Readiness - Willing & Eager for the Dark Season
How I'm using my hand, head, and heart this month to go into the dark season with an open heart and mind and to find the freedom that is available in the darkness.
Temperatures have been around the mid 50°-60°F when I wake up each morning lately. It’s so good. I know I’m ready.
The Oxford English Dictionary says that readiness is:
What does it really mean to be ready? This feeling I have right now is part excitement, part contentment, part curiosity, part grounding. Part going with the flow. How do I know that means I’m ready? Well, it’s hard to pinpoint. It’s an inner knowing around stability + confidence + assurance + connectedness. Basically, I can just feel it.
We are in the middle harvest season now, moving toward the dark season. The fall garden is planted (carrots and spinach). The final tomatoes will be harvested soon, green ones for pickles and fried green tomatoes. Compost and leaves are being added to the beds that are resting. And, I find myself ready — willing and eager — for the darkness.
Ready for the dark season
I was in a discussion with a friend recently and I was reminded of a time when I didn’t like the seasonal darkness. A time when, as the darkness deepened throughout the season, my energy and my mind grew more and more sluggish. Sinking deeper and deeper into morose and melancholy feelings, I would think, “let’s just get winter over with.” It was about endurance. It culminated in a deep loathing for the month of February.
I suspect everyone, alright, most people, have a tough month. For whatever reason, some months just seem to be more challenging than others. For me, it was February. Memories. Deaths. Losses. They are prolific in February for me.
I made a decision several years ago to befriend February. May be I finally listened to my dad, “That which does not kill you makes you stronger.” May be I was just super tired of holding on to the February angst. I no longer remember the catalyst, and that doesn’t seem important anymore. I dug into supportive practices (internal [me] work and external [Earth and Place] forces) — folklore/mythology, family rituals, herbalism, meditation, movement, walking barefoot on the Earth, and more. I quieted my mind and opened my heart to see what February had to offer to me.
I discovered that February is the month where the divine feminine and the divine masculine present their union so clearly. Fire and water. Shadow and light. Cold and warm. Dormancy and growth. Earth and Sky. Sun and Moon. Boredom and inspiration. Fullness and emptiness. Being and doing. Receiving and creating. This divine union is everything.
Now, I find appreciation in February. Sense of place is heightened in February and helps me remember the sweet spot where the human experience and the landscape are one. And, it reminds me to listen to this wonderful place. I simply need to step out side and be, and I can find all that I need to lift up February for me.
The interesting thing about befriending February, is that it led to a befriending of the entire dark half of the year. I discovered positive energy and a pathway to enjoying, and in fact, needing, the dark season.
Now, I look forward to the season change that is met by the Autumn Equinox, September 22nd in the northern Hemisphere. The shift towards deep darkness. Every day will loose a little daylight. A few minutes each day until we reach the Winter Solstice.
Now that I have befriended the dark season, I am able to be truly at home in nature during this time. I am able to connect with nature in partnership. I love that I am now able to find the natural rhythm that once came with living life seasonally, before modernization made it possible to disconnect from seasonal patterns and changes.
In this season, I connect with the season as it is, without the weight of technology, without the need to achieve, without the need to rush, without the need to overcome and achieve. I slow down, reflect, and enjoy the relationship Mother Earth and I have together.
My Swim Across America Open Water Swim the other day was in that vein. While there were those swimmers who participated as though it was a race (I heard one say, “We took first place!”), most people were doing it for something larger and more connected than competition. It was in support of community, it was in memory of someone they love, it was about being connected to nature and each other. The number of swimmers I saw taking their time, looking around, and just enjoying being in 69°F water was incredible. Indeed, it was beautiful - cormorants flying over head, sun slowly warming the air and shimmering on the tree populated shoreline,.
As the Autumn Equinox approaches I find myself refreshed and ready. Into this dark season I am taking with me an open heart and mind, a desire to go deep, a desire to be in the season in partnership with nature, and a desire to find the freedom that is available in the darkness. Time for some outdoor fires with the family, too.
Here’s how I am using my hand, head, and heart this month.
Here’s how I'm using my hand, head, and heart this month to go into the dark season with an open heart and mind, and to find the freedom that is available in the darkness.
Hand: Blessing and Boundaries
The seasonal shift it is a good time to take stock of things. Do I feel in or out of balance? What have I achieved since the Spring Equinox? What do I need to be ready for winter? For me, these questions bring forth both practical actions and reflections.
The most practical action at this time is to make sure our home is ready for Winter. The week leading up to the Autumn Equinox is a time to deep cleanse the house, just like we do in the spring. This involves not only deep cleaning rooms and closets, and those sneaky little spaces that somehow fill up with stuff, but also about preparing for winter. Putting the garden to rest. Restocking the firewood. Collecting food, clothes, and household items for donation. Ensuring the harvest (tomatoes, garlic, herbs, etc.) is stored for winter as is the re-supply of bulk foods that will last us until summer. Ensuring spaces are clean, organized, and pleasing. Pillows and blankets are ready for snuggling opportunities. It is about bringing balance to the tangible inside the house.
It is also about bringing balance to the energy of our home. After the house is set, it’s time to bless the house and boundaries. The saining bundle is made from cedar, juniper, lavender, basil, calendula, rosemary, and comfrey. They were all harvested from our garden in August and are plants that represent purification, cleansing, abundance, positivity, mental clarity, sunshine, and protection.
