Ch,Ch,Ch, Changes. Turn and Face The Changes.
“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
— Joseph Campbell
The Equinox on September 22, is an opportune moment to take a step back and take stock of where you are on the “Wheel of Life”. It marks the atronomical movement of the sun, one of two times a year, when the sun crosses the equator, and the day and night are of approximately equal length. At the Autumnal Equinox (Sept. 22, 2012, 10:49 A.M.), the sun crosses the celestial equator, from north to south; this marks the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. For the Southern Hemisphere, the opposite is true: the sun crosses the equator from south to north, and marks the beginning of Spring.
The Equinox is a powerful doorway and opportunity to restore your balance and to bring harmony to key life projects and relationships. The sun appears to be standing still in the sky as it transitions across the equator. All life is can be perceived as a duality, and here the two opposites exist visibly – with the Equinoxes as the transition points. So this is the perfect moment to look at cultivating balance in your life and face the changes that are happening in and around you. What does “being in balance” mean to you?
As we grow older, this concept really starts to resonate with more meaning. No longer can we burn the candle at both ends and not expect consequences to our health. It’s also important to establish tried and true health routines that nurture your innate spirit, give you energy, strength, and vitality, and provide calm and focus during times of stress (read: changes). Perhaps being in balance also means giving equal attention to your own time outs from the myriad demands we all face each day from work, family, children, schedules – the “stuff of life” that can deplete your inner resources if you aren’t careful. Now is the right moment to let yourself examine what may need changing in terms of your daily schedule, re-assess your priorities and adjust accordingly. By making small changes, we develop the skills to look at the bigger, more important ones without flinching so much. We fear change less because we know it will bring new experiences and insights.
Additionally at this moment of “perfect balance” at the Equinox, the Earth in our hemisphere is tipping out of the long days of summer (“yang” or outward, “male” energy) into the approaching longer nights of winter (“yin” or inward, “female” energy). Let this natural flow of energy and movement guide you to look within for what you must change to assure greater success in the coming year. Is your big picture in focus, or does it need to be re-calibrated?
Although we relish the shift in the weather patterns that come now, from the hot lanquid days of late summer to that first blast of cool Autumn air, we perhaps feel a little melancholy about what is being left behind. Everything old is replaced by something new. There is joy in the harvest and the sadness of endings and the things that are subsiding.
Fall is a time of huge changes, and changes have always signified both great joy and great sorrow (that notion of “duality” again!). Every culture around the world, for many centuries and counting, has recognized the importance of this time of year, and the feelings it brings to the surface for all of us. Harvest Festivals (celebrating the abundance of good crops and assurance of nourishment through harsh winters), Day of the Dead (remembering ancestors who’ve gone before us), Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish holiday celebrating the beginning of the New Year and it’s attendant blessings) followed by Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement, assessing our deeds both good and bad, making amends).
Fall season represents the lungs; Lungs can carry old stagnant grief and sadness. You might be remembering sad times such as a death of a loved one or simply dealing with some current day sadness/grief and not be sure why you’re feeling a bit melancholy; welcome to lung season.
There are many ways you can deal with these sometimes overwhelming feelings. Try taking a walk outside and use your full breath as you inhale into your entire lung space. The lung space actually extends all the way down to your hip bones and all the way up to the tops of your shoulders. As you take deep, full breaths, imagine this lung space overflowing with air. Feel it fully before letting it go. 
Here is a yogic mantra chant which utilizes deep breath, and sound from the breath. It is used for bringing about balance . This sequence uses seed mantras, or the basic one- syllable sounds that when chanted, vibrate the chakra “petals”, or energy channels, that run throughout the whole body.
Keep the sound going on each of the mantras until you have no breath left. Then re-fill very deeply, and make the chant as long as you possibly can, until the very last bit of breath seeps out. Repeat 10 times.
OM gives strength, protection and grace. It connects us with the guidance and power of the inner Guru.
HRIM (pronounced “hreem”) increases our aspiration and receptivity to Divine light, wisdom and truth. It opens the lotus of the heart to the inner Sun of consciousness.
KRIM (pronounced “kreem”) brings about energy and transformation. It helps awaken and purify the subtle body. It is a mantra of work and transformation.
HUM (“hoom”) destroys negativity and creates great passion and vitality. It represents the soul hidden within the body, the Divine immanent in the world.
SHRIM (“shreem”) takes us to the heart and gives faith and steadiness to our emotional nature. It gives love, joy, bliss, beauty and delight.
OM HRIM KRIM HUM SHRIM: chanted together, these mantras bring about an integral development of body, mind and soul in balance
and harmony with the Divine or inner Self.
May your Autumnal Equinox bring positive and enlightening changes. May you find balance and peace as a result of these changes. May you live the life you were meant to live.
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