Is September the new January?

It seems that everyone is talking about September being the new January. A time to set resolutions, boost your productivity and make the most of the remainder of the year.

Yes, the autumn is filled with possibility. It can feel like a time of fresh starts and creativity. It also harbors a certain emptiness that can leave us feeling exposed and a little raw. It's the back-to-school season, literally and figuratively. There's a desire to get grounded and get back to basics.

It's also a time of transition. It's the bridge between the heat and energy of summer, a time when you want to be outside and with people, and the quieter, inward, restorative energy of winter. It's a time to shift gears and prepare for the deepest, darkest part of the year - exactly as we see nature doing.

There's a danger in the autumn that we don't take this time to prepare and we barrel headfirst into Christmas depleted, burnt-out and exhausted.

Here are five ways to harness the back-to-school feeling without overdoing it.

Get grounded.

Go for a walk; notice the connection between your feet and the ground. If you practice yoga (or want to try), focus on standing poses like Mountain, Tree, or the Warrior poses. Slow your practice down; hold poses for longer.

Warm up.

As the weather cools, our need to heat up increases. Warm yourself from the inside out. Start with warm water and lemon in the mornings and spicy herbal teas throughout the afternoon. For lunch and dinner, try cooked vegetables like asparagus, beets, carrots, and sweet pototoes with lots of ginger, cinnamon, and tumeric.

For those of you with a pumpkin spice latte addiction, try making your own to get the benefits without the sugar hit. Try this (vegan) recipe.

Create structure.

Routine and ritual are critical for balancing and grounding, both for adults and for children. You might find that your routines from the summer don't serve you as well - it's much harder to wake up early when it's dark outside. Take the opportunity to reset your routine in the morning and the evening. Routines don't need to be long and complicated; it could be as simple as a one-minute meditation. Doing things the night before as part of an evening routine will help get the day started with less stress.

You will benefit from an effort to slow down, ground, and do some self-nurturing this time of year. Make a conscious effort to mellow your intensity and resist the impulse to overbook yourself and your family.

Get connected.

Connection helps ground us, especially our connection to nature. Get outside for a walk. Have a small token of nature, like a pinecone, on your desk. Spend time with people who energise and nourish you.

Cultivate clarity.

With three months left before Christmas is upon us, the autumn can be a great time to complete a project and wrap up your goals for the year. The best way to do this is to get really clear on what you want to achieve. Set yourself SMART goals - specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic and time-bound - and break them down into monthly, weekly and even daily steps. It's also important to be clear on why you're focusing on this goal and how you want to feel as you work on it. Connecting to the purpose behind a goal and setting an intention about how we want to show up makes it much more likely we'll see it through and enjoy the process.

By Vix Anderton, The Practical Balance

My name is Vix Anderton. I’m an energy and performance coach and yoga teacher. I also have a consultancy careers as an inclusive leadership and gender expert, which means I also have to balance my time and energy across different priorities in my life.

And that’s what I do in my coaching at The Practical Balance. I help busy, overwhelmed, procrastinating entrepreneurs, founders and sidehustlers balance their energies and get in tune with their natural rhythms to find more energy, more clarity and more confidence to create unstoppable success. 

I help people who feel frustrated, disorganised or overwhelmed, like they have untapped potential, stuck in a rut, or are going around in circles live balanced and fulfilled lives.  People who work with me learn how to recognise what is good enough, how to take the small steps towards big goals, and to let go of the thoughts, beliefs and behaviours that are no longer serving them. I help people learn to tune into their natural rhythms, get clear on their values, vision and the things that are important to them.

 

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