In our society, our usual working practices tend not to honour the change in seasons. We continue to work the same hours with the same objectives placing the same demands on us physically emotionally and mentally. If anything, those demands tend to increase at this time of year. However we are inextricably interlinked with the changing seasons of mother nature and right now, as Autumn draws to an end, there is a natural pull to slow down honouring the requirement for internal ‘hibernation’.
What effects do these contradictory influences have? How best can we manage the impact on our state of well being?...

Just as with all creatures, whether we acknowledge it or not, the change in seasons has a profound and dramatic effect on us. Autumn and winter are the seasons in which many creatures and plants hibernate. Likewise, the tendency for us from an evolutionary footing, is to cease new growth and internalise more so that we may integrate the wonderful growth spurts we may have enjoyed in the summer months.

These internalisation processes can effect every cell of the body as the mind is gradually relinquishing control to the growth of the true self and its greater influence in our lives. This growth process can be extremely tiring so it is right that we should slow down and take more rest to allow the inner work to be done.

The change in season also requires a change in diet. The lighter fruits and salads of the summer are less abundant (perennial supply at the supermarket is not natural and therefore not at one with what we truly are). Therefore it is good to increase our intake of vegetables and grains - hot soups and plenty of carbohydrate not only to counter the effects of the cold but also to facilitate the internal cellular activity.

There are other influences too that we should be aware of. Most people are effected by the reduced hours of sunlight and in many this can lead to mild depression. Since we are also ‘hooked up’ to the mass subconsciousness of humanity, it is likely that we are picking up these influences too. While it is good to acknowledge the effects, it is important not to identify with them.

By slowing everything we do down, we can attune our attention more to our true selves than to these other influences. Rather than collapsing in front of the TV in the evenings for example or rather than spending all our time socialising, by taking more time in stillness and watching the various ebbs and flows of energy inside, we can pick up the subtle feelings of the true self and become more at one with it.

We can enhance this by spending more time connecting with mother nature, even though there are fewer hours of sunlight - so taking the time during the lunch break or at the weekends to walk in nature. Even if you work in a concrete jungle, there are still trees and plants to be found. Just connecting with these will bring a greater at-one-ment with the natural ebb and flow of the seasons.

If we are feeling more tired, then why not surrender to this natural feeling and go to bed earlier? When we get up in the morning, try setting the alarm clock earlier but take more time to acclimatise and adjust to the inner feelings before getting out of bed. The key is the inner acknowledgement of what we are experiencing - not denying our feelings, thoughts and emotions just because we have a job to do.

If we take more time to honour these natural effects, then we will find much greater harmony with the universe once more, there will be a minimisation of contradictory internal energy flows and we will find ourselves feeling much better.

What experiences are you having? How do you harmonise with the seasons? I would love to know!

Chris

Well said Chris and thank you for offering a topic so appropriate to this time of year. I have noticed as the season closes in that people hide away more and smile less.

Firstly, sunlight stimulates "feel-good" hormones. So it is no wonder that people generally feel more unhappy as the amount of sunlight is lessened.

The other hormone that plays a part in sleep patterns is melatonin. In general this hormone apparently increases in the body when it gets dark (to help us sleep), and decreases with daylight. If this is the case then, from a scientific perspective it would only be natural that we feel the inclination to sleep more during the winter months. It is possible that we are subject to similar internal biological mechanisms to other mammals who begin to hibernate or rest more during the darker/colder months.

I definitely sense within me an internal biological clock in synchronisation with the seasons. If I don't harmonise my activity with this internal pacemaker, life just becomes a miserable slog!

As the daylight hours close in I do sleep more, adapt the way I eat. I feel a pull toward denser foods in the colder months too, and naturally harmonise with whatever seasonal produce is available locally (in the winter this tends to include more root vegetables, and nuts for instance), and become quieter taking more time for introspective refection.

I walked yesterday in the countryside. The air was chilly, but I barely noticed that as I wrapped up feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. The sunlight seemed to pierce through any ideas of dreariness that may have crept in.

For me, connecting with nature is very important if I am to harmonise with the natural clock within. If it is cold, then I just wrap up. If sunlight is pouring through the window when I am inside during the darker months, I tend to place my self right in its pathway and bathe my face in the rays. Believe me, it feels wonderful and it becomes practically impossible not to smile.

Watching the seasons change is a great opportunity for reflection, I find, if I take the time out to really experience what is happening in the natural world around me. Autumn to me is a beautiful time to reflect on the natural cycle of life – death – life.
Watching and hearing the leaves turn and flutter gently down from the trees reflects part of the natural cycle in our own life… it relates to a time of metaphorical deaths and endings as we prepare for the quiet, reflective time of winter, before the new growth and seeds of life burst forth in the spring.
I work near St James Park in London, and witnessing the cycles of the season painted on the canvas of the park throughout the year is so beautiful. Seeing the grand London plane trees’ yellow leaves highlighted against the backdrop of the stunning clear blue sky on a cold, crisp morning, as the pigeons peck around and drink from the puddles, is really breathtaking. Feeling the cold air on my face is also a wonderfully refreshing reminder of what being alive feels like.
I also spent time in a local park on the weekend. The grass was so beautifully green, the trees so stunning in their array of autumn colours, and the cold so bracing, it was really invigorating. It’s also lovely to watch the squirrels foraging around at this time of the year, and the way people experience the park in a different way to the hot and lazy, hazy days of summer.
Autumn is particularly poignant for me this year, as it is truly a time of endings. It is a blessing that these endings are in harmony with the changing season, as spending time in nature offers great healing and reminders of the beauty of it all, even the deaths and endings – both real and metaphorical.
As I went to get my lunch today, I walked into a shop, which happened to be playing the very song that is today’s thought of the day: “True Colours.” An autumn blessing for today!

"If I can let you go as trees let go
Their leaves, so casually, one by one;
If I can come to know what they do know,
That fall is the release, the consummation,
Then fear of time and the uncertain fruit
Would not distemper the great lucid skies
This strangest autumn, mellow and acute.
If I can take the dark with open eyes
And call it seasonal, not harsh or strange
(For love itself may need a time of sleep),
And, treelike, stand unmoved before the change,
Lose what I lose to keep what I can keep,
The strong root still alive under the snow,
Love will endure----if I can let you go."
Sonnet 2 from “The Autumn Sonnets” by May Sarton

What a blessing to read such a fine appreciation for the seasonal shift Ally.
Trin
xxx

I wrote about how I adore the four seasons. Living in Canada, I am very fortunate to have the experience of the mystical beauty of change.

Four Seasons

Spring is the season, a sight of rebirth
Rain bathing and cleansing, our mother earth
Distinct is the air, fresh and cool
Bud’s begin the cycle, by nature’s rule

Summer epitomizes, life in motion
Reminders everywhere, this kind of devotion
Colors so many, not one the same
Foliage spreading miles, alive and untamed

Autumn’s a reminder, the circle of change
Beauty takes other form, simply rearranged
Fallen leaves remain perfect, not one torn
Another season approaches, a fourth is born

Winter brings a calm, peaceful awareness
Creatures hibernate, during the stillness
Snowflakes sparkle, with mounds so high
A time for reflection, another year gone by

Author: Wings In Flight

Truly breathtaking Wings In Flight! Such a delight to read this divinely inspired poetry this fine winters morning!
With Love
Trin