It’s officially the Fall season here in the U.S. This is a time when everyone starts speeding up and preparing for Thanksgiving and the other seasonal holidays. We go into hyperdrive and begin to rush, rush, rush, even more than usual. We push ourselves to plan out the upcoming year in detail and jump right into the holidays before the Thanksgiving dishes have even been cleared.

In our culture it seems we can never stay in the moment. We want to jump to the next thing before we’ve even fully enjoyed what the present moment has to offer. We’re living in a time when we begin thinking about Fall in August (when it’s still summer!) and then we quickly move into thinking about the winter holidays during the Fall. We move at a constant high rate of speed, always moving towards the next “thing”. It makes me tired just writing about it.

Because we are so often living in the future, in the next season, our bodies are out of sync with nature’s rhythm. This creates stress, anxiety, irritability and lack of joy.

When we move at this rate of speed, we don’t give ourselves the opportunity to be in the present, to enjoy the gifts the present moment offers. We don’t give ourselves space to just be and enjoy. We just move on to the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing.

As we sit in the Fall season, let’s take a moment to be, to breathe, and take in the lessons that Fall has to offer.

A Time to Let Go

As the Fall leaves turn from green to rich warm tones of reds, oranges, yellows and browns, and then eventually fall off into crisp piles, we are reminded that it is a time for letting go. It’s time to let go of that which no longer serves us. It’s time to let go of anything that doesn’t nourish or energize us. It’s time to let it drop.

The falling leaves and bare branches remind us of the fleeting nature of things. It pushes us to embrace the inevitability of change. That there is something happening outside of ourselves that we don’t have a lot of control over. The bare trees remind us that it’s time to come back to who we are at our core, in our barest form, to connect deeply to ourselves.

A Time to Harvest

Fall is traditionally a time to harvest what you’ve tended to and grown, an accomplishment from the previous seasons that you get to enjoy, that feeds and nourishes you. As you harvest the fruits of your labor, it is an opportunity to appreciate and have gratitude for your hard work, for all you’ve grown and harvested for the year. It’s a time to celebrate, feel humbled yet proud of your bounty and take it all in. It’s a time to prepare for the winter, using your harvest for fortitude and strength.

For us as humans, it is the same. Fall is a time to harvest our strengths, accomplishments, failures, lessons, and everything else the year has brought us. As we harvest all that we have tended to, grown and experienced it gives us an opportunity to reflect on, and appreciate our harvest. All that we’ve managed to move through, accomplish, survive,

and grow from. When we harvest our strengths, our accomplishments, and experiences, we take time to honor ourselves. It gives us a moment to really stand in awe of our harvest, at what we’ve managed to bring to fruition, of what we’ve been able to bring to life. Harvesting our strengths is also a way to gather energy and renew our strength for the next season. We prepare for the next season by honoring and using our harvest,

connecting and reflecting on it and our essential role in it, reflecting on our lives, our experiences, our growth.

A Time for Balance

The Fall Equinox is a day when there is a precise balance between light and dark. There are roughly the same number of hours of daylight as there is night, at the beginning of the Fall season. It is a time of perfect balance.

For us, creating balance during the Fall season is essential. Being aware of what throws us off balance is a way to care for ourselves as we take inventory of what drains us and what feeds us. Recognizing the importance of grounding practices to find centeredness and balance will decrease stress and create more ease.

A Time for Transformation

As the temperature begins to drop and cool off and we move away from the warmth and comfort of summer, and as the trees transform before our eyes, Fall reminds us that it is a time for transformation and change. As we shed the old, that which does not serve us, and as we harvest all that we’ve worked so hard to grow, we can with more lightness and ease.

As you take in your harvest, you are provided with valuable information about what you have available to take action steps towards the transformation you seek. Also notice what didn’t work, what didn’t go the way you thought. What lessons do these experiences offer that can help you grow further into who you want to become? What can you let go of that doesn’t help you grow? Transformation comes from the letting go; from harvesting your strengths and lessons, from leaning into balance not speed, by taking time to savor the present.

WILD Woman Tip:

Using collage, create an image of your personal harvest. Your strengths, your failures, your successes, your lessons. You can add color via markers, chalk, or paint.

Then use the following journal prompts to help you savor your harvest to the fullest:

What are you abundant in this season?

What contributed to the growth and bounty?

What are you lacking in and need more of?

How can you continue to care for your personal garden so it can keep rewarding you?

Taking the time to fully acknowledge and take in your bounty from the year, to learn from what didn’t work out, will energize you to move forward but also ground you and help you more slowly and gently.

Myriam Martinez is a Licensed Psychotherapist, Registered Art Therapist, Women's Self-Compassion Coach, and stick figure artist based out of Northern California. She gently guides women to embrace their Woman-ity© and love themselves fiercely through the power of self-compassion, artmaking and creativity. Her calling in this life is to teach women the power and importance of putting themselves first, loving themselves fiercely, and tapping into their creativity in order to bring more happiness, success, and ease into their lives

. To learn more about Myriam click here: https://www.myriammartinezcoaching.com/