Fall Into Yourself
Happy fall. Here in Seattle, the rain is coming. The dense, vast clouds are coming, the ones that sometimes feel as if they might suffocate you with their heaviness and gray. But the fall is a season of change and shedding what does not serve us. Regrowth.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sweet coolness in the salty air; the Halloween décor is out and there are already articles about how to host the perfect Thanksgiving meal. It feels difficult to enjoy the misty, cleansing rain when there is so much to prepare for. The changing of the season tends to bring on stress and a pressure to hustle.
What would happen if you took time to wade into the season, practicing a mindful way to enjoy the changing of the colors?
Here are three ways to emerge this {FALL}
1. Practice Gratitude Early.
Who says being thankful can only take place in November? How about reaping the benefits of a daily gratitude practice early this year and getting really clear on WHY you are grateful for what is in your life. Taking some time to uncover why you are grateful will set you up to enjoy all of the benefits that gratitude has to offer. An article in Forbes says the gratitude improves health and relationships.
So you are grateful for your loving family, or cozy home, but WHY? How do those things make you feel inside?
After you start to explore WHY you are grateful you can learn to identify how to gain more of those feelings in your life. I am immensely grateful for the first day of a new quarter with my students; the energy and anticipation for what they will learn in a class is palpable. I am grateful for this because it makes me feel: confident {I LOVE teaching}.
2. Master Self-Compassion.
As the season for giving fast approaches, ask yourself when the last time you gave yourself some love was. We give and love others best when our own cup is full. Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time and wasted energy beating ourselves up, telling ourselves that we are not worthy in some way. This takes a toll on us and those limiting beliefs hold us back from our potentials as mothers, partners and friends, the beliefs essentially draining us little by little.
How can you be more kind to yourself each day?
In her book, Kristin Neff writes, “you have to care about yourself before you can really care about other people. If you are continually judging and criticizing yourself while trying to be kind to others, you are drawing artificial boundaries and distinctions that only lead to feelings of separation and isolation.”
Essentially, being tough on ourselves closes our heart and sets us up for being inauthentic. Yuck, definitely not the type of re-growth I’m into.
3. Learn About Consciousness.
Meditation and conciousness aren’t just hip buzzwords anymore.
Scientific research is backing up the benefits that we gain individually and collectively when we learn how to tune in. We don’t need to spend hours on the hilltop to gain insight on how to be present. We just need to spend a little more time listening to how we {talk} to ourselves.
Guru Jagat, a Kundalini yoga instructor, says that it’s as easy as paying attention to what we are telling ourselves.
What is your first thought every morning? Is it positive or negative? Do you amp yourself up for the day, or armor up to slug through it?
Jagat says that we should be paying attention to the sounds that we are habitually creating nonverbally {inner thoughts} and replace them with a higher vibrational frequency {something positive}. In order to do this we can think about or write our own affirmations {I am abundant} or use a guided practice to help us stay positive.
This fall take time to emerge, to manifest, to shed what no longer serves you.
How will you fall into yourself this season?
