp and colorful (well at least in my romanticized memories). Lucky for those of us in Kentucky who love fall, we have had an early one this year! Just in time to celebrate the Autumnal Equinox today.

On Fall

Autumn evokes a myriad of color and a downward swirling of energy that can rustle up a kaleidoscope of emotions. Some feel the wild stirrings of fall to be creative, inspiring, grounding, and free. While for others, the same autumnal changes feel heavy with fragile emotions, sensations of brittleness in the body and a mourning for the warmth that was summer. No matter what side of the season you fall on mentally, emotionally, or physically, there are ways to embrace the energy and inspire self-growth. While reading on, you may find some tools to help balance, inspire, harmonize and warm you up to the season. 

Questions to ask yourself: 

What side of the spectrum do you stand? How does your body and mind feel in the fall? Do you sense any drastic changes? Can you think of any "seasonal habits" that you tend towards subconsciously in order to support of your body and mind?

Feeling Our Way Through The Seasons

As a writer, Laraine Herring says, seasons are the "moods of mother earth". These moods of the earth shine onto us throughout the years; some light and some dark. Unless you choose to live somewhere that has an easy-breezy steady temperature year round, it is likely that you too may be affected by the earths moods. Some of us are more or less sensitive to the moodiness than others. We may have to work a little harder to maintain a sense of balance, but, it is possible and well worth the time. 

Just like all embodied emotions, we have a choice to work with these shifts in nature as a tool to better understand the (sometimes icky, sometimes lovely) depth that is ourselves.