- Autumn
October 28th, 2008
I am such an autumn junkie. I love watching the leaves change. I dig pumpkins. I like walking Phoebe and listening to leaves crunch under my feet, her paws. But occasionally when leaves are at full peak and the climate is sweetly crisp — I just want things to stay like this. Sometimes I get prematurely nostalgic for the leaves at full bloom EVEN before they’ve fallen.
Yoga teaches us to notice these moments and to breathe them in. The Buddhists tell us the only thing we can count on in life is change.
Well, okay. It’s easy enough to be open to a promotion, a new hair cut, or a revision to the yoga studio schedule. (Right, y’all?) Now, the tough stuff — well, that’s where we kick and scream a bit. What if the changes are hard? A surprising shift in stability, a hard goodbye, a betrayal, the loss of someone close to you?
Being open to change is a close cousin to letting go. We can accept the ebbs and flows of life when we are not clinging to ideas of who we are. Yet letting go of emotions that run deep within us takes more practice. We may have to sit with our anger and frustration until clarity comes. It may feel comforting to find a connection to a bigger faith or universe. A larger view helps us notice cycles. How letting go of one thing opens space in one’s life or heart for another. How we can rebuild our strength after confronting challenges. How our hearts are built to rebound from tough changes and make room for more people, more love.
I love a passage by Ajahn Chah,
If you let go a little
you will have a little happiness.
If you let go a lot
you will have a lot of happiness.
If you let go completely
you will be free.
If every day was lusciously autumn, I probably wouldn’t love these days so fiercely. The thing that helps me let go and permit the leaves to drift towards the pavement, is the knowledge that they will be back next year. And the year after that. And the one after that.
Namaste,
Carolyn K
