Embracing Late Autumn

Nourishing Your Spirit and Preparing for Winter’s Reflection

"Seeking the origin of what goes in and out of our mouths"

– I Ching

As we move closer to Winter with every sunset, we are called to the precipice of Spiritual nourishment, for the further we venture into the Winter the more we will know the 'daily bread' of our habits as the true source of our warmth and wealth. 

The Spiritual Significance of Late Autumn

Late Autumn is a rich time to deeply contemplate the value of what nourishes us, how we, in turn, raise others, and all we nurture on a daily basis through what we eat, drink, think and speak. This is the metronome of our Spiritual expression, speaking volumes louder than singular acts of charity or kindness, and offering more wealth than a fancy house in the suburbs or this season’s handbag. Autumn strips the facade of success and in its final purifying moments calls us to our own highest crystalline version, to the state of grace that allows past hurts to be released, and forgiveness to return the flow to the places where it was blocked or still. Just as Autumn purifies the harvest for the next generation, the process of nourishing purity and spiritual abundance in our own lives flows to the future of things.  

Daily Bread: Reflecting on Habits and Nourishment

In this deep, end-of-season context our daily bread asks us to take in and understand what has passed so that we might feed the future. In the I Ching it is referred to as 'eating the ancient virtue'. To take in the words of the oracles and the sentiments that connect us with heaven, and make them part of your everyday life.

There is ripeness of a different kind in these times.

The ancients counsel us to feel Autumns wind at our backs, and use this phase to clear the broken channels of communication. Let the way things are now, not the way they were, inform you, be receptive, be led by events, and be changed by what you find there.

Clearing the Path: Forgiveness and Letting Go

In late Autumn we near the death of the year, our work is to see life through those same eyes and to clear, forgive and let go of all that we would not take with us to the underworld. 

The search for the image of the deeper Self progresses, and the nourishment of late Autumn clears the way by recharging past experiences with meaning and understanding, so turning over the engine of change.  

Know your daily bread, understand what you nourish and what you cling to in your many small ways, and reclaim yourself in this last pulse of seasons end, for winter is carry-on baggage only.

Work with the seasons. Join me for rich winter yoga and pranayama practices weekly online here