Harvest and Simplify
By Lynn Felder, RYT
Who has not noticed — or been somewhat affected — by the recent change in the weather? Clear, blustery days can leave us feeling excited, expectant and a little bit off-balance.
Fortunately, we've got yoga to anchor us when changes in the wind or the workplace threaten to unsettle us.
In the yogic calendar, the days from about Sept. 15 to Nov. 15 are the time of the year to Harvest and Simplify. They follow logically on the season of Play, May to July, and the season in which to Organize, July to Sept.
Did you take a vacation, time to celebrate and rejoice in early summer? Were you busy getting the kids or yourself ready for school in late summer? Maybe you've been harvesting veggies from the garden or cleaning the yard. Or maybe you're harvesting the fruits of a project that required a lot of energy.
Whatever has been taking your attention now is the time to Harvest and Simplify. Ground yourself with your yoga practice. Be sure that time on the mat includes time to go inward and come down to Earth before you leap like Hanuman and dance like Siva.
What we eat can also help to ground us. Make some roasted root-veggies: beets, sweet potatoes and turnips. Or stew up some mountain-grown apples for breakfast. Caring for yourself doesn't have to take a lot of time. It's the thought — and the action — that counts. Keep in simple.
And feast your eyes on the natural world. Look around at the miracles of the season. The rain from the South has brought an unexpected burst of green before the real autumn colors come blasting in.
Our yoga practice can help us tune in to the seasons and prepare for them, so that we're not swept off guard by summer's flurry of activity or autumn's wind and cool weather.
So, whatever you do: Do more yoga!
Copyright by Lynn Felder October 2008. Lynn Felder is an award-winning journalist, a yoga teacher registered with the Yoga Alliance and the author of the DVD “Gentle Yoga for Cancer Patients,” available at www.artsofyoga.com.
You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to lynn@artsofyoga.com and link to www.artsofyoga.com.