Fall is always one of my favorite seasons. The smells of burning leaves and apple desserts, cooler air and the night starting to come earlier and earlier. Though I don't live somewhere where we get the festive change of leaves, I have seen the leaves change and it is a beautiful array of flaming colors, a final celebration until we dive into the darkness of winter. Fall also brings to mind the start of the academic year and the harvest of efforts we have put in previously. Because I like to align my mindfulness sessions with the changing of the seasons I wanted to take a moment and share with you how I bring the change of seasons into my practice.
Autumn is all about harvest and working hard to get prepared for winter. Once the harvest is complete, there is always waste to be thrown away. Trees lose their leaves, plants make their final yields before they too die or at least conserve energy within. Now is the perfect time to take these same energies and apply them to our lives. Go to your favorite spot for meditation and bring a notepad or preferred writing instrument and use this exercise to separate the wheat from the shaft.
First give yourself a few cleansing breaths and allow yourself to center and relax. Breathe in through your nose and fill your lungs completely. Hold this breath for 2 counts and then release the breath slowly though your mouth. Complete this breathing pattern for 5 breaths, each breath visualizing your body taking in healing golden light and exhaling dull gray light. Now look at your piece of paper and ask yourself “What do I hope to harvest right now?” Give yourself no more than five minutes to write your answer. Go with your first thought and let it run through you, try not to allow your rational mind to limit you. Once you have completed this question ask yourself, “What is preventing me from this harvest, if anything?” Here write what your excuses are typically for not completing your goal. Usually we all have the same excuses of time constraints or lack of motivation, but there is something deeper there. What are the reasons for your lack of motivation or time constraints? Is it because of a poor sleep schedule, a vice, a mental block, start looking at the patterns you see in yourself and list them. Now that you have the list of reasons for your lack of time and/ or motivation, it is time to finish the visualization.
Get back into a comfortable position and shut your eyes. Envision yourself as a tree, and each of these excuses as a leave, or several leaves on your tree. Go to each leaf and think through ideas on how you could lessen this obstacle in your life. As you find solutions, see the leaves slowly change colors from green to yellow to red to brown and finally withering up and falling off the tree. Repeat this exercise until there are no more leaves left on your tree, take as long as you need with this visualization. Once your tree is bare sit in the solitude of the space. We of course are hoping for a renewal in spring, but until there reflect in the emptiness you feel without these habits. You are the bare image of yourself now; ask yourself who you are without these crutches and excuses you typically shield behind. Ask yourself again what you would like your spring to look like. How will you rebuild?
Next, look at what you did harvest this year, good and bad. Now take a moment to be thankful for the harvest you were able to make. Perhaps you are proud, perhaps you feel like you failed yourself regardless, give yourself the acceptance that you need. Love yourself and what you have accomplished no matter how small. Know that you are here in this exact moment because of the choices you have made and this is exactly where you need to be. Give yourself several deep breaths to center yourself before slowly opening your eyes. Wiggle your fingers and toes and start moving your legs and arms until you feel yourself fully in the moment. Stand up and give yourself a snack or drink to ground yourself and you are ready to continue your day. Repeat this exercise as many times as you need to.
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