Have you ever wanted to try mediation? Yes, then this Autumn Meditation is perfect for you. It invites the crisp, warm, cozy feeling of autumn into your life, the carnival of colour and change that is autumn. . The focus is on letting go and making room for new growth, and it will help you to slow down and consider where you might you want to go in your life.
Autumn is a season of opposites. The weather begins to cool, we bring the warmth inside with the warm scents of cinnamon, apples, pumpkin soup, hugs, hot chocolate drinks, log fires and "mists and mellow fruitfulness" as Keats would say. . You can feel both the last little bit of warmth of the sun and the nip of frost in the air.
In this meditation you might find it helpful to notice some of the opposites in your own life; places of tension and of relaxation that exist in harmony. You might also find it helpful to consider that letting go of some things gives you more room to grow.
Autumn is not about letting go of everything, rather, it is about allowing the world to move forward in continual progression–about accepting the way our lives move forward and change just as the seasons move forward and change.
Try this meditation for autumn to help you move towards acceptance, rather than pushing against it. Life brings change, just like time brings new seasons. The more we accept forward movement, the further we can go.
You can sit up or lay down if you prefer. . Allow your hands to rest on your lap or by your side. Close you eyes if you wish to or simply lower your gaze.
Take a deep breath in and slowly breathe out. Breathe in and out, in and out, noticing if your chest moves, your belly rises and falls. Simply notice the flow of your breath and how it moves through you.
I want you to imagine that you are standing inside a room, with a door. You take a key from your pocket to unlock it, turn the latch, and step outside.
In front of you is a colorful autumn woodland. Hundreds of trees with leaves in brilliant reds, oranges and golds. A riot of colours laid out before you. Some are green, not yet changed, while others have become crisp and brown on the edges. You being to walk through the crisp, crunchy, rustling leaves. The trees soaring above you and gently swaying in the breeze. You can smell the damp earth as your feet move forwards. Your feet move lightly over the path before you. Your eyes soak in the beauty around you.
A little further ahead of you see water bubbling down a shallow stream.. You can see the stones and pebbles that the water travels over. You notice that some leaves that have floated down into the stream and drifted to the edges where the water ripples toward banks, creating a golden lining on either side. The autumn sunshine glints on the water and sparkles. The sound of the water is refreshing and calming.
You take a seat on rock at the edge, comfortable and content as the water runs by. A splash of water every so often reaches you. Cool and crystal clear. You breathe in the crisp, cool autumn air, filling your lungs with the scent of water, leaves, and the flowers that are yellowing around you.
Feel the warmth of the afternoon sun on your face. The sun slipping gently through your fingers as you reach out to feel the warmth. The heat of summer is gone and in its place is this wonderfully pleasant day. It is perfect, warm enough for comfort and cool enough to refresh you.
A breeze blows around you, and notice the way that it gently shakes the leaves to let go of their branches. The leaves dance from branch to the ground. Some take a more direct path, while others drift and spiral in the wind. Still some leaves cling onto the branches they grew from, hanging by a thread and refusing to fall. “A little longer,” they declare to the breeze and so they hold on, even though the world is changing around them.
See this beautiful and ever changing landscape of autumn. The air cool, the colours bright and the sunshine on your face. Breathe in and out and rest in this moment. Your moment of peace, and stillness in this changing world.
As you breathe in and out perhaps bring to mind something that you have been holding onto. Something that no longer serves you, that you would like to let go of but have not done so yet for whatever reason.
Imagine this thing as a leaf on a tree, clinging to a branch high above the ground, refusing to give in to the change of the season. Once it had a place in your life, just as every leaf has its place on a tree.
This leaf is not a bad leaf. This thing is not a bad thing but for you the time has come for it to fall from the branch. The time has come for you to let it go.
Take a deep breath, the deepest breath you have taken thus far, and visualize the leaf letting go as you breathe out. It let's go of the branch and drifts gently to join the other leaves of red, orange, russet and gold below.
Just like the leaf has not completely disappeared, nor has the thing you are letting go of. It has simply joined all of the other things that you have grown with and learned from, and are now ready to let go of.
You sit for a little longer, enjoying the autumn world around you. Feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin, the chill in the breeze, and the scent of damp leaves and earth. You breathe in and out and feel lighter and ready to move forwards.
When you are ready, you stand and walk back to the house along the path enjoying the last few moments in this colourful world. You know you have left behind something that you no longer need. You feel lighter and ready to move forwards. You reach the door and go inside and lock it.
This key will always be in your pocket. It is your key ready for you to use whenever you want to return to your beautiful autumn woodland.
Bringing your attention to your breath, breathing in and out, in and out, steadily and slowly. Resting on your breath, one breath after another.
Breathing in and out and when every you are ready to go back to your day.
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