Embracing the Energy of Autumn

Let nature show you how to celebrate the abundant fruits of the season and let go of any heavy burdens…

Autumn transitions us from summer to winter, from high action, to rest, reflect and restore. It’s a time of gathering, and of letting go. At the equinox, day light hours are balanced with the dark hours of night. It’s a time of harvest, abundant hedgerows full with hazelnuts, hawthorn berries and apples. Red and orange dotted in among the green. Nettles are heavily laden with seed. With a little help from the wind, it’s a time when the trees start to lighten their load, letting in more light and preparing for their deep winter rest. Animals collect and store only the best. Busy. Purposeful.

Why is this a valuable energy to mirror?

It’s a powerful time of discernment. Knowing what to hold on to and what to let go of. Deciding what will serve us well and discarding that which burdens us. This way we can enter winter with more lightness and only as much nourishment as we need. Setting ourselves up for an easy passage through the dark phase of the year. Allowing a deep fallow time for rest and recuperation, to emerge refreshed and ready for the new cycle of spring.

Instinctual Self-Care

One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that the energy of summer seems to end abruptly. Not so much summer itself, seasons tend to be more gradual. More that we live in a culture that knuckles down when children go back to school. Events dry up and spontaneous fun activities come to a sudden halt. Just like that everyone is back in a routine, and it can feel like a mixture of loss and relief. Relief that the pace has finally slowed after such an extended period of high energy, mixed with a kind of disorientation, like, where did all the people and fun go?

I was certainly feeling a little out of sorts last week, though I couldn’t put my finger on why. Being outdoors in nature is a strong antidote and I knew I needed to make use of this simple magic. It felt intuitive as I was drawn out early Sunday with a desire to rescue the divinely scented daphne shrub in the communal garden. The viburnum had consumed it and I wondered if it was even still in there.

The colour of the viburnum stems is a bright green or red and it feels like such a waste to discard. I’ve previously used them for weaving into frames to make dream catchers. With this in mind, and the desire to be outside as much as possible, I set to work. I free the daphne and feel relieved that it’s somehow still thriving and on track to flower this January. I then started on the huge pile of viburnum which I do not want to waste, de-leafing and cutting into nice usable sections – for what I did not know.

Active Cleansing

To this my inner critic emerged and caused me to feel irritated and resistant to the task. I moaned that there was too much to get through, it was a pointless waste of my time, and I should be doing something more important. I stuck to it out of curiosity, despite the fact I had no idea to what purpose a whole bunch of sticks would offer once I’d finished.

As I continued the purpose of the repetitive work was starting to become clear. I was clearing the leaves from the stems, and simultaneously clearing my mind in the process. It was practically meditative, gave me a much needed brake from the mental demands of running a business. My soul gradually brightened, and I felt much lighter.

It amazes me how self-care can often invite in criticisms of laziness or time wasting or pointless endeavour. Self-care is one of those things that only works if the journey itself is nourishing, through healthy rest, movement, eating or socialising, (whatever we long for most), we strengthen.

The work got me in touch with the discernment aspect of autumn; choosing which pieces to keep, which bits to discard. Which would serve me well and are worth creating time and space for. I'd harvested a pile of sticks for weaving and hoped I'd find a use for them. I also realised I wanted to connect more intimately with this time of harvest, and in a way that was meaningful to me.

Wild Harvest Wisdom

This week I set off into the fields with tubs and bags and scissors on the look out for hawthorn berries and nettle seeds which are ripe and abundant. As I work I choose which berries and seeds to harvest and which to leave. I realise that this pastime offers the perfect space to reflect on what I need to keep and what I need to let go of. I also note that there’s something about the physical embodiment of this that supports the process. It’s active discernment practice. Something I need to spend more time on specifically with regards to letting go.

During my nature facilitation training, we were asked by the host which season’s energy we find most challenging, and for me it is definitely autumn. Of course, I love the beauty of all the reds, oranges and yellows, and I whilst I admire the trees for how easily they let go – I’m still working on it. Letting go feels like a heavy thing for me as it puts me in touch with my grief. I guess what I need to let go of is my resistance to feeling that grief as I let something go. Honeysuckle flower essence supports this, and incidentally hawthorn nourishes the heart, and nettle is a deeply energising tonic. I ended my venture with sitting in the field with my flask of foraged delights, for a satisfied cuppa!

How can I align to the energy of autumn?

I love asking myself the question, what energises me to get going? And at this time of year the answer is a party! We’ve been honouring the autumn with a dedicated party for as long as the children can remember. It involves chocolate beetroot cake, pumpkin soup, sparklers, pass-the-parcel, a fire in the garden and a small house full of people. I find this all very exciting and so I’ve learned to harness this energy. It gives me a fun reason for a tidy up after the summers wildness, letting go of things I’ve accumulated and preparing the caravan for a sleepover.

I need to make space for food and people. These things matter to me more than stuff, because feasting and socialising means connection and celebration, and that feels like living. I give myself from equinox to Halloween and have even managed to let go of the shame for taking so long to prepare for a party. Like the green viburnum sticks for weaving, I find the process in itself cleansing. Mirroring the energy of autumn, its abundance, the harvesting, powerful discernment to let go, with a strong sense of purposefulness - it supports me in getting both my inner and outer landscapes ready to settle down for the winter so that I can really rest deep.

Autumn shows us how to celebrate the abundant fruits and only keep what we need, it shows us how to let go and become lighter, granting us deep rest through the darker days. How could you embrace the energy of autumn?