Happy autumn equinox, everyone! On this day, we celebrate one of the two days on a calendar year when the day and night have their equal shares of 24 hours and seasons change. The cycle of nature works so well that, it gives us two days a year to embrace the balance of itself and to find that balance in our lives. We have so much to learn from the mechanisms of nature; and we definitely need to go parallel with them in our lives.

The September equinox is on September 22, 2020 on a Tuesday. It is also called autumn equinox or fall equinox. On this day, day and night have approximately equal amounts of hours. For northern hemisphere, we say goodbye to summer and welcome fall; on the other hand, in southern hemisphere we say goodbye to winter and welcome spring.

This special day has meanings in science, history, sociology or psychology in very different ways. Now, let’s look at it in a lifestyle manner and talk about what we can do for ourselves and our families to embrace the cycle of nature and reflect it even more to our daily lives and self-care activities.

Self-Care

Let’s start with ourselves. We are a part of nature; and we need to play by its rules. Therefore, we may need this day to be a time for self-care. If this is true for you, if you need a day to stop and think about your inner state, use this day wisely.

You can dim the light, light some candles, put on some good music, maybe use home fragrances to set the scene. You can read a book, meditate, just lay down, talk to a friend; anything you need for your inner peace to be restored and your inner self to grow stronger. Let’s take it up one notch and prepare a nice bath for ourselves. Get some bath bombs or bathing accessories, prepare your bathroom. You need to invest in your self-care process, too.

Self-care is all about creating your own processes and find what works best for you. On this day, you can make some lists of gratitude, of your current situation, what you want to do and what you want to change in the upcoming season and year. Writing always helps calm your mind and physically see what you have and what you need. To be aligned with natural cycles and give in to the beautiful balance of nature, autumnal equinox is the perfect day.

Balance

Nature and its cycles are all about balance. In both hemispheres, we have the balance of seasons, temperature, food, etc. Nature enables this balance and holds on to it with its perfect cycles. As a new period begins in the natural cycle of seasons, we can think about the balance in our own lives.

Do you work too much? Do you procrastinate too much? Do you eat too much? Think about what you are doing too much and, of course, what you are doing too little. Remember the setting we talked about for self-care? That would be a nice one to think about the balance, too. Try to calm down and focus on your lifestyle and yourself.

Finding balance in life is not easy; however today, you can think about what to do for starters, what your needs are and what resources do you have to achieve the kind of balance you need in your life. The change of seasons can lead you to your own changing process. Nature is always changing and evolving. As parts of nature, why don’t we start with baby steps and change our lives to find the balance nature intends us to have. Just be in the setting you created and think about that.

Crafting

After self-care and balance, let’s move on to our families around us. If you have kids and you want to have a ritual for fall equinox, you can start making crafting projects with them.

You can teach them how nature works, how it changes and how valuable the lessons it teaches us are by making them actually see these. Trees and leaves are perfect demonstrations for this. Show them how leaves change color, how trees let their leaves go and make preparations for the winter to come.

There are many projects you can pick to do for your kids. A suggestion is to get some frames and make art works with leaves which are changing colors. Take the leaves and frames, and let them use their creativity to express themselves. This will be a good learning environment and you can transfer your rituals, knowledge and feelings to your children in an enjoyable way.

Prepare Your Home for Fall

The last thing you need to prepare for the coming season is your home. Fall is a very nice season to curl into blankets. Are you sure you have enough blankets to curl in? Is your bedroom, living room or kitchen ready for winter. You may need new pillows, beddings, mattresses, etc. Today, another thing to think about is how you want to prepare your home for the changing season.

Winter will be cold and your house needs preparation. However, if you decided to make some changes in your lifestyle, you may want to change your home décor, too. For example, if you want to move on to a minimalist lifestyle, you may want to consider buying smaller furniture or determine what you need for your capsule wardrobe and shop accordingly. If you decide to design your home to be more organized, you may need organizers and such.

Go Out and Let the Nature In

Once everything is prepared for the upcoming season, let’s have some of sweater weather inside our lungs. The best way to do this is to go out and literally be in contact with the nature. Just go out, preferably to a park or somewhere around the woods. There is nothing more visual and amazing to show you the natural cycle than trees. Watch their leaves change color, prepare for winter and embrace the changes in nature. We are all a part of it after all. We need to play by its rules and prepare ourselves for what comes next. Here is a nice opportunity to see that.

Fall, and winter after that, will bring new beginnings, changes, many opportunities to think of your progress, etc. To be prepared for what comes next, this perfect day is when we stop for a moment and embrace where we are for now. There is no state better than being surrounded by the nature to commune with it and give in to its cycles and balance.

Here are some suggestions for your fall equinox rituals. You may want to introduce some rituals to your life or add to the ones you already have. Feel free to try them out and choose the best practices for yourself and your family. Nature knows what is best for us; we need to follow the guidance it offers and discover what is best for us.