It’s the week leading up to the fall equinox – that magical time of the year when, for a moment, light is balanced with dark.
With dark and light poised in perfect equilibrium, this time of the year offers us the opportunity to bring whatever that is out of balance within our lives forward for reflection and healing.
To connect the upcoming Equinox with our home planet, one of the key qualities of the Earth element also happens to be balance.
When the earth is in balance, both the earth and humankind thrives. When the systems of the earth are out of balance, havoc is wrecked – for instance climate change leading to very destructive storms, drought, mudslides, etc.
I believe that the imbalances that are showing up more and more in our climate and ecosystems are mirrored within our personal and collective psyches.
Bringing whatever is out of balance in our lives into conscious awareness allows for healing to unfold on both a personal and a planetary level.
Our awareness and willingness to work with what it out of balance within ourselves and our lives opens the gates for much more healing to flow through than we might expect or even be able to understand.
One simple way to bring greater awareness around what is out of balance in our lives is to spend some time free-writing.
Here are some journal prompts to get you started.
Take a look into your life and ask:
- Where, when, and with whom do you feel the most at ease and relaxed? Where, when, and with whom do you experience the most stress, anxiety, and overwhelm?
- What symbols or hints of either discord or harmony are you noticing in your daily environment? (Just take a look around you: what catches your attention and how does it relate to this question?)
- Where are the qualities of Earth (abundance, balance, nurturing, compassion, generosity, grounding, etc…) present in your life? Where are they absent?
- How might deepening into your relationship with the Earth and tuning into the balancing energies of the upcoming Equinox bring more balance and ease into your life?
- Is there some small ritual or symbolic action you could take to welcome in more balance and ease into your life? If so, what is it?
Bringing your attention to both the element of Earth along with the balanced energies of the upcoming Equinox allows for our emotions and our lives to find greater equilibrium as well.
Personally, I can’t think of anything better as we look forward to the increased activity and stress of the upcoming holiday season!
Comment Magic:
I welcome your thoughts on the interconnection between the imbalances/chaos of the greater systems (from interpersonal relationships to war to climate change..) and the imbalances present in your daily lives, including your internal world of thoughts and emotions.
Do you notice a mirroring between the two? Or, is it just me? 🙂
The idea that internal imbalance is reflected in the outer world has been very true for me. During the times in my life when I’ve been under a lot of stress, I’ve found that everything “out there” in the world seems abrasive, harsh, loud. In other words, things in the external world start to feel like a threat because my internal world is not at peace, due to some stressful event in my life. Conversely, when I’m relatively happy and at peace (for whatever reason), my life seems to just flow — which begets more peace and balance. It is a chicken/egg thing in a way, perhaps — which came first, my peace or the fact that my life started flowing? But when I’ve been really looking, noticing, and reflecting, it seems to me that the internal shift happened first, then the outer world seems to follow. The trick is maintaining balance and peace even when stressful or traumatic events happen, and in the aftermath of them. Doing this internal and reflective work is part of the medicine, for sure.
Thank you for this post!
I so appreciate your comment, Dena. Thank you! Yes, the trick indeed is maintaining that sense of “peace and balance even when stressful or traumatic events happen, and in the aftermath.” It is in times of stress/conflict etc that we have the opportunity to become more aware of our own internal sense of balance (or lack of balance) and from there, to recommit to our internal balance/peace – to make that internal shift you spoke about so beautifully and watch the effect ripple out into the external world as well. Strong medicine indeed!
I’ve never been very good at balance—not in the physical sense and not in the spiritual sense. The closest I’ve come to physical balance has been when I’ve been tipsy and on ships or boats. The natural loss of balance while under the influence of alcohol allows me to mimic the movement of the ship on the water. I surrender control of my body to the swaying of the drunk, and for just a little while, I can mirror the movement of the ship/boat. Just for a bit, we move as one. No fighting the current or the waves; just simple togetherness. As for spiritual balance, well, it’s never happened. Outgoing/current me is always fighting incoming/new me. Oddly enough, physical balance is significantly easier to achieve than spiritual balance, though I’ve never been graceful.
There is a poetry to your description of surrendering to the movement of the waves (or alcohol) that is really speaking to me now. It makes me wonder if perhaps that is also the key to spiritual balance – surrendering to the currents/waves of Spirit, to incoming you – whatever form that may take in the moment. For me, surrender in itself is one of the strongest spiritual practices there is and I’m guessing you are much further along the path of both physical and spiritual balance than you might think. 🙂