Tonight as I left work I heard a lone goose in the night sky above. She was was calling to the darkness and seemed to stay forever close. Two or three more voices joined her after what seemed a long solo moment. They spoke together, their words long and melancholy. As I stood and looked up, I knew what they meant. I knew they longed to be where the corn grows tall and the sun warms the ponds and sleepy Hallows.
Nature is always so honest, so true!
In Ottawa, we’ve had a long and sunny October and early November with many options to be outdoors.
So, an article I planned to write weeks ago about the transition from summer into fall energies got lost outdoors, until today.
With snow on the ground and winter peeking from just around the corner It’s certain we’ve all noticed some sort of seasonal shift. The uplifting energy of summer and those long daylight hours are gone for this year and its time to settle into fall. But what does it all mean?
I find transitioning into fall can be energetically tricky, so if you’re feeling a little out of wack this is fairly normal. We tend to cling to our summer habits and in doing so can leave ourselves open for a let down as summer and early fall energies wane.
What’s interesting about shifting from summer into fall is that we naturally understand what to do and yet may procrastinate in the fading glory of summer or even fall.
If we look at Indigenous or Traditional Chinese customs, we see how they transition across seasons in a purposeful and ceremonious way. Even the farming community seems to listen with a fine-tuned ear better than people living in cities. They follow their calendar along with moon patterns and focus on elemental change. They look at seasonal change as good, helpful and necessary.
If we procrastinate and hold our focus on summer too long, it is like planning to run a marathon without preparation and can lead to significant feelings of unbalance.
Unbalance can be dealt with quickly if we move into flow with the season and adjust as needed. Or, the transition can be difficult if we struggle unaware or unwilling to adjust our clock to the season.
Believe it or not, we are much more intuitive than we think, often struggling only because we are more removed from tradition than our ancestors. So let’s look at what can get us on track!
Here are a few things I’ve learned and have helped me transition into fall and early winter.
1. Let nature, the earth, moon, and stars guide you into the season.
When you spend time outdoors, you will naturally feel more in step with the season.
2. Befriend the shorter days, noticing what they have to offer.
By acknowledging every moment as a gift, we can be grateful in the shorter, darker days of fall. Explore and embrace the newness hidden around you, seeing “all” that is available.
3. Relax and get more sleep.
Regardless of your pace in life, allow for more sleep and notice how much more energetic you feel. Find adequate “downtime” and don’t feel guilty if things on the to-do list fall behind.
4. Exercise, but reduce the intensity and allow more time for recovery.
Take it easy at the gym. You may need longer warm-up and cool-down periods and more time between reps and workout sessions. As cooler temperatures impact your body do more stretching without pushing too hard. When outdoors, try breathing through your nose as this warms the air for the lungs.
5. Sense “earth” and/or “metal” element and see what they mean for you.
In Indigenous and Chinese traditions, fall elements are in some respects preparing us for winter and asking us to deal with sadness and grief along with other emotions. Take the time to investigate your emotions and honor what they are speaking to you about. You may sense your lung capacity change during the fall season.
6. Eat seasonally, letting your diet shift to foods that ripen in the fall.
If you do some quick research on fall foods, you’ll notice that the lightness of summer staples has, for the most part, left the diet. Food for fall is heavier and hardier and can easily be overlooked as we cling to summer eating habits. This was less of a problem when produce could not be brought out of season to our tables. Fall food is also very grounding after being up in the ethers all summer.
7. Dress for the weather.
As temperatures drop, ensure to wear warm clothing. Be especially careful to cover your head and neck. The neck and throat area needs to be covered from cold and wind as it’s an important passageway for air to our lungs, our spine and nervous system, blood flow to the brain and many other energetic pathways.
8. Have a daily energetic routine.
Have a daily practice that brings natural energy into your body. This helps to keep energy levels up throughout the fall and winter months without relying on coffee or other stimulants that can impact health and sleep negatively. Sometimes called “Chi” or “Prana” there are many ways to boost your life force energy.
Qigong, Tai Chi, Yoga are just an example of how movement and breathwork can bring Prana into your body to enhance natural energies.
9. Mediate.
Mediation (whether guided or silent) and other quite practices are great ways to get the creative juices flowing for your indoor/outdoor projects. Being calm also strengthens the immune system and creates positive moods and outlook.
10. Get involved with the traditions of the season.
There are so many activities that come to us in fall and it can really boost our energy and mood when we get involved. Having even a small get together to celebrate Octoberfest and attending a Christmas Bazar can be very uplifting. Planning in advance gives you something to work toward and look forward to.
By Tom Kelly
So what is the deal with being on a spiritual path? Does it mean that you are a different person, somehow totally different from the person you were before you connected with spirit, however this happened for you?
Not really.
What it meant for me, was that I started to see things about life differently and over time became more able to hold this knowledge (knowing) without question.
Everyone’s path will be different, and if like many you are living a more open and loving experience you have expanded and now know your world differently. You are not a new person and yet this expansion might take others by surprise.
