In a Moment - Issue 13

My practices are what keep me sane. I'm not being hyperbolic here. The daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal practices are what help keep my mind from spinning out or help bring me back a bit sooner if I'm already racing. What I've learned is that flexibility and shifts to the practices are important too.

The fall season is one ripe for reflection. As I sat in bed this morning, writing in my journal, I found myself thinking about my practices. The things I do daily or weekly. I began to examine what is continuing to work and what might need to change. What keeps me feeling good in summer is certainly different than what supports me in fall. I don't know about you, but lately, I have felt a lot of pressure. Not necessarily negative, but just the feeling of a lot of things happening, a lot of things that need my attention, a lot of things I want to give my attention to.

I turn to what might support this shift from the expansive and exploratory nature of summer to the more focused nature of fall. A message that rang clear for me was "rest." To do more, I need to sleep more. More time for my unconscious to begin to form connections that will be accessible in my conscious waking life. But simply deciding that I need to sleep more doesn't translate into me hopping into bed at 9:30. Instead, I need to usher in this shift, honor this change. I look for ways to ritualize this shift as a way to make it a little easier to integrate. The ritual of having herbal tea in that pocket of post-dinner/pre-bedtime has emerged as a renewed practice for me this fall. It is a new moment of quieting, of beginning to wind down so that sleep comes a bit more easily.

Begin to think about what you are doing more of or less of with this season.

…What shifts are beginning to emerge organically?

…..What things are you naturally drawn to or moving away from right now?

…And from there, begin to explore how to ritualize these shifts to form new practices.