This post comes from our contributor FP Naomi.
Summer is a season governed by the energies of yang. At its end, we experience a gradual progression from fieriness to the cold of winter, yin. The time period known as autumn is marked by that transition from yang to yin. Here is a little rundown of what to expect as we experience its effects.
Reaping the Benefits of Yang
In summer you will have been compelled to begin projects backed by the energy of yang. Now that the season is coming to a close, it’s a good time to finish projects and enjoy the fruits of our efforts. Harvest the last edibles from the garden, for example. Enjoy the strength those end of summer vegetables give you. You’ll need to build energy for the scarcer winter months ahead in which you’ll be like a seed, storing energy to blossom when the spring once again arrives.
Yin’s Wind
As yin moves in and fall progresses, the days get shorter and the world a bit darker. A chill of wind moves through and dries out the earth, our bodies, and the air. Tree’s shed their leaves, and nature gets ready for a small sleep. We have to be especially careful of this wind when it comes to our bodies. Skin, lungs, and hair all stand to get a bit dried out from it. To maintain the moisture, you can wash your hair a bit less and lotion your skin more often. For scratchy lungs, eat pungent foods whose energy will help to open them up and allow in healing oxygen.
Becoming More Introspective
Don’t be surprised if as the season progresses you tend to get a bit more reflective and wrapped up in your own thoughts. Yin energy is representative of inward and downward motions, making you move more into yourself. Prepare for this onset, make your home into a comfortable space, pick up a sketchbook, and stock up on books you’ve wanted to read. Allow time and space for your thoughts to mature.
A Perfect Balance
Lastly, enjoy this time of year when both yin and yang are present. You will still have some energy and enthusiasm left over from summer, but will also feel refreshed as yin moves in. In the beginning, it will remove the excess heat in your body left over from summer, giving you a perfect temperature to work with. The world around you is more balanced, and it takes less effort to feel balanced yourself. You’re naturally teeter-tottering from one to the other with little thought as to what you need to stay centered. It’s a time of year for change, thought, and all around happiness.
Check out Naomi’s blog, Numie Abbot.
No wonder this is my favorite time of year. Beautiful post, N!
xo, Juliette Laura
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It’s funny you mention that about pungent foods. Maybe that is always why I want curries and garlicky foods in the fall and winter. Now that I think about it, I DO breathe a lot better when I eat them in colder months.
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Great post!
Any chance someone can tell me if she’s wearing an FP skirt? It’s beautiful
Wow, couldn’t have captured the lighting of fall more beautifully! Love it and love the free people blog (it’s my home site!) Check out my California based photography blog as i catch summer turning fall on the west coast :)
Here it is: http://tlingram.weebly.com — Thanks :)
Wow this is great inspiration! I am definitely posting this link on my blog! Please check my blog out! I write about appreciation and my fascinations of future travels!
http://visionarybelle.blogspot.com/
love this post. i love the chakra art @naomiabbot did as well. i really want to get a big print of it done to hang on my wall at home.
Great post :) We love autumn so much! The balance between happenings and relaxing is great. Makes it so much easier to stay centered and just enjoy everything.
I love autumn. I love the fresh air, the cold rain, being inside looking out on the leaves blowing from the trees, making a nice cup of home made tea, watching a scary movie or reading an interesting book. Everything is calm and relaxed, people are not so hyper anymore. Autumn <3
Not only is Autumn my name, it is my favorite time of year, your post justifies all the reasons why. Nothing like a feeling of crisp fall air into your lungs, and the warmth of the sun on your breath as you exhale.
Can you tell us more about this? I’d like to find out more
details.