Autumn is the season of falling apart and letting go. The outer-directed energy and enthusiasm of summer’s fire power sharply falls away. Temperatures drop, winds accelerate, leaves turn color and bid farewell as everything in Mother Nature’s kingdom returns to the soil, enriching it to prepare the grounds for a new harvest.

This process of nature reflects the cycles of the spirit to create and let go. In the transition between these two seasons there is an energetic stimulation to turn inward. This inward pull offers an opportunity to divide what is still fresh and useful from that which is decaying like the fallen leaves of the autumn trees. This is the strongest time of the year for taking out the garbage and cleaning out the old and useless patterns in life.

If you move harmoniously with the process you will leave this season feeling fresh and pure, like a fall breeze in the early morning. Autumn delivers us back to the state of original nature, stimulates the removal of that which is no longer needed and reveals what is most precious in life.

Autumn is also the season of the element Metal (or air). It is completely natural to feel grief and separation as a symptom of the letting go of summer, which is a time of increased pride and ego. This sadness is purifying and cleansing and completely natural in the process of transition into the colder and less active months of the year.

The summer has passed and so has the time for power, fire and “giving it all you got.” Use this time wisely and move freely like autumn wind into the season of rest. This is a time to contain yourself, speak less, act less and become completely absorbed in the calm and peace that only fall offers.

Samuel “Ganesha” Steward is the founder of Tranquility Yoga, located at Airmid Wellness, 1260 Old York Rd., Warminster. For more information, visit TranquilityYoga.org or call 609-455-7224. November 2017