Body, soul and soil - autumn equinox
The autumn equinox takes place this month, on the 23rd September. It’s one of the two points in the year when the days and nights are of equal length, the other occurring in spring. The autumn equinox is a turning point, when the long, bright, energetic days of summer begin to give way to the shorter, darker days of winter, inviting us to rest more, to reflect, to get ready to hunker down when we need to. It can be helpful to mark this moment in the year in some way, and to acknowledge the shift.
Meet this year’s equinox with some small practices which may ease the transition from one season to the next. For example, you could take a walk and collect a few fallen leaves, noticing their changing colours.
Gather in your remaining garden crops and make something, whether it’s green tomato chutney, a mixed salad, perhaps a cake using blackberries or the last of the courgettes. Cut a few final flowers and some seedheads, and put them in a vase to admire their beauty as they fade.
At the end of the day, you could light a candle when it begins to get dark, sit down with a hot drink and a journal, reflecting on the successes of the past months, and letting go of the things that haven’t quite worked out. It’s all about balance, and equinox is the perfect time to find it, in the garden and in ourselves.
