Fall is a time that always tends to push me into the deepest inner reflections. Looking deeply at one's life may not be as easy as keeping a fast pace and continuing to work. However, one of the most important personal activities is slowing down to look within. Fall strengthens the need to listen, making this a good time to focus on observing yourself from within.
If you're wondering how to approach introspection, here are some tips.
1. Find a comfortable place to rest and begin by being with your thoughts. Allow thoughts to arise and fall naturally without trying to control them.
2. As your thoughts move along, focus on feeling your body. If you feel an area of tension, allow it to relax. To let go, it helps to drop your jaw, relax your shoulders and any holding-on that arises or persists.
3. Once your largest tensions release, notice that your thoughts have also slowed.
4. Now, you can begin to explore your breath. Start to feel your breath passing through your nasal passages, brushing up along your brain, and traveling down through your whole body. Observe this motion, allowing its rhythm and movement to travel throughout your body.
5. Allow the soft movement of your breath to further distance any connection to thoughts which may come up. Let this movement gravitate towards the most challenging areas in your body. Try to direct the breath into these areas.
6. Give yourself time to BE in this relaxed state. Listen to your body. Listen to your breath. Feel love both for yourself and all things.
7. As you return to the pace of daily life, carry along a piece of this inner awareness.
I hope you find that, with practice, the ability to look within oneself becomes a great tool for maintaining a calm and clear state in a world that oftentimes feels more chaotic than organized.
Enjoy the process and allow fall's changing colors to also encourage a beautiful changing within.
Best, Brook Golling, LMT
Article written for Ashland Natural Medicine
