Seasonal Transitions

Growing up just a few miles upstream from Santa Cruz, California, September was our favorite time to spend endless hours in the swimming holes along the San Lorenzo River. With the tourists gone after Labor Day, the days were hot, dry, and made for being outside in the magic of “Indian Summer.”

Yet school always beckoned, vacations ended, and the sun’s arc sank lower each day as the Autumnal Equinox drew near. By October, change was undeniable: maples and sycamores turned color, watermelons gave way to pumpkins, squirrels busied themselves for winter. Still, we insisted, it was almost summer.

Decades later, I still feel that in-between quality of the season. Add in the effects of global warming and it can seem like summer never ends. Yet the shift is real – routines reset, energies rebalance, and our senses reveal the turning of the year.

The Autumn Equinox – September 22 this year – marks the midpoint between summer and winter. For traditional cultures attuned to nature’s rhythms, it was a time to pause, reflect, and prepare for shorter days and longer nights. It was a moment to fully harvest the fruits of summer, to draw in the last rays of light, and to restore balance and inner strength.

As yogis, we too seek harmony with the cycles of nature. Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of wellbeing, offers simple ways to adjust our daily rhythms and practices in tune with the season.

Here are a few ideas for cultivating balance at this time of year:

• Notice changes in your schedule or energy, and how they affect your mood.
• Breathe more consciously, allowing natural pauses to bring calm into whatever you’re doing.
• On hot days, enjoy a morning walk in cool fresh air and favor lighter, gentler yoga practices.
• On cooler days, warm yourself with ginger tea and consider a more vigorous practice.
• Settle in earlier at night with quieter, more reflective evenings.
• Shift toward soups and warm foods, while still savoring the abundance of late-summer fruits and vegetables.
• Try a daily abhyanga –a self-massage with warm sesame or coconut oil before a tepid shower.

Above all, pause and reflect on how you feel in your body, mind and heart. Give yourself space to sense your energy more subtly, and set a clear intention – an inner purpose – as you flow more consciously into the balanced days of autumn.