You really can’t miss Autumn, it’s a very noticeable change of season! Dramatic shifts in the colour of leaves and foliage and a noticeable change in weather, both ups and downs. Things smell different too. For some people it is the start of a new academic year, maybe the pressure of final school years or university changes. New beginnings and moving on. For those who celebrate the Celtic path the 31st October is the end of the old pagan year and the start of the new one. Whether or not you follow this path there is something about the way that trees shed their leaves that gives us pause for thought. If you are lucky enough to find a space to sit and watch the leaves fall then take it! Go looking for an opportunity to watch the leaves drift off the branches. They fall randomly depending on the conditions, wind or rain affects their direction of travel, but as you watch them fall to earth think about this.
Letting go.
The tree no longer needs their leaves, their time of usefulness is over, What in your life no longer serves you? Can you create more space on your own branches by letting them go so that new leaves/opportunities can form? Those old leaves did their job at the time and now it is time to let them go. You can be sure that the experiences they represent won’t be wasted. Like all that goes on in nature they will be broken down and form compost that will nourish the future from the debris of the past. Nothing is wasted. This is gardening of the soul and creating an environment where good things will grow for you.
Now allow your eyes to close and just breathe. Softly and gently.
Imagine you are looking upwards at a leaf on a tree branch. See the blue sky behind it and breathe gently until you see that leaf loosen and start to twirl downwards, look at it as it floats towards the earth. Where does it land and what shape and colour is it? What did that leaf represent? What have you let go of? What would you like in your life now. Give thanks for the moment you have just had. If you get a chance to find a stray leaf take it home and put it into a book for you or another to find to remind you that nothing lasts forever.