How To Mindfully Embrace The Fall Season With Less Stress and Anxiety
Autumn has always been synonymous with change. Once again nature proclaims that not all summers are eternal and that no matter how much we loved salty hair and barefoot living, nothing stays the same for long. We are called to more textures in our lives and wardrobes as variety spices up even the coldest autumn afternoon.
No longer catching sun at the beach or frolicking on the Mediterranean, one slows down into Autumn to experience a different kind of existence. While even with its beauty October atmosphere can often seem daunting and stressful, your daily rituals are the grounding tools you can use to experience it to the fullest.
Romanticise the season
A healthy life begins with a healthy mindset. Regardless of how many new self-care techniques you try out, any negativity or stress engrained in your outlook will outweigh any benefits you could receive through those practices. When you take control of your thoughts and choose to saturate them with nourishing, beautiful thoughts, they will flood your outer existence with the same magic created within.
catiebergman.com
While a guided meditation or a walk in the park can ground you for the next hour or two after, the secret lies in prolonging the centring feeling of these practices and fusing them into the trivial tasks of daily life. Why not romanticise every detail of the new season so that it uplifts you regardless of whatever you find yourself doing? Why not run through the leaves and let the wind play with your hair even if it tangles it in disarray? Why not replace the negative connotation of “it’s so cold outside” to instead, “it’s so fresh outside”?
See, even though we have stress and anxiety visit us from time to time, we cannot let them overstay. We need to slip into new routines with ease and revel in the magic of the unknown, rising above any worries about the future by staying fully present in life. Romanticise the crisp fall air, imagine how your favourite author would evoke the season in his writing, and remember that you may not control the outside world, but you have every say in how you respond to it.
JOUR(nal) away
There is nothing like unloading all your thoughts as a “word dump” in your journal. Filling pages with inner dialogues, brainstorming new ideas, or writing down any ramblings cluttering your mind always feels like lightening a load off your shoulders. While some of us prefer unloading thoughts in a raw “stream of consciousness” manner, others find themselves lost at the sight of a blank page. To guide you through through unloading any anxious thoughts or inner struggles in a more structured manner, the JOUR app delivers a mindfulness journal with expert therapeutic techniques accessible anytime. It presents prompts for mood check-ins and breathing exercises, transforming the often daunting experience of journaling into an easy yet constructive support system.
fueled.com
Practice a new skill
Food should not be the only thing we’re spicing up this autumn! Why not shake up your routine and try cultivating a new skill for a month? It can be so easy to feel trapped and stagnant in the ordinary, especially when you find yourself returning to the same routine after an extra spicy summer abroad, but a new season invites a reinvention of ourselves and our lives.
These do not have to be drastic changes, but rather active expression of interest in something. From taking up painting or trying an original take on a recipe, there are endless new experiences you can gently add into your schedule. Committing to even 30 minutes a day of practicing a new skill will enliven you with excitement, helping you combat any autumnal blues you may be experiencing. There are so many wonderful platforms to discover a new interest or practice a new skill, such as: Coursera, edX, or Masterclass. Expand your horizons and you will unlock new ways of seeing and being that will delight you.
Adopt mudras to realign your energy
carenbaginski.com
Mudras have been around for centuries as hand “seals” that circulate energy though the body according to finger arrangement, locking powerful energy within the body instead of releasing it through the fingertips. Each mudra serves a different purpose and you can easily weave them into your meditation practice and some can even be done discreetly while performing other tasks to attune your energy to yourself and your needs in the moment.
One of our favourites is the “kashyapa mudra” that rebalances masculine and feminine energies while also shielding against negativity to keep you grounded and protected. You can perceive the gesture as a tortoiseshell: form a fist with the tip of your thumb between your middle and ring fingers. This is a powerful mudra to use whenever you feel surrounded by negativity and want to block yourself from absorbing it.
So let’s revel and melt into the new season with open hearts and minds eager to learn and thrive; for even though Autumn invites us to slow down and hibernate, you can still blossom inward and outward with small incremental changes. The definition of “heaven” may alter with every season, but one thing that remains the same is the incredible abundance that life has to offer regardless of the time of year.