October began the start of a slowdown, the go-slow seeping forth like thick pumpkin soup spilt on the countertop. The darker mornings bringing foggier risings from a cosy bed. Shorter days and more inclement weather putting breaks on my regular outdoor yoga practice. A warm inviting stove hearth drawing the family to a different corner of the house. Soups and stews, hearty meals, roasted root veg, harvest from our garden’s bounty. Dad busy cooking up batches of warming chutney, all getting in the baking spirit, pies and crumbles of garden apples and berries galore.
As nature begins to slow, we seem to fight and push to maintain the fast-paced energy levels of the summer months. We beat ourselves up for feeling a slowness creeping into our behaviours and mind spaces. We are part of nature, as it slows down to conserve energy and prepare for the colder darker months, so do we. We don’t connect or embrace the fact that perhaps we need to acknowledge that and allow ourselves to slow pace, and change or adjust our behaviours.
I read a Michael Viney article recently about the robin’s song, he quotes David Lack. “A robin may utter quiet phrases, audible at a few yards, continuously for several minutes. Several other species sometimes sing in this apparently purposeless way in autumn.” Even nature needs to adjust to the darker period we are facing into.
If we bring awareness, we can learn to be kinder to ourselves, embrace the season, moving and adjusting our perspective to match that change of pace, a gentler softer one. I really fought and battled at it first, guilt building for feeling less energetic towards my daily to do’s, which had only the month previous made me fizz with energy and drive. The to do’s were turning into a deterrent, creating a cycle of guilt about low energy which kept me feeling heavy and less proactive.
In summer, during the finer weather, we often attach guilt to being indoors. Now that we are in Autumn moving toward Winter, let’s relish our time indoors, take advantage of it. On Autumn and Winter days when the weather allows, walks in the brightness are more fully appreciated, stretching the limbs, feeling the body move, soaking up the suns energy. Watching the colours around us change. As nature moves into a different corner and space, we can too.
If we understand that we need more rest because there is less light, that we can feel more anxious because we have lower energy, or that immunity is low, and because we spend more time indoors in close quarters with family and colleagues, flu and colds spread. Headaches, warm caffeinated drinks are favoured to drinking water, we get dehydrated, and, indoor heating only adds to that. As we push and push to try to keep up a lightning-paced lifestyle, it’s no surprise we physically and emotionally feel the effects. Here comes the future Christmas burn out.
Physiologically we do function slightly differently in these darker periods, use that knowledge as power to better prepare mentally, and simply enjoy the change in pace. Understanding a need for more rest, our drive to eat more in efforts to try to balance our energy from the lack of sunlight, can we then let go of the guilt and chastising of ourselves? Can we prioritise time for resting and restoring?
By incorporating slower evenings, enjoying the indoor pleasures of reading, studying something new, doing something creative, cooking or baking wholesome comfort foods, tasting the season, embracing the warm confines of our homes, can we adjust? Less high-intensity workouts, switching to strength training with longer rest periods, enjoying more hearty meals of the back of it. Switch in some yin or Yoga Nidra to your practice. Move exercise to the morning instead of the evening, allowing the evening to become a time to rest. Catch up on reading recommendations, our memory is said to be sharper at this time of year. Walk, get out in the sunlight when we have it. Take on fewer commitments. Allow yourself to relax. Nature is busy letting go, releasing, restoring, conserving and building strength for the more energetic seasons, can’t we follow its lead and do the same? Get busy slowing down.
I know we can’t always rest when we need to, but we can choose to listen to nature and our body’s messages and be aware that we DO need to take more care in these months. Feeling safe in the knowledge that we are connected to our planet, we are human and the seasons do affect us also.
Let the darker months bring a warm blanket of rest and restoration to your life, embrace natures cue’s, grow at a different pace, in other ways, beneath the surface. Build our inner strength, listen to ourselves and allow a kinder softer light to bring that wonderful warm seasonal glow to our cheeks. Perspectives of gloomy days spun into views of golden indoor evenings. Fully regenerating for when the seasons change once again. A breath, a beat, a fall to rise, and rise we shall, a new, again, stronger more.