Allowing for Fall Transformations and Breakthroughs

My dear friends,

Fall is here. This is the season of shedding, releasing, and realigning, and the beginning of renewal that will be in full bloom by the spring.

Just as nature has its rhythms and cycles, we do as well throughout our lifetime.

Our “fall” seasons may not always perfectly align with the actual autumn seasons. Still, to sustain our energy and evolution, we also experience periods where we must shed and release what is no longer aligned in order for us to renew and expand with freedom, lightness, and ease.

Sometimes this is simply a matter of regularly removing mental and physical clutter from our lives.

But oftentimes, identifying what needs to be released is the main challenge for us humans, especially when it comes to the unconscious patterns and behaviors that our nervous systems once learned to rely on for our survival.

While trees are naturally programmed to release the deadweight that is no longer needed and would be draining their precious resources as they move into their next season of growth, we are often societally conditioned, especially as women, to not even see our own needs, never mind seeing what we need to release and free ourselves from.

Seeking to deepen our understanding of ourselves and prioritizing our needs can feel self-indulgent in a world filled with so much chaos, urgency, and demands for our time and attention.

This can not only result in immense internal discomfort, shame, and guilt, but also be met with external social sanctions that can threaten our most cherished attachments, employment, and in extreme cases, even our lives.

As a result of these anticipated costs (which may differ for each of us depending on our background and circumstances), our systems often adapt so cleverly, leaving the very programs that need to be updated hidden even from ourselves. They remain quietly operating in the background, draining our vital energy and capacity, keeping us stuck and incapable of living in alignment with what we are truly born here to experience, share, and enjoy.

It is all for our protection and survival, of course. But short-term survival that keeps us from thriving in the long term.

We can adapt to misaligned positions, directions, and environments for years, hitting wall after wall, and not even see how our life, light, and gifts are being drained out and away from us.

We may notice mental and physical symptoms or feel stagnant, unclear, or overwhelmed, but it may very well be that we are simply having healthy reactions to the unhealthy dynamics that we are conditioned not to fully see.

It is truly astonishing how cleverly adaptive our nervous systems can be. Even the most intelligent, accomplished, and self-aware leaders can go through periods where invisible hemorrhages create blockages in their lives and careers.

Unfortunately, while trees get the space and grace to experience the various seasons and to shed, release, rest, and renew each year, most humans are expected to continuously perform, produce, and outperform.

Our modern world is designed around expecting humans to always be in the blossoming and harvest seasons of spring and summer, while leaving little to no room for the realigning and rejuvenation seasons of fall and winter.

It doesn’t make sense, does it?

And if an individual struggles to consistently bloom and produce, we quickly rush to fix the individual instead of becoming curious about the environment they are in and whether they have had sufficient space and support to reconnect with themselves, realign, release, and recharge.

This is what happens when human beings are simply viewed as “capital,” “resources,” and means of production, and not as human beings with very human and natural needs, rhythms, and cycles.

Sadly, given our adaptive capacity and the limited space and support available, many of us can spend years unconsciously missing the breakthroughs that can only come through our transformative autumn seasons.

We continue to grit and limp our way through life, forcing more springs and summers and pushing for more external achievements, more responsibilities, more distractions, and more validation from the outside world. But as we’ve reviewed before, this “more” will never be enough.

This “more” continues to be built on a foundation of unconscious fear and survival, not a foundation of deep alignment that can only happen if we allow ourselves the gifts of the fall (and winter) seasons.

Naturally, forced springs and summers rarely bear the same beauty, delight, and delicious wonder as the blossoms and fruit that aligned springs and summers bring.

So I hope and pray that as you notice the leaves transform and feel the cool fall breeze caress your face, you’ll remember that you are a part of nature too.

You are allowed to slow down, to go inward, to deeply examine what is and is not working, to adjust course, to realign, and to reemerge restored, transformed, and flowing with lightness and ease, instead of accumulated heaviness and force. It truly is possible.

I hope and pray that we also remember to give each other the compassion and grace to experience our fall seasons.

No matter how capable and accomplished we are, how many titles or accolades we accumulate, we are all still human beings who need the space to realign and renew so we can continue to grow and expand our light and impact.

And I sincerely hope and pray that, in time, we will redesign our institutions, economies, organizations, and communities to better support the natural rhythms required for human thriving.

Until then, may you allow for the fall seasons to unfold and transform your life,

May you allow yourself the opportunity to realign and rebuild on a foundation of lightness, ease, and joy,

And may you continue to thrive.

With love,

Maliheh