Look after your inner animal this Autumn...

“You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen" Ernest Hemmingway.

I found this quote and thought how beautiful it was. There is a sense of death in Autumn but there is a positive aspect because it's not final it's just part of the circle of life.

We are all animals, in our primal centres, getting ready for hybernation aren't we.  So it's time to slow down and look at what we have reaped over the summer.  Nurture ourselves and give ourselves rest.  

Are we so disconnected from the natural world that we forget how the seasons have a profound effect on us?

If anything, the message in this blog is to remember your animal inside.  Give yourself some space to look back and reflect.  Be gentle with yourself and accept that this is the time to welcome sadness with a positive heart.  Fighting this natural instinct is detrimental to your health, you need to feel it.

Here are a few ideas for Autumn sadness...

Write a list of gratitude for all the things you have in your life that are positive and say thank you from your heart.  This is a simple task but is incredibly rewarding - have a go!

Spend just five minuites (time yourself!) outdoors quiet and still.  You can get enormous sense of peace just sitting next to nature.

Write yourself a list of things that you're proud of for this year and give yourself a few goals for the next few months.  Listen to your heart and dreams... they can come true if you want them to.

Imagine your inner animal this Autumn - what is it? what does it look like?  how does it feel? Write or draw a picture.... what does it need to be nurtured this Autumn?

Beauty is everywhere just start noticing it and you'll fill your heart with happiness in moments.

Blessings.  

An Autumn Meditation

Stand with your eyes closed and take three gentle breaths in from the base of your spine - visualise the breath coming in from that point (this encourages you to breathe from a deeper place and really use your lung capacity which gets optimum oxygen into your blood stream - great news for your body!)

Visualise roots pushing down into the soil from your feet - each breath out they push further into the cool dark earth.
Gently breathe into your lower back
Visualise yourself as a tree - strong trunk lengthening to the sky
Gently breathe into your lower back

Arms as branches with long elegant fingers stretching to the sun
Gently breathe into your lower back
Visualise the leaves on your branches, fluttering gently in the breeze, beautiful shades of gold, brown, yellow, orange, green
Gently breathe into your lower back
Your roots are strong and grounded in the earth, your trunk is tall and lengthened to the sky, your branches are relaxed taking in the sounds and smells of the day

Now visualise your leaves dropping, one by one they gently float down onto the ground and  as each one falls you feel lighter, calmer, stronger.

Allow all your leaves to fall as you gently breath into your lower back

When they are all gone - just enjoy the feeling of being light and calm and refreshed

Then when you are ready gently notice your breath.... notice your feet...... notice your arms and your head.  Notice the space around you and gently open your eyes.

Lovely.

Looking in the mirror... drawing a self portrait.

So this weekend I have been looking at self portraits and drawing myself for the first time. 

Looking into a mirror it could be very easy to get hung up on what you are seeing…but in fact I found it liberating for me to look at my face and see that my proportions are OK, my nose is nowhere near as big as I had thought all these years.  I was so interested in the effects and shapes, the lines and the colouration.  There was a softness to my mouth that I had never looked at before and the colours in my iris were so much more than ‘greeny’.  I really enjoyed indulging in my own face for a day, getting to know me again and what I look like now since having my daughter.

What was my face showing me?  What did I see reflected in the mirror?  Who is this person?

It was a delight to sit and stare, search, scribble and express myself in different ways.

I'd encourage you all to have a go!  Or does the idea of looking at yourself fill you with dread?

I was so saddened by how many of the rest of the group of women sharing this experience with me were so judgmental  so aggressive, so disgusted with their own faces.  Noticing everything that was negative, horrified by their own skin.

Why do we do that? 

If you really can’t bare to look at your face and spend so much energy verbally attacking yourself, what is that doing to you? 

So the thing that I’ve been pondering is …. How could I tell those other women that they were beautiful and that they should be kind, accepting themselves, celebrating their uniqueness and delighting in who they are?

Do people really want to spend their whole life hating themselves?  Noticing all the imperfections?  Envious of anyone or thing that appears to have what you haven’t got?  Is that easier than taking responsibility for yourself and your life?

Shouldn't we all at some point stop and really look at yourself in the mirror – warts and all!?  Look at who you really are and don’t hide from it .  Meet yourself as you really are and be truthful, frank, open.  

Send yourself some love… look in the mirror and give yourself a kiss….I know you will feel better for it.