The autumnal equinox is just around the corner (falling on September 23rd this year), marking the first day of fall in the northern hemisphere.

The beauty of the equinox is that it marks a balancing of things – night and day are equal.

It feels like nature’s little pause so our bodies, minds, and souls can transition into the next phase of living and not jump right in so suddenly. Spring and summer have a lot more movement in them –  with the energies sprouting, growing, and flowering all around us as we feel expansive and playful. With the coming of fall and winter, we are turning toward shorter and darker days.

It is time to gather, store, organize, and wind down from summer’s quick tempo and the forward momentum that modern life usually demands. As leaves fall to the ground, they decay and merge with the soil once again. And we, too, are in the process of letting things wither and fall away to gather only what is essential for the winter months.

We are s l o w i n g down to rebalance and harvest what we’ve been growing in our lives.

I feel this transition most in my body – a desire for root vegetables and soups, steamy mugs of things and longer naps.I’m craving warming spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. I want orange and yellow and brown all around me and in my food.  I want to write in my journal while the rain pounds against the window.

This is one of the main reasons I do detoxes during the equinoxes. It’s a sweet method to help our bodies move into a new way of being. I am particularly aware of strengthening my immune system ahead of the colder months with this detox by giving my organs a rest from the summer crazies and rebalancing my hormones to build up immunity (way better than a flu shot, if you ask me).

In further honoring of this transition into Autumn {beyond freaking out over pumpkin spice lattes and crunching leaves under your boots}, I’ve provided a few dabbling ideas for you to welcome fall into your space – both physical and spiritual – in a grounding and creative way:

1. Tidy your space – Create a peaceful, inspiring sanctuary  by taking 20 mins to 1 hour to do a quick tidy of your space. Change the sheets and make the bed, do the dishes and put them away, recycle that junk paper pile you keep meaning to sort through, fill a grocery bag with clothes you’ve been meaning to donate.
2. Adorn your space with an autumn altar – Once your space feels tidier, then bring in those beautiful natural elements of fall to inspire and ground you. This can be anything like leaves, apples, pinecones, corn, squash, and pomegranates (not unlike the traditional cornucopia).
3. Light Candles – Light some candles and give blessings for abundance and gratitude for the harvest. As the days darker, it’s helpful to bring more light into the home to remind yourself of the light within you even in the darkness. You can make your own candles, which is fun and rewarding. I’ve made easy beeswax candles and have added in chai spices to the wax for a really fun, fall-themed candle.
4. Get in the Garden – Connect to this harvest energy but getting your hands in the dirt and harvesting what you’ve been growing all season. If you don’t have a garden, head to the farmer’s market and get more physically acquainted with the harvest of fall. Talk to the grower about this year’s harvest – how the weather affected the food, what food they are most proud of, what they would recommend you take home. I find it to be such a beautiful, re-connecting experience.
5. Preserve Food – The fall harvest months are traditionally a time to preserve food for the winter. Even though we can access any type of food in any season thanks to modern day technology, I find the practice of food preservation to be an enjoyable way to re-connect to the season. If you don’t have food you’ve grown yourself, you can usually buy a flat for canning from a farmer. We like to get a flat of tomatoes to boil and can for summer tomato sauce. I’m also a big fan of making berry and stone fruit jam and pickling vegetables.
6. Meditate and Journal – Take a few minutes to find some stillness. Close your eyes, take 3 deep breaths, and reflect on your own inner harvest. Grab a journal and write out whatever comes to you. List what you want to celebrate, the seeds you planted, and what you are harvesting. Express gratitude for making it here – to this moment – and look towards the fall and winter as a time of rest and reflection.
7. Honor your ancestors – In Japan, it is customary to visit the graves of their ancestors on the autumn equinox. I like to put out a few family photos and burn my ancestor candle as a way to honor the long lineage of wise, courageous woman that came before me.
8. Blend Your Own Autumn Tea – Use your intuition to blend your own version of autumn tea. I recommend using black tea as a base if you want caffeine (or you could do rooibos for an herbal version), then add on autumn flavors like cinnamon stick, dried ginger, cardamom, and orange peel. Try making my signature chai tea blend.