A new season is here. Take a moment to recognize it, to take it in, recognize something pleasant about it.
That alone can help support the relaxation response. Try it!
Fall in Ohio, where I grew up, is a shower of colors and cool, refreshing air — Mother Nature’s reward after a hot, humid summer. When I was a kid, we lived next to a school, so fall was also accompanied by the sights and sounds of young teens having football practice. They seemed to double in size in their football uniforms — big, bulky shoulder pads, jerseys, and helmets, running and grunting as they tackled each other to the ground. I feel nostalgic when I see kids practicing now on the football field near my home. (Though given what we now know about football and concussions, the nostalgia is bittersweet. That’s another story…)
Fall is here in the San Francisco Bay Area, though with a more subtle touch than what I knew as a young person in Ohio. This is such a rich time to notice changes in the environment. You can feel it – in the air, the light, the colors, the foods at the market. And we might notice changes within ourselves since we are, after all, a part of nature. Perhaps you’re going to bed a little earlier, feeling a shift in your energy, or in what you want to do with your time. Take a moment to pay attention to the changes and invite curiosity to what is here.
I encourage you to notice the season’s changes and to take them in through all your senses — smell, taste, touch, sight, sounds. Play, get outside, and recognize what’s going on inside as well.
Noticing moments of pleasure activates the relaxation response. Even in the midst of challenge, we can see a moment of what’s working, what might be going well, a moment of appreciation. It does not mean to deny the challenge, but to note that the challenge is not all that is. Noticing a pleasant moment can calm the nervous system, actually supporting our capacity to problem-solve more skillfully. We can shift out of stress reaction.
Relaxation Response – Try it!
Pause and notice your environment. Rest your attention on something pleasant – a tree, a picture, a sound, a bird, a smell, the sky – anything. Stay with it for a few cycles of breath. Notice sensations in the body, thoughts and feelings that arise. Notice and sustain the pleasant experience for 30 seconds. Then proceed — take the next step with clear intention.
Song for Autumn
by Mary Oliver
In the deep fall
don’t you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind?
And don’t you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think
of the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep
inside their bodies?
And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
vanishes, and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows.
And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.
To learn more:
- Workshops and 1:1 Coaching for you and your Organization
- Schedule a free 20-minute Chat with Terre Passero, founder of Mindful Stress Management
- YouTube for guided mindfulness practices and talks about stress, the brain, and the body