Finding emotional balance at Autumnal Equinox
Autumnal Equinox is approaching.
Even though it's weeks away, I can feel it, and -- more than that -- I'm eager for it.
More than my desire for the crisp afternoons that intensify the lusty savoring of spicy chai --
More than the satisfaction of adding two extra quilts to the pile of blankets that has remained on my bed even through the summer --
More even than the promise of more time for novel reading and crossword puzzling --
I'm ready for a change. A shift. A new era. A new... anything, really.
We have been held within a swirling haze of so many different types of discomforts for months now, ranging from the truly tragic and devastating to the continued minor disappointments that make the haze feel relentless.
Top that off with the continuous nudge that we're supposed to be learning some sort of cosmic lesson, creating the grand project that will give meaning to our entire lives, or making all those changes we've been putting off for years -- and it's easy to want this period of life to draw to its sweet close.
But we know it's not going to.
Complex situations don't resolve quickly.
As herbalists, we understand this -- you wouldn't expect a tincture to tea to immediately harmonize a health situation that had been years in the making.
And so, in our lives, even if energy work and ritual and all that reflective journalling is successfully unraveling entanglements and shifting patterns, it may not be quickly apparent.
Even more so, in our wider society, as we do the important work to shift patterns and heal disharmonies, it takes time.
And as the time moves forward, we are held for just a bit longer in that state of discomfort, until we have fully absorbed the lessons we were there to learn.
So in the meantime, what's an herbalist to do?
Well, we take herbs that support our mental, emotional, and physical health. And we move through rituals that help to untangle the pattern and loosen the knots just a little bit more -- or to at least help us feel greater peace while the process unfolds.
If you're feeling stuck in the haze of the past 6 months and want to move towards winter feeling more centered, here's a simple ritual I recommend:
Choose a set of opposite emotions that you've been feeling. (E.g. the desire to hibernate and the desire to get together with all your friends.)
Write a short paragraph about the texture & experience of each of these emotions.
Close your eyes and visualize them on either side of you. Visualize yourself in the center.
Feel the truth and the validity of each of the emotions; feel the pull between them; and practice feeling yourself truly poised and balanced at the center. Practice feeling yourself able to feel steady even as these opposite emotions exist around you.
I wish you feelings of peace and harmony as the rest of the year unfolds.