Happy Autumnal Equinox everyone from all @ Soul Space in Carrick on Shannon x…🍁🍂🎆👌

Here are some ideas on how to Celebrate…

The autumnal equinox is the first day of Autumn. It is celebrated by many different cultures and plays a significant role in some beliefs. For most people, Autumn is a time that ushers in harvests, preserving food for the upcoming months, enjoyment of the colors of the changing leaves and beginning to prepare oneself both physically and psychologically for the upcoming colder months. For Keats, the famous poet, Autumn  was the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”. A beautiful season, Autumn is filled with color, crisp days and provides an excuse to indulge in great foods. And it all begins with the first day which is TODAY! –here are some fun ways to celebrate the autumnal equinox.

Understand the meanings associated with the autumnal equinox.

 This is the day when both the daytime and nighttime are of the same length, which has been long interpreted to mean that the world is in balance. Once the autumnal equinox passes, the nights begin to get longer and the temperatures will start to fall. Autumn is a time of dual purpose––it is time to gather the main harvests and it is time to determine what is needed for the upcoming winter. This is also about balance and as such, Autumn is considered the season of balance, a time during which you can restore balance to your own life.

Consider staying up during the night to welcome autumn.

Many people like to welcome in Autumn by remaining awake all night, to honor the equal length of day and night. Perhaps tie this in with a celebration with friends, by holding a small dinner party which features autumn flavors, such as squash, pears and apples. If you’re not so keen on an all-night vigil, stay up until midnight instead 😉

Build or set up a monument to autumn.

If you want to share your joy at the arrival of Autumn consider building or placing a monument featuring autumnal items like pumpkins and straw in your yard. Ideas for what to do include a scarecrow or an animal you like, a pattern, or even spelling out words such as “Welcome to Autumn!”. Your monument could also be an expression of your gratitude for the harvest from the Earth.

Be creative.

For those who love craft, it’s a great time to start some autumn-inspired craft. There are all sorts of autumn crafts you might like to try. A few ideas include: Carve some shrunken apple heads, make leaf prints, craft a autumn wreath & frame autumn foliage for decorations. For those who love food craft, autumn is the ideal time to get into making preserves, pickles, bottles of drink, sauces and frozen goodies.

Make a list of your inner harvest.

An inner harvest refers to all the achievements and experiences that you have had or felt during the past few seasons. This is a way of restoring gratitude into your life, as you realise what you have done and how you have coped with challenges during the past months.

Take this opportunity to consolidate your energy and to fine-tune what you’ve achieved since spring.

Be grateful for what you have – really feel gratitude from your core every morning you wake up & your feet touch the ground. 

Express your Autumn awe.

If you’re a photographer, artist or writer, try to capture the essence of Autumn in photo, artwork or word form. Don’t just focus on the changing leaves and bountiful harvests; consider the deeper meanings of the season as they resonate with you. Perhaps this is a time of necessary change for you and expressing this through your creativity is a great way to get started.

Contemplate. 

This is a season when the buzzing activity of summer dies down and the excitement of life outdoors begins to relax into the more evenly paced, more predictable rhythm of autumn. Think about the ways you have neglected your inner growth and how this might be remedied.

Meditate or do Tai-Chi. Try to find your balance, in the same way that the world finds its balance on the autumnal equinox.

Seek to improve your health.

This is as good a time as any to restore healthful balance to your life. There are delicious foods from harvest to help you cleanse and keep to a healthy diet at this time of year, such as apples, grapes, peaches, plums, pears, watermelon, celery, butternut squash, aubergine, tomatoes, courgettes, bell peppers and more. 

All of these healthy foods can be incorporated into a healthful lifestyle diet that keeps you fit and energetic. Where you can, support the growers of organic produce, which helps to sustain healthier soils and wildlife as part of the growing balance.

Weigh yourself. On the day of the autumn equinox, the sun enters the sign of Libra, the constellation of scales. Are you happy with the weight reflected back at you? If not, what do you wish to do about it?

If you’re not already exercising regularly, make today the day you begin exercising again. Start with gentle exercise that allows you to ease into the rhythm, such as stretches, walking & yoga. Take up an exercise that you’ve long wanted to try, such as cycling, jogging or swimming. Most sports can be continued either outdoors or in indoor arenas during winter, so don’t let the colder days ahead put you off sparking this change.

Focus on improving your breathing and posture. Good breathing and posture will help to restore energy to your body and can help you cope better with the respiratory illnesses the colder months bring.

Turn your home into a haven.

Autumn is the time of the year when people begin to turn from outdoor pursuits and start moving back indoors more often. (Of course, this shouldn’t stop you from making the most of the glorious sunny autumn days outside!) This is a good time to restore balance in the home, to give it a spruce up before the upcoming autumn celebrations such as Halloween and Thanksgiving come and before winter arrives. Add some Autumnal decorations to bring on the festive christmas spirit.

Bring more light into your home.

As the days will start to shorten from the autumnal equinox, consider how you’ll be able to bring more light into your home. Consider making some homemade candles and check out ways to hold back window dressings so that more light can stream inside. Good lighting will keep your spirits buoyed.

Workplace / Space 

Don’t neglect the energies in your workplace either. Now is a good time to clear out the clutter on the desk, shift around furniture and even trade places with another person. Remove things that have piled up in corners, replace worn signs and refresh the communal drink and food items.

Get into your garden. 

After summer and after the harvests, your garden needs some tender loving care to ready it for winter. The autumnal equinox is a good day to jot down a plan for the following weeks of garden care ahead, to keep you organized and enthused about readying it for the colder months. It’s also the ideal time to plant some crops that will produce during autumn or even into winter, such as cauliflower, lettuce, beetroot, radishes and shallots. Plan for when spring bulbs should be planted too, as many must be dug into the ground during autumn.

Honor your ancestors. 

In Japan, it is traditional to visit the graves of ancestors around the time of the autumn equinox. This is a thoughtful tradition to build on for your own life, as a way of reconnecting with the past of your family and to remind yourself of your valuable place in the family.