Personal growth regardless of how it happens or what the reason will always bring new found passion and in the case of spiritual growth awareness.
If our life path brings us joy and happiness without a need for external validation or material compensation we have found inner peace.
In a space where we love our-self fully and can look beyond hate, seeing the world and all beings as our friends and family we have expanded.
We are not different people, but do see and feel differently about our life experience.
So regardless of the path you are on today, remember to embrace whatever you are seeing and sensing, and let those around you be who they are.
We are all in different places and this is a good thing. Being different offers us an invitation to evolve in way that otherwise wouldn’t have happened.
So, walk your path with care and kindness, always listening for the silent teachers who are always around us offering to help expand our lives.
-Tom Kelly
“Each new moment being its own world full of depth and completeness where lack does not exist.”
“Human suffering (our suffering) is most apparent when the mind (ego) is actively processing lower energy thought such as “guilt, shame or fear.” This unconscious playback of negative beliefs about ourselves, our world and others, keep us from expressing the beauty and magnificence of who we truly are.”
I came across an article in late 2018 about people having and enjoying a cold shower and immediately thought, are they crazy! We’ve all watched people jump into a lake or river water in winter usually as a challenge or for charity and said “no way am I ever doing that!”
But, as I read more about cold and the possible benefit from having cold showers I was intrigued. A guy named Wim Hof (nicknamed the “IceMan”) kept coming up. This guy at first glace seems a bit crazy and yet he is able to do extraordinary things?
So I needed to know more and kept reading. There are people all over the world taking cold showers and not just once or twice a week, but every time they shower or can swim somewhere cold. Many of these people document months or years of their lives and are very honest and thoughtful in outlining what they perceive as beneficial from their cold therapy experience.
Not being one to sit on the sidelines if a practice seems helpful, I took up the challenge to know more. I had my first cold shower about 6 weeks ago and it was damn cold and not very pleasant. The next day I had another cold shower and thought, what am I doing, but did notice feeling quite awake and alert afterward. Day three was better in that I didn’t experience the shock to the cold water for as long and really felt good afterward. As the days progressed and I continued to have cold showers I realized that the initial adjustment to the cold sensation was changing. In about 5-10 seconds I was comfortable in the cold water and although the water hitting me was cold, I wasn’t cold, which is very similar to what people doing this were saying.
If you have every run the tap and put your hand under the water waiting for it to become a specific temperature you will have experienced the same thing I did in the shower. As your hand become used to the water you become unsure what the actual temperature is, needing to touch the water with your other hand to verify the water temperature. This idea of cold becoming tolerable is quite interesting!
As weeks pasted and more cold showers took place I noticed being outside in the cold winter air I felt warmer than it normally would have, just like in the shower. I felt alert and awake right after my shower and strangely wasn’t hustling to get warm (keep in mind that my showers would never be more than 3-5 minutes). One day after an extend time outdoors working and moving snow I thought I would treat myself to a hot shower and had a most interesting experience. The hot water actually seemed to reduce energy flow and I started to feel gross and groggy, as if the battery which is my energy was somehow shutting down.
For the record, I have since had a couple more warm showers (not hot) and have felt fine but certainly not as energized like from a cold shower.
So what is the deal with cold showers?
Although I have little data of my own to share, I can say that cold showers are not harmful. I can also say that if you dare to start having cold showers expect to feel very awake and clear headed (keeping in mind that brain fog will not be eliminated fully unless all obstacles that can cause this symptom are in check). You should also notice that your skin and hair feel cleaner and less blocked with junk (still unsure why?).
So, if you dare, TRY IT!
My suggestion is to get into a shower that you are accustomed to and over the first minute adjust the temperature colder, stopping at the point where it isn’t pleasant, then continuing to adjust colder, etc. Just play with the temperature until you can get into a lukewarm shower and turn it to 80-90% cold almost right away. Because it is winter in Canada just now, full cold is not my goal for now, work with that last 10% your own way. I finish my shower with a short 15-30 seconds burst at the very end of every shower.
Here are a few resource to read and help you understand possible benefits of cold showers.
Wim Hof (IceMan)
Have Fun Getting Cold!
Tom Kelly
When you teach a child that a bird is called a bird, they never see the bird again. – Unknown
Peregrine Falcon, Arizona
Without realizing it we often clutter the beauty of our life experience by expanding it far beyond what is there.
In the 1980’s when music videos became popular, Neil Young made a conscious effort to “not” tell a story with the videos he made. He said “we are killing imagination by offering a story-line to go with the music we write,” and I agree with Neil.
Why not spend some time experiencing life without clutter, expanding our experience.
Eckhart Tolle often speaks about observing without adding unnecessary thought. For example, as you watch a bird, simply see the bird and enjoy the experience without adding thought such as, what a beautiful bird, what beautiful colors, etc
By eliminating thought and clutter we open to a truly Divine experience. These are magical moments of consciousness, multidimensional in what is perceived.
