5 Powerful Questions To Ask Yourself During The Fall Equinox

It's valuable to use the change of seasons as a cue to pause, reflect, and check in with yourself. Consider solstices and equinoxes Mother Nature's little reminders to take stock of any growth and changes you've experienced during the season that has passed.

As we move into autumn, this reflection is particularly important because summer is typically thought to be a time of intense expansion. Around us, the world has been growing and flourishing—and so have we.

The spring equinox is the twin of the autumn equinox. They are the only two days throughout the year when the Earth is in perfect balance—day and night are almost equal. At the spring equinox, we are moving into the light half of the wheel of the year, the growing season. But in autumn, we move into the darker half, the season of death and reflection.

At this point in the year, gardens continue to produce some fruits and vegetables, but the height of growing season is wrapping up. It's traditionally a time for harvest celebrations. In ancient times, people would come together to acknowledge all their hard work and celebrate the fruits of their labor.

Summer is a season of intense, outward-focused energy that can leave you feeling depleted. In autumn, the energy shifts back inward. There's a balancing, a realignment. Since the Earth is in perfect balance right now, it's a good moment to notice where balance is returning in our own lives.

When you look at the lessons you've been learning, and all the ways you've grown over summer, you'll start to recognize things in your life that no longer serve you. You'll notice those things that you've actually outgrown: old patterns, habits, and relationships that you're ready to release.

Autumn is the season of death and decay: The trees release their leaves, crops are cut down, plants return to the Earth. All this death is necessary. It clears space for the new seeds, new dreams, new life to be planted in the spring.

In order to experience new growth and personal evolution, we need to let go of those things that no longer serve us, just as Mother Nature does. What are you ready to let go of? What is it time to release from your life?