Whilst we are fast approaching the Winter Solstice, the shorter days and darker nights begin to bring about a shift.
You might have noticed this in the turning of leaves, the changing light, the weather and swells. But has it landed in your body?
I always feel the leaving of summer, which in some ways is the easiest season, abundant in outside space, lighter in layers, longer in days — to the point where I start to resist the arrival of autumn. By doing so I miss opportunities to slow down, reflect and savour.
This year I’ve been noticing. Autumn is beautiful.
Autumn invites to to linger over the last flavours of summer, the increasingly infrequent warm rays, and remember the time we just had.
Autumn brings newness to the burnt grass and brown fields, fills the air with petrichor, and replenishes our water tanks.
Autumn invites us to light candles at dinner or yoga, to watch the day brighten as we wake with it, to harvest the hours as we would a rare seed.
Autumn brings its own palette, colouring trees and gardens, ripening feijoas, lowering moons and suns.
But perhaps what I love most about autumn is that it gives us time to adjust. It is the pause and gentle guide between the bright busyness of summer and cold intensity of winter. It’s our time to prepare, to stock and store, to check ourselves.
Rather than resisting this change, we can lean into it. We too can shift.
After all, the seasons happen with us, not to us.