Your Autumn Equinox Balance Audit

Do you struggle with balance? It might be physical struggles, you may feel off-balance in your body, it may be more metaphorical. We’re kind of sold this idea of work-life balance, as if there’s one perfect spot to hold forever, which of course keeps people out of balance, but especially with trauma and AuDHD, it can feel very all or nothing, it can feel very disconnected, it can feel like an impossible dream.

So, for this special Autumn Equinox episode, the Autumn Equinox is very much a time of balance, like the Spring Equinox, energetically the light and dark are in balance, it’s that midway between the Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice and it’s also the International Day of Peace and it’s a wonderful time of year to just notice how balanced are you feeling, how would you like to feel.

I’m looking forward to sharing, in episode 128, some simple ways to help you honour the seasonal energies by helping you find more balance in yourself, in your life, in your work and in your relationships.

You’re listening to Soles to Soul Care for Trauma and AuDHD, I’m your host and producer Eve Menezes Cunningham. I’m a senior accredited counsellor and supervisor, trauma-informed therapist, coach, EFT, advanced EFT, advanced accredited EFT practitioner and mentor, senior accredited yoga teacher, NLP master practitioner etc.

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I would like to invite you to begin this episode by coming into your breath in a more conscious way, because you’re breathing 24-7, you’re doing it all perfectly well, little cameo here from Mighty Meadbh, so if you want to just notice what is happening with your natural breath, no need to change anything at all, just notice if you’re breathing as if from the top of the lungs, the middle of the lungs or the lower lungs. And you might want to ignore that and just connect with your breath in whatever way feels good for you.

If you want to, a really easy way to bring more balance into your body, into your nervous system, into your emotional well-being, into your headspace, is to consciously deepen the breath, consciously lengthen the exhalation and that’s something we have our breath with us all the time.

So wherever you are, how busy, how hectic anything is, simply grounding and connecting with the breath, so to ground, just pressing into the soles of the feet, really simple way to do it, pressing into whatever you’re sitting or standing or lying on and feeling that connection with the earth’s nourishing energy, remembering you are safe.

If you’re not safe, make yourself safe before listening, but it’s connecting with the breath, it’s that way of reminding yourself that you are safe, no matter where your thoughts are going, where your anxieties may be, it brings you into that present moment, it brings you into that, it helps you connect with your resourcefulness, it helps you think of new ideas, but it helps just bring peace to the whole nervous system. It helps to rebalance.

I realise I’m inviting you to connect with your breath and I’m talking a lot, just notice, take a complete breath, notice how that feels and that’s one of the simplest things we can do in terms of the FEEL. LOVE. HEAL. framework that I work with in the Platinum column in each podcast episode and in so much of my work.

It evolved over 21 years of work, nearly 22, but it’s a way of really recognising where you are in any given moment and connecting with the available bandwidth in any given moment. It’s not like, “Oh, I should be doing self-care”, it’s about “I DESERVE to feel better. I deserve to love and care for all the parts from the soles of my feet to my soul. I deserve to connect, to co-regulate, to heal in community as we’re wired to do.

In terms of balance, in terms of the Equinox, start by scanning your whole self, so not just your body, although start from the soles of your feet, moving up to the crown of your head, get a sense of any areas that feels good, that feels balanced. You may want to move into a simple balancing yoga pose, something like tree or simply standing with your feet hip distance apart and as you inhale coming up onto the tips of the toes, exhale coming back down.

Just notice how that feels and if it feels good, you may want to close your eyes, challenge your balance more. Balance is especially important as we get older, as we find our way in the world.

There is so much out of balance in the world around us, the more you can do these things with intention, not just keeping yourself healthy, looking after yourself, but also taking those moments to notice where you do have balance daily, recognising yes, our concentration changes, our sense of balance, our stability changes, our strength, our stamina, our flexibility, all of that, but by doing it daily, you will notice improvements.

If you are scared, one of the things I love to do is more advanced balancing practices in the swimming pool, after I’ve done my swim or during a break and it takes away any fear of falling, especially as I’ve got dyspraxia as well, only found out again with the late diagnosed AuDHD, so many of us do and that means I’m often covered in bruises.

