Coming Back to Yourself: A Gentle Welcome to Autumn

There is something rather lovely about coming back to your yoga mat after a long summer break.

You stretch your arms overhead, move your spine, stretch out your legs and feel your feet connecting with the floor. You take a deeper breath than you have all day. And suddenly, you remember just how good it feels to move.

Not to achieve anything. Not to burn calories or tick something off your list. Just to be in your body again.

After a summer of holidays, late evenings, days out and perhaps a little less structure than usual, there can be something wonderfully comforting about returning to a familiar practice. Rolling out your mat, moving your body, stretching your limbs and allowing your mind to become a little quieter.

As we move into autumn, perhaps that is exactly what we need.

A gentle shift into autumn

There is a noticeable change in the air at this time of year. The mornings feel a little cooler, the evenings begin to draw in, the light changes and slowly, the leaves begin to turn.

Nature doesn't fight this change. It simply moves with it.

After the outward energy of summer, autumn naturally begins to draw us inwards. It is a season of slowing down, grounding and preparing for the quieter months ahead. And perhaps we can allow ourselves to do the same.

We don't always have to keep going at the same pace.

We live in a world that often encourages us to be busy. There is always another job to do, another email to answer, another thing to organise. Even our wellbeing can sometimes become another item on the to-do list.

But autumn offers us a gentle reminder that slowing down is not the same as stopping.

A slower yoga practice, a longer stretch, a few minutes of quiet breathing or an evening where you don't feel the need to fill every moment can all be wonderfully nourishing. These aren't signs that we're doing less with our lives. They are opportunities to listen to what our body and mind actually need.

Coming back into your body

Summer can be wonderful for getting outdoors and being active, but it can also mean long journeys, different beds, lots of walking, gardening, sitting in the car and generally doing things a little differently.

You may notice that your body feels a little stiff when you return to your usual routine.

This is where gentle yoga can feel particularly lovely.

Moving slowly through familiar poses helps us reconnect with our bodies. We begin to notice where we're holding tension, where we feel restricted and where we could perhaps give ourselves a little more space.

And there is something wonderfully simple about stretching after a break.

You don't need to push. You don't need to achieve a particular shape. You simply move, breathe and notice how it feels.

Sometimes we don't realise quite how much we have missed that feeling until we return to it.

And it's not just our bodies that benefit. When we slow our movement down and bring our attention to the breath, the mind often begins to settle too. Instead of rushing on to the next thing, we have a chance to pause and simply be where we are.

Even a few quiet, conscious breaths can create a little more space between everything that is happening around us and how we choose to respond to it.

Letting go, just like nature does

One of the things I love most about autumn is watching the trees let go.

The leaves change colour and, when they're ready, they fall. The tree doesn't try to hold onto every leaf. It doesn't worry about whether it should be doing more. It simply lets go of what it no longer needs.

There is something we can learn from that.

Perhaps autumn is a good time to consider what we might gently let go of too.

Maybe it's tension we've been carrying in our bodies. Maybe it's an expectation we've placed on ourselves, the need to be constantly productive, or simply the belief that we should always be doing more.

Yoga can give us a physical way of practising this release. As we exhale, we can soften the shoulders, relax the jaw and allow the body to become a little heavier. We can notice where we're holding on and see whether we can soften, even just a little.

We don't have to let go of everything at once.

Sometimes one small release is enough.

You don't need to do more

Perhaps the biggest message I'd like to offer as we move into autumn is this: you don't need to do more.

You don't need a new fitness goal. You don't need to completely transform your routine. You don't need to come back from summer feeling like a brand-new version of yourself.

Perhaps you simply need to come back to yourself.

Come back to your body. Come back to your breath. Come back to the things that make you feel good. And allow yourself to enjoy them.

As the studio opens its doors again after the summer break, there is something particularly special about seeing familiar faces return. There is that lovely feeling of settling back onto the mat, hearing the familiar music, taking that first deep breath and realising just how much you have missed this little pocket of time for yourself.

Whether you've continued practising over the summer or haven't done any yoga at all, there is no need to feel that you have fallen behind.

Your body doesn't keep score.

You can simply begin again, exactly where you are.

And perhaps that is one of the beautiful things about yoga. It meets us where we are, rather than asking us to be somewhere else.

So as we step gently into autumn, let's take our cue from nature.

Let's slow down when we need to. Let's stretch and breathe. Let's make space for rest. Let's notice what feels good and give ourselves permission to enjoy it.

And perhaps, like the trees beginning to shed their leaves, let's give ourselves permission to let go of what we no longer need.

There is no rush.

Autumn is only just beginning.

Namaste, Angela at Sussex Yoga & Wellness