I like October not only for its unique beauty here in the great Salish region, but also because it encourages me to prepare and make the best of the next 4 months – my least favorite time of the year.
During the remainder of this year, we’ll use Winterizing as our overarching theme: FERTILIZING – INSULATING – SETTLING INTO OUR ROOTS – AND TYING THINGS DOWN.
FERTILIZING
This month let’s think about what we can do to fortify and support our interior ground as we move into Fall/Winter. You’ll need to store up good organic nutrients such as:
Humor – Have lined up the movies or shows, books, podcasts, videos, that make you laugh! Know who you can go to when you need a good chuckle. As writer Anne Lamott says, “Laughter is carbonated holiness.”
Love – Find joy and stick with it. When you are experiencing something positive download it, cultivate it into your heart and mind. Stay with it longer than you might normally. This will increase your resilience and literally adjust the neural wiring in your brain to seek more positive experiences as well as deepen appreciation, adding richness to your life. Love is nourishing, organic, and abundant.
More on that in this brief article by Rick Hansen: https://www.rickhanson.net/take-in-the-good/
Social Connections – The pandemic may still be cramping our social stylings for some time to come. The isolation can be intermittent or chronic. It’s a bummer and we need plans, people!
- Make a list of folks you’ve been meaning to touch base with, then reach out when you need to. They will be grateful, I promise, and you will be buoyed and enriched by the experience.
- Make sure you have a ‘COVID Pod group’ to hang with who have agreed to be as safe as possible. Keep practicing the basics.
- Start to consider how the holiday gatherings are going to be adjusted or not. We’ll need to be flexible this year. Again.
- Know which eating and drinking establishments have outdoor seating with heaters and limited seating.
- Consider your outdoor fire pit as a saving grace.
- Generosity is one of the best ways to feel connected to life. And I’m talking about generosity of spirit; A smile, a gesture of kindness… It doesn’t matter if you’re moving a stunned bird off the ground, picking up litter, saying hello to that crow that keeps hovering over your car, or writing a check to a cause you care about. It’s all good. Do it. You’ll feel connected to the world around you, to yourself, and less isolated.
Mindfulness Practice: Keep this question in your back pocket at all times, “What do I need right now?”
Lisa Wellington is a Certified Mindfulness Teacher who writes about integrative practices that downshift stress, increase insight, and jumpstart joy.
She is best known for her work with law enforcement professionals as well as those challenged by housing instability and addiction. Trained in the Fine Arts at Washington State University, she specializes in group training that engages participants’ inherent creativity.
If she is not under a stack of books about psychology and spirituality, she can be found at a Puget Sound beach or nearby trail, always searching for the absurd, which is her superpower.
