Existential Psychology
Rooted
The changing seasons can bring up a lot of anxiety and other unpleasant emotions for people even though they might not consciously make that connection, blaming how they are feeling on other variables. But seasonal change is undeniable proof of the impermanence of all things. Psychologically speaking, the transition from summer to fall is probably the most intense because summer represents the culmination, the payoff, the time where organisms thrive, and then all of a sudden fall comes along to rip that all away, albeit in a beautiful way.
It’s hard not to think about all the changes occurring in our lives too, some that we were looking forward to but others that we were dreading or that were completely unexpected. If you practice yoga it’s a good time of the year to use your sessions to focus on feeling grounded, rooted on your mat as you go through your asanas, paying special attention to tree pose. Even if you don’t practice yoga, you can still plant your feet firmly on the ground and imagine yourself rooted into the earth while all these changes happen around you.
Why don’t trees get scared, even when epic storms blow in to furiously whip them back and forth? Because they’ve spent so much time sending their roots deep down into the ground. They don’t have much reason to be scared; most of them make it through storms just fine all their lives, able to withstand being tossed to and fro because of that underlying stability gluing them to the earth.
Think about being that tree through times of change by finding stillness once in a while, planting your feet firmly on the ground, noting how solid and stable your connection with it is, and you’ll feel better about transition in your life.