The autumn equinox has arrived. Summer’s long days are noticeably shorter now. And the ocean already has a bit of a nip at the end of the day, as well as its first swell of the season. The light is lower and with that slant it feels distinctive to this time of year. The sweet subtleties of the seasons on glorious Kauai.

We have begun again to seed some vegetables that do better in the cooler weather—kohlrabi, leeks, cabbages, broccoli, carrots.  You will see the upper garden, on the left as you come into our driveway, is all freshly dug and ready to receive both seeds and seedlings. It feels like the turning of the page into this new season.

The Autumn Equinox is the date when night and day are nearly of the same length and the Sun crosses the celestial equator moving southward (in the northern hemisphere). This represents the first day of autumn. When I was reading about the Equinox this week from several sources, there was a reoccurring theme in the various essays and articles which really touched me.  This theme was balance.

As there are equal hours of day and night, light and dark, so we strive to balance our own worlds.  Attempting to stabilize the energies, of outward, physical, yang manifestation and inward, psychic, yin creativity.  Working to have breathing-in time, in response to all that breathing out.  Summer is such an outer time—going at full tilt, traveling, later hours, more visiting.  Now, our energies naturally start that inward pull, as the daylight hours shorten. The balance. How can we balance all the elements of ourselves and our lives? Our personal needs with the commitments to the outside world.  Our receiving with our giving.  Our quiet amidst the din. Our doing with our being.  I know when I achieve that state of balance I feel my finest. I suspect this is true of all of us. In my yoga practice, the balance poses remind me of that ever-present need for being poised, stable and steady in my daily life.

This is potentially a powerful time to examine balance in our lives—how best to come to that place as a perpetual practice. May this fabulous full moon and autumn equinox serve to help us in this process.

May we make wise choices in how and what we harvest,
may earth’s weather turn kinder,
may there be enough food for all creatures,
may the diminishing light in our daytime skies
be met by an increasing compassion and tolerance
in our hearts.

yin yang