The last step is to sprinkle pink sea salt on the threshold of the front door. It will sit for a bit, 15-20 minutes, then the salt and the old energy out of the home will be swept out, and a blessing said for the house and family.
Head: Michaelmas
On the heels of the Autumn Equinox, comes Michaelmas, September 29th. When our kids attended our local Waldorf school they participated in the Festival of Courage on Michaelmas. The foundation of the festival was to celebrate human courage as the days begin to darken and to fortify our courage for winter. Our kids performed feats of strength, jousting, tug of war, and slayed dragons. We have lots of crafts we did together on Michaelmas when the kids were little. Directions for some will be in the newsletter so be sure you are subscribed.
Our family’s Michaelmas practices are a bit different now. We no longer try to slay our dragons but rather befriend them and learn from them. Our reading for this day has grown into a new direction.
We will make Carrot Cake and read stories about the Grail Mysteries. (The Elucidation — believed to be the oldest Grail story of all; Chrétien de Troyesʼs Perceval, le Conte du Graal). The grail isn’t acquired by being a great fighter or achieving feats of strength or even by slaying dragons. Its about growing into compassion. As we read the stories we will be exploring how Perceval had to figure out the necessary question to ask the wounded king. The question that would show his growth, understanding, strength, and compassion.
Michaelmas is also a harvest festival as it is the time of the middle harvest. There’s a saying I heard once, “Saint Michael pushes cabbages into kegs.” Now that the canning season is over, we shift to fermentation. Michaelmas is the day we will begin making sauerkraut.
In some traditions, natural phenomena are observed on this day.
When the night is bright on Michaelmas, it will be a long winter.
An abundance of acorns on Michaelmas means there will be a lot of snow for Christmas.
Rain on Michaelmas means the winter will be light.
I’m not sure whether to hope for rain or acrons……
Heart: Yoga
For me, yoga is about how I live my life. It is more than exercise, stretching, or simply movement. Yoga is so much more than asana. To adapt the quote from Dani Rojas in Ted Lasso, “Yoga is Life.” Yoga is an integrated way of living my life. Yoga is about being alive in the now and about how I move through the now with attention and an open heart. Yoga = Now = Attention = Love.
For me, Yoga encompasses all of the practices of my daily life that help me feel grounded yet fluid, feel interconnection and divinity with all (humans and more than humans), calm and nourish my nervous system, manage adversity, quiet my mind and open my heart, and help me grow into the highest version of myself.
I have learned to see the cycles in my Yoga as well. When I was in Mexico, the heat, humidity, and all that ocean water led me to feel like I was melting into the ground. Grounding practices would have brought more of that feeling and I needed to be able to balance, not encourage that feeling. Slow and airy practices with lots of breath work did just that.
Fall is the time of the west, its water-based. I associate it with Salt Marshes — a liminal space; the tide washes over the soil/detritus and plants, and leaves behind that which it no longer needs: salt; sediment; nutrients; literally, dead things; and, even trash that has made it into the water. There is flowing, cleansing, rhythmic energy. There is also birth and growth as the salt marsh is a birthing and nursery habitat for many more than human beings.
The water and air temperatures are cooling now. After a hot summer, the coolness can feel dramatic, even shocking, to me and to the salt marsh. These transitions in the salt marsh — wet to dry, salty to fresh, and cold to hot — necessitate adaptation by the more than humans that live there. It’s a place I have learned a lot from over the years.
In this liminal space as we move through the Equinox, I need a bit more grounding practices. Its the slow and still asana practices that unstick all that is not moving, that provide time to deeply breathe, notice, and feel. This month, I am focusing on practices that focus on surrender, support, strength, and grounding. Longer held postures that are closer to the floor, stabilizing, calming, things that anchor me to Earth and fill me with warmth; slow warming rhythmic motions. Poses that encourage me to integrate the left and right side of my brain and body. Balancing poses and restorative twists. Hip openers.
Once the season shifts to significantly more darkness, deep autumn and early winter, my practice will shift to more firey postures followed by rest and recovery. That will be a time to create balance between movement and rest. Short bursts of activity. Strong and stimulating postures. Sun Salutations. Followed by slow stretches and long Savasanas.
Yoga through the seasons provides me with an opportunity to be in the now, in the unique present moment of each season. To feel what is coming up as the seasons change. To unstick all that is stagnate or held too securely. To go deep, breathe, notice, pay attention, and wonder.
There are so many resources for yoga on the web. A simple search is all it takes to find a studio close by to get started. If that is not an option or if you prefer going at it on your own, here are some resources:
My teacher, Britt Steele offers a live-stream class every Sunday from 9 - 10:30 am CST. It is a donation based class and Britt truly means donation. She never wants anyone to feel like they can’t come because they can’t afford it. Each class is recorded and stored in a private portal that can be accessed whenever you want, as many times as you want.
Asana Rebel is an app that provides a variety of practices in a variety of lengths, as well as meditation resources, recipes, articles, and playlists.
As the Autumn Equinox approaches I find myself refreshed and ready. This month my hand, head, and heart practices provide an opportunity for me to go into the dark season with an open heart and mind, and to find the freedom that is available in the darkness. Into this dark season I am taking with me an open heart and mind, a desire to go deep, a desire to be in the season in partnership with nature, and a desire to find the freedom that is available in the darkness.
Be sure you are subscribed to A Crunchy Life to receive the monthly newsletter for a deeper dive into this month’s hand, head, and heart practices. There is always one recipe or activity with directions included in each monthly newsletter.