As the year tilts from fiery summer yang to cooler winter yin, we began setting our roots down into the Earth through September with our grounding late-summer yin yoga and celebrated the abundance of the harvest season.
Into October and November, autumn now invites change, transformation, reflection and letting go. Just as trees shed their leaves, the season invites us to release anything we no longer need to hold onto to conserve our energy as darker, colder months approach. Winter's slow and steady arrival begins to guide us inward, back to our roots, and any non-essentials that we don't need to bring can be let go of - perhaps physical, or more likely metaphorical, energetic and emotional - like unhelpful habits or thought patterns.
You might just have noticed that I love connecting my practice to the rhythms of the natural world, remembering that we are simply a microcosm of the macrocosm. Living in harmony with the cyclical nature of the seasons, rather than trying to push through the year at the same pace, even in small gestures like inviting more cosiness as the days get shorter, sleeping a little longer and eating warming, nourishing meals, maintain that balance between inner and outer worlds. By bringing body, mind and spirit into the same energy as the world around us, we reconnect with our natural state of ease, joy and flow that resides beneath the layers that everyday life can pile upon us. That's the yoga! â¨
Yin Yoga through Autumn
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), autumn is associated with the metal element - deep below the earth and soil, metal draws energy and focus even deeper down towards the core of the Earth, connecting us to what lies deep within and holds stable and secure.
A yin practice focused on the metal element reminds us to turn to our own inner resources, our own inner stability, like precious minerals buried deep within the Earth. Metal's ability to transform and alchemise - like fallen leaves that decompose to become nutrient-rich soil to nourish the next cycle of growth, remind us that our own personal release allows space for future growth, and to bloom at the next equinox.
âLife meanders like a path through the woods. We have seasons when we flourish and seasons when the leaves fall from us, revealing our bare bones. Given time, they grow again.â
Katherine May, Wintering
In TCM, autumn and metal are associated with the lungs and large intestine, the organs of drawing in nutrients and holding onto what is useful (from the air we breath and the food we eat), and eliminating what isn't. Our autumnal yin practice nourishes and stimulates the meridians of the lungs and the large intestines, and incorporating pranayama (breathing practices) bolsters the lungs at a time of year when the respiratory system can be vulnerable.
You can try the full practice here :
And if you'd like to read more about seasonal yoga, I've a few other autumnal blog posts :
My annual Autumnal Retreat in Titpoe, New Forest : https://www.hannahduncalfyoga.com/post/autumn-yoga-retreat
A hatha yoga sequence for autumn : https://www.hannahduncalfyoga.com/post/yoga-for-autumn
A yogic approach to autumnal self care : https://www.hannahduncalfyoga.com/post/autumnal-self-careÂ
Happy Autumn! đ
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