There is so much than can be said about Fall in New England. We often think of apple picking, country fairs, leaf peeping, pumpkin spice & sweater weather. It is also a time of transition, of release & letting go, and according to Chinese Medicine, the lungs & grief.
Just breathing can have an enormous impact on our mental, emotional & physical well-being. With our breath, we can touch places & spaces within ourselves, where we have held grief for years. Many of us haven’t allowed ourselves to access that place within. Just as trees support us in feeling grounded, connected & supported, they are also helping us to move through grief & other emotions, through our breath & the reciprocity of respiration with them.
As the leaves age & transform before us, it is a potent reminder of the passage of time…there’s always something so bittersweet about autumn. It is beautiful in its own haunting, ephemeral way. From the end of October to the winter Solstice, they say the veil between the worlds is the thinnest, and those who have passed on are more accessible to us.
I’ll never forget, 25 years ago, on a Yogi tea bag, I got the message “A fall of a leaf is a whisper to the living.”And since then, have had several moments where I knew a loved one on “the other side” was sending me a message through a leaf.
So maybe take some time this fall, to walk amongst the trees, let them hold space for you as you breathe deep, and allow yourself to access the grief that has taken up residence in your body, and listen for the comforting whispers from beyond the veil.
Wishing you all the beauty that October brings,
*Julie*