The Changing Season
Dreaming Time - Autumn and the Gift of Rest
“Across the evening sky, all the birds are leaving
But how can they know it's time for them to go?
Before the winter fire, I will still be dreaming
I have no thought of time….”
SANDY DENNY
Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny was a beautiful singer and songwriter and lead singer of the British Folk rock band Fairport Convention. I have always loved their music. She died at the tender age of 31 years in 1978.
There is a song that she wrote and sang called “Who knows where the time goes”. It is probably my favourite song of hers. It is beautiful and always reminds me of this time of year. As the seasons change, nature gives us a precious gift, a timely reminder, to allow and permit us to step into slowing down, resting, wintering, and dreaming of the unfolding time.
Autumn, Nature and Permission
This coming autumn and winter can be a beautiful opportunity for us to allow a different pace in our daily lives. We can attune inward at the quieter rhythm of these darkening seasons. What am I noticing and feeling in my body at this moment? Solitude and quietness are where we can listen with the inner ear and begin to hear what calls us. What does my intuition know and need at this moment? Listening will slowly cultivate a vibrant and vital relationship with the inner world and the soul self.
How might you begin to support yourself in meeting this slowing down season now with more conscious awareness? What helps?
Rest and Trauma in the Body
Making space for rest is one of the most beautiful and essential gifts we can give ourselves. This can be challenging due to day-to-day busyness. It is also tricky if we have experienced trauma in our lives, where our nervous system may find quiet time and resting quite activating and uncomfortable because it is very unfamiliar. It is also problematic when we have associated achievement and productivity directly related to our value and worth. Society holds similar views, too, which is an extra challenge. Our culture views exhaustion as a sign of success. We may have grown up in a household filled with stress and chaos. Rest and restoration were not modelled at home, so the nervous system has no reference for a healthy balance between rest and effort.
Rest, however, is so vital for our bodies. Rest helps the nervous system feel safe enough for our stress response to shut off and our bodies to recover and restore. Rest is healing and is an essential step in your self care routine.
When you feel overwhelmed and exhausted, your body communicates that rest is needed. When we have a challenging day, have difficulty in our relationships, or feel stuck, taking time to slow down, pause and create space, having a good night’s sleep, or walking in nature supports us. This is the Cailleach wisdom coming in, which is knowing when to rest so that we can find equilibrium again.
“Fear can accumulate in our body, causing stress and tension. Rest is a precondition for healing. When animals in the forest get wounded, they find a place to lie down, and they rest completely for many days. They don’t think about food or anything else. They just rest, and they are able to heal themselves quite naturally. When we humans become fearful and overwhelmed with stress, we may go to the pharmacy and get drugs, but we rarely have the wisdom to stop our running around. We don’t know how to help ourselves.”
THICH NHAT HANH
Nature
Take walks alone in nature. Notice the companionship of the ocean, the forest, and the fields. The air on your skin. The solid ground at your feet. The changing colors of this coming season. Breathe in the changing weather, let your body meet it. Notice what it feels like to create a cosy environment for yourself with the extra sweaters and blankets… Give thanks to the body and this season for the gift that it gives us.
Nourishing Seasonal Food
Taking care of ourselves also means thinking about how to nourish our bodies with good food.
When did you last have a hot steaming bowl of wholesome soup? What did it feel like? Taste like? I invite you to try seasonal food. Reach for the root vegetables, the warming spices, the wholesome warm meals. Enjoy the process of making it, of tasting your food. Take your time. Sit for your meal rather than grabbing something on the go. Drop your shoulders down. Our bodies habitually armour against pain and discomfort, and that is often out of our awareness. We need to allow our muscles to soften. To drop down. To enjoy the moment. During these seasonal changes, our immune system can become compromised due to the changes in temperature, so it’s good to take some extra vitamins, keep your body warm and drink plenty of water. It is a conscious, loving, nourishing support for yourself.
Your Body Needs You
Allowing rest and recognising its healing aspects is vital and challenging. So, acknowledge the need for rest this week. Breathe into it. Allow yourself to rest. Notice the discomfort in caring for yourself, and speak kindly to your tired body. If this is difficult, try talking to your body in the third person.
“Eileen, I know you are tired; it is okay to rest now.”
This allows us to introduce a supportive, internal mother/parent figure who says, "You are worthy of rest and care. Your body needs you. Rest now." I know you are uncomfortable. It’s okay. Give yourself this loving gift today.
A Moment of Intention
Perhaps the invitation to us all this coming week, at this threshold time, is to take a moment of intention into our bodies, to connect in an embodied way to the change we see in the world outside our windows, and in our inner world too. To set our intention in a conscious way, to honor ourselves this season.
Take a breath, breathe into your tummy, feel its rise and fall, and let us give thanks for the beauty and wisdom of it all. To let go, as the leaves do, and step into this dreaming time.
