Now that Summer is officially over, it’s time for us to change with the seasons. Once upon a time, human lives revolved around the seasons. During the Fall, everyone was harvesting and preserving what they could to get them through the winter. It was also bringing them into a time when they stayed indoors with their families, rested, and made plans for the coming year. In our time, there is no change in our routines except for the weather. There are still people out there who live primarily according to nature, but for most of us, our daily responsibilities continue to be the same regardless of whatever is going on in the natural world. We’re so wrapped up in those tasks that we forget that we’re a part of nature as well, and it’s to our benefit to live as much as we can within the parameters of nature’s influence.

Whether we know it or not, our bodies are still linked to the natural order of things, and to feel our best, make progress on our spiritual journey, and bring balance to our lives, looking into ways to align ourselves with the seasons can make our lives that much richer.

The general consensus is that Spring is the time for planting. It is putting our plans into action with hope and gratitude for making it through another winter. Summer is watching things grow, living life to the fullest, and enjoying the abundance of life all around us. Fall is when we harvest and prepare to slow down for the stillness of Winter. Now that Autumn is here, it’s time to harvest what we’ve sown, preserve what we are able to, and get ready to snuggle in.

From a spiritual perspective, the process is the same. In the springtime, we look for new things to help us expand our awareness and our gifts. In the summer, we experiment and explore those things. In the fall, we incorporate or discard what we’ve learned. In the winter, we solidify that knowledge into who we are and what we do while also planning for spring.

It’s now Fall, and we are incorporating or discarding that which no longer serves us. This is a short-term process. If we choose to undertake it, we can go deeper into the process, which is really shadow work, and this is best done during the late fall at the earliest and through the winter. It’s heavy-duty work that can leave us feeling emotionally exposed until we find a way to reconcile everything at the end of the work. For now, let’s focus on what can happen during the fall. Depression.

For some of us, it’s a slight feeling, nothing major. For others, it’s an ache so deep we feel the resonance of it in our bones. For those who are sensitive to energy, it’s more likely to be closer to the latter than the former. It’s due to feeling not only our own sense of that but picking that up from the energy around us as we all feel it regardless of whether or not we are aware of it.

Wherever you are on the spectrum, I have one piece of advice: Fall in.

Completely fall into the feeling with all that you are and let it take it you. Let it drop you to the bottom of your soul.

I learned this from a podcast I was listening to by another shaman. She said that when your feelings of sadness, guilt, depression, or whatever were overwhelming, instead of trying to cheer yourself up or ignore it, feel it instead. Feel it as hard and deep as you can. Fall into the feeling instead of fighting it. When I first heard it, I thought she was insane. Then I decided to trust the process. The trick here is not to fall in forever. Set a time limit. Give yourself no more than an hour to fall in. I have found that for me, about a half hour is perfect, although I have done this process in ten minutes. What you do is feel all the feelings, think all the crazy thoughts, cry, curl up, whatever, and then when the time is up, go back to whatever you were doing.

Why do this?

Emotions are complicated, and we can’t always make sense of them. This is not a process of logic. This is a mental and emotional purging. Think of yourself as a pitcher so full of water that it’s sloshing over the top as you work frantically to balance. If you were holding this in your hand, to prevent it from spilling everywhere, you would pour out some of the water, thus releasing the need to worry about it. That doesn’t mean the pitcher is empty, which would present a different problem, but there is less pressure about it, and you can deal with the rest of the water in a calm and reasonable way when you have time.

Autumn is the perfect time to do something like this. We are gearing up for the Holidays when more emotions, both good and bad, come at us like a runaway freight train. Think of that overflowing pitcher. If you take some of the water out now when the tap gets turned on again, there is room for the additional water, and you can keep that balancing act going longer. Falling in for short intervals can help you get through the March of the Relatives until the onslaught is over.

This can help with whatever emotional or mental stress you’re encountering during the year as well. It would be like “a good cry,” but without the snotty tissues. This is also something that anyone can do. Men often carry the faulty assumption that they have to be strong every minute of every day. No one can do that, so in general, they become very good at the appearance of perpetual strength. No judgment on that. It’s what society expects. The reality is that men are every bit as fragile emotionally as women. It’s even harder on them sometimes. Whereas women can burst out crying, men have to hold it in. Scheduling when you fall in lets you do so at a time and place when you feel safe. It’s the perfect solution for releasing those emotions in a controlled way.

Now that Fall is here, do yourself a favor and Fall In.