Stay Healthy During the Autumn Equinox
Early September is a time of deep transition. For those of us who love the sun and enjoy the feeling of its warm light on our bodies, September is our last call; it is the time of year where we find that if we have lingered outdoors for too long in the evening, we are met with a chilly darkness that ushers us indoors faster than anticipated. Others look to ground down, embracing new beginnings and looking forward to mugs of cinnamon spice tea enjoyed with loved ones in warmly lit living rooms.
As with any type of significant change, September is a time where we are at our most fragile and susceptible to both physical and mental ailments. As we move toward the Autumn Equinox, the days become shorter and nights longer. As much as some of us want to hold on to every last bit of summer, now is the time to focus on releasing the past and clearing out negative energies and lingering emotions so you can start new.
Keep reading for different things you can do to prepare yourself for the shifting temperatures and seasonal changes that will keep your entire being healthy — all while still enjoying those last vibrations of summer. ?
Ways to stay healthy during the Autumn Equinox
Equinoxes occur two times a year in the Spring and Fall and is the moment in which the plane of the Earth’s equator passes through the center of the Sun’s disk. The result? On an equinox, the day and night are of approximately equal duration all over the planet.
We are approaching the Autumn Equinox this week: September 22, 2017.
As with any major astronomical event, you — and your environment — will experience changes and shifts in energy. It’s important that both before, during, and after, the Autumn Equinox, you focus on achieving balance.
Journaling: Fertilize your mind
We live in a world where we’re constantly on the go, and it can be difficult to find the time you need to sit down and work through a painful experience. However, dedicating time to healing yourself should always be a priority, especially during a time of year when there are so many energy changes happening all around you. It’s not surprising that people struggle with fatigue, mental fogginess, a lack of time, and achiness before and after the Autumn Equinox (if not year-round) when they don’t dedicate time to healing themselves.
When you are writing, it is easy to simply document what you see in the world (which is often disorder and chaos). Try to go a step deeper and understand how the events unfolding in the world around you are impacting your psyche when journaling. Once you understand how you are being affected, you can then work on finding a solution! Remember, it’s important to give yourself time to reflect on the changes that you want to make. Focus specifically on what you will be releasing and what will take its place, as well as how these new energies will help you at this stage in your journey.
Think about your mind as a garden (and no, your garden doesn’t have to be a perfectly manicured one…it can be a vast mountainside or even a tiny windowsill terrarium). Whatever type of garden you are growing in your mind, there is one constant: if you don’t regularly attend to it, you will quickly be overgrown with weeds, which make it difficult for flowers to grow. With a regular journal practice, you are clearing out the thoughts and emotions in your mind that stifle your creativity and happiness.
Meditation: Find balance
In addition to journaling, regular meditation is crucial to the overall healing process and it will help you find balance during this chaotic time of year.
During the Autumn Equinox, your meditation practice should focus on finding balance and letting go of negative energies from the past that you may still be holding onto. When you don’t reconcile conflicting issues, chaos and sickness will move in and take over: which is why so many people find themselves getting sick during this time of year. The Autumn Equinox will only magnify your unresolved conflicts by adding its own intense energies into the mix.
During your meditation practices, try to release any energy that you have that is no longer serving you, so you can regain harmony within yourself and move toward completion. If you feel that there is something that remains unfinished, but you can’t put your finger on it, have patience and trust that it will unfold for you in divine timing.
While it is important to listen to your inner guide for reassurance, know that anything you are removing will be replaced with something better — even if it feels chaotic at the moment. It can certainly be difficult at times, but don’t allow yourself to be pulled back down with old emotions of fear and despair; Spirit has given you all the tools you need to make it through these uncertain times and find your balance once again. You are a lightworker, and there are hundreds of others working on the other side of the veil, to help you ground and release.
If you feel that there is something that remains unfinished, but you can’t put your finger on it, have patience and trust that it will unfold for you in divine timing.
Stay grounded — go outside!
If you have been tuning into my weekly Heal Thrive Grow shows, you know that I’ve spoken recently about the urgent need for us to protect our Mother Earth. Ignoring the fact that it is our only home and we are doing irreparable damage that needs to stop, the Earth (figuratively and literally) grounds us.
With the Autumn Equinox comes very powerful energies, and many of them will stir up feelings and emotions that aren’t all flowers and sunshine: we may feel confused, like we’re in the middle of a circus act with uncontrolled chaos swirling all around us; a feeling of unfinished affairs resulting from leftover energy; or even confusion and a fear that you’ll be dropped into an unpredictable situation with no way to escape.
One of the best ways to find your footing during the Autumn Equinox is simply to go outside and spend some time with Mother Nature. If you are lucky enough to live by the ocean, a lake, or a river, take a walk along its edge and when you find a peaceful spot, take a moment and appreciate the absolutely stunning surroundings that have been gifted to you in this very moment. If you live near a more suburban area, find a nearby park or hiking trail and spend some time there one day. And even city dwellers can take a walk up onto a patio, up to a rooftop, or simply open a window and feel the breeze blow outside.
Connecting with nature, no matter where you are in the world, will help you find stability and give you that reminder that we all need from time to time, that you are part of something bigger. As unpleasant as emotional instability, exhaustion, fogginess, and anxiety can be, nature will ground you and help you let go of what no longer serves you, allowing you watch as the wind carries it beyond the horizon.