Celebrating Late Summer
Maybe you can also pinpoint the exact moment: The moment you step outside, maybe your garden, and you can sense a surprising change in the air. Maybe it is not quite as warm, maybe there is a dampness that wasn’t there before…. Or maybe it is just a feeling, the sense that nature has shown us all its glory and is now preparing for autumn.
After a busy growing season, our feeling of late summer is one of harvesting all that we have planted: beetroots, potatoes, brassicas, courgettes. But my favourite is collecting all the wonky plums from our very old plum tree. The smell of cooking fruit into compote that fills the house is something that reminds me of my grandma - plum cake was mandatory at this time! The landscape around us is changing, too. The busy sheep farming season is noticably slowing down and the sheep are quietly grazing on the rolling hills.
Over the next month or so, nature’s colours will turn to yellow, gold, orange and brown. And as nature changes, so do we. Although us in the West don’t really recognise late summer as a seperate season, it is an important transitional phase between summer and autumn: a time for preparation, to create comfort, stability and balance to be ready for the colder seasons. This is a great time to focus on building up your immunity for autumn and winter.
The energy inside of us is changing as well: The peak of summer with all its fast-paced energy is drawing to a close and we start to long for slower movements, more introspective moments and a calmer practice all around. This is not to say that we should stop exercising alltogether, not at all. But we should focus on more grounding movements, strengthening the legs and core muscles in particular. The key element of late summer is earth and any balancing movements are also very useful.
All in all we want to become more centered and focused, quite a change from the lively and fun times we all had in the height of summer. Some might grieve the fading of summer, but some might also welcome a much slower pace of life - these conflicting feelings are often felt about this season. Try to find more quiet time for yourself, be it with a hot bath or just a cosy cup of coffee and a book, or a private yoga session. It is important to take care of yourself and not getting too bogged down with stressful tasks. The most colourful season is lying ahead of us, and I don’t know about you, but I love late summer as it is a season of harvest but also of anticipation - and I really look forward to autumn!