Embracing the grounding and stable energy of autumn.
There’s a point every fall when the air just feels different. The afternoon light comes in low and golden and with clouds that are fluffy white but with shadows of gray. You realize it’s dark before dinner and dark when you wake up… and suddenly everyone wants soup. I look out in the garden and things are slowing down, too. The last flowers are hanging on by a thread, mainly for the few remaining pollinators, seed heads are drying on the stalk, and most of what I’m doing now is cutting back, cleaning up, and tucking beds in for winter.
When I think about the four elements, autumn feels like earth season to me. The element of earth is all about grounding, stability, and tending what you’ve planted, and that’s exactly what this time of year asks of us. The growing is mostly done (for the warm season crops anyways). Now it’s about gathering what came of it… the harvest of it all… taking stock, and getting settled before the cold really sets in.
So what is earth energy, exactly? It’s the steady stuff: patience, nourishment, endurance, stability, structure, and security. It’s the soil everything else grows out of and the structure that holds things up. If you’ve ever planted something without enough soil packed in around the base, you know the topsy-turvy unsteadiness of the plant. In fall you get to watch it do both of its jobs at once. The leaves come down, the plants break down, and all of it goes back into the ground to feed next year and add mass to the soil.
If you want to lean into that earth energy this fall, here are a few places to start:
A favorite pastime of mine in fall…. leaf peeping. photo ©Arlyn & Co.
Get outside and pay attention. A walk in the woods, an hour in the garden, a slow loop around the block… whatever you’ve got. Notice what’s changing and what’s letting go. Feel the ground under your feet (if you can manage to go barefoot, I’d encourage you to do so!). It’s a good time to ask yourself a couple of questions while you walk: What am I ready to let go of? And what do I want to take care of through the colder months?
Cook what’s in season. Root vegetables, squash, apples, grains. The foods that grow in or close to the ground are about as earthy as it gets (hello, beloved pumpkin). It’s quite grounding to chop a pile of carrots and onions for a pot of something that simmers all afternoon. Slow down while you make it, and then actually savour it when you eat it.
Find a few minutes of stillness every day. Nothing in nature is in a hurry, and earth energy is a good reminder that we don’t have to be either. Sit quietly, meditate, drink your coffee without your phone… whatever stillness looks like for you. If it helps, picture yourself with roots, settled in and steady like an old oak that’s seen a few storms.
Fall can be more than the stretch you get through on the way to winter. Leaning into earth energy can help you feel a little more solid while everything around you is changing, and it can build up the kind of steadiness that carries you through the darker, colder months. As you go about your season, notice where this energy is already showing up. Where are you slowing down? What’s helping you feel settled? What are you getting ready for?