I talked about the nine senses in a recent episode, there’ll be a link in the show notes, but where we are falling over ourselves, tripping over pyjama bottoms, things that others don’t even see getting tangled up, it can contribute to a sense of feeling off kilter, off balance, so a simple balancing practice every day, it might be as we’ve done Tree Pose or for Tree Pose, there’ll be a link in the show notes, but think that’s physical balance, that’s a really simple thing you can do for yourself.

Also think about your life, think about your work, think about your relationships, think about your commitments, think about whatever pops into your head and make a note, do a bit of an audit in terms of what feels in balance.

Honour what you’re doing well already and what right now feels out of balance, what might you take off your plate, what might you give yourself some grace around and do some journaling around that, listing everything. You can add to it, you can burn it, whatever feels good for you.

As we move into the LOVE. part of the FEEL. LOVE. HEAL. framework, that’s that reminder that you don’t need to do a thing, you don’t have to find balance, you don’t have to be anything other than your perfect existing self and you’re part of nature, part of the divine and also you deserve to feel good, you deserve to feel at peace, you deserve to feel that things are in balance.

It might just simply be reminding yourself like the seasons change, we have cycles, we have our seasons in our life and it might be just acknowledging to yourself that right now things are not balanced because of various hectic commitments or challenges or exciting elements to your life but give yourself some grace and ask yourself how you can be more supportive and accepting of yourself.

Look at Meadbh demonstrating finding balance, just even acknowledging OK this is an impossible time to find balance and I’m going to take that off my plate, I’m going to let myself off the hook, I’m going to be extra tender with myself, extra gentle with myself and just stop trying to force ballerina-esque point work where you’ve got enough going on.

Honour where you are, accept where you are, if possible love where you are and change from that place is so much easier from that space of acceptance.

As we move into the HEAL. part, the community care, the co-regulation, the collective care, it’s so important especially now to remember that self-care isn’t about like I’m OK, it doesn’t matter about anyone else, this is about collective liberation, this is about like making sure that we’re all doing everything we can to help create a world in which everyone feels safe, welcome, loved and able to thrive.

It’s good for everyone, it’s good for everything. We’re taught, like we’re sold the world we live in, the way we’re given the news, the way the algorithms are so geared towards imbalance and oppositional, as if there are only two viewpoints.

So many people live in between and even people with the opposite viewpoints to yourself, you are connected, we’re all connected, so the more we can remember, don’t feed the trolls, scroll past the comments, speak up when you can for people in need but not by engaging, not by losing your sanity, your balance but instead by amplifying voices that deserve to be heard, that deserve to be respected, that are doing such important, amazing work trying to help people and recognising your own community.

I’ve talked a bit about online there, think about the communities in which you feel that sense of peace and that sense of I can be myself, I can show my off-balance self, I can be true to myself and thinking about in your community, in your family, it might be a yoga class you go to each week, it might be a dance class. I love the weekly Bhangra dance classes, regularly off-balance in those, I’m not naturally coordinated but it brings balance to my whole week.

At time of recording while I play by ear with my lovely Freecycle piano, I’m actually going to have a piano lesson this afternoon in between sessions which feels really exciting. I did up to grade four I think in piano and violin when I was a kid and I forgot how to sight read because I hated it so much and I mean that’s again the very all or nothing isn’t it? It was like I consciously forgot how to sight read and I don’t want to relearn, I’ve had anxiety dreams about it but I don’t need to learn, I can use the piano for pleasure as I do just playing by ear and I can also use today’s lesson to get some ideas about how I can play by ear better.

Thinking for yourself what little things, like I have my daily yoga, my meditative practices, what things bring you into balance and how can you bring other people into that a bit more in terms of co-regulation, in terms of trustworthy supportive communities where you can support each other, help each other heal and feel connected to something bigger than yourself?

Again, list them all, spend some time journaling if that feels good for you and send some love, send some peace, send some balance, send whatever feels tender and compassionate, maybe wisdom, acceptance, whatever it might be to a younger you where you felt very out of balance and bringing what you know now to help and know that there is a future you which is either more balanced or more accepting of life’s imbalances and you might want to simply tune in to them, connect with them and gain some clarity, some guidance about what you might do today.

Thank you so much for being here, look forward to sharing more next week.

Before you go, please take a moment to ground the episode by just pausing and scanning your parts, all your parts from the soles of your feet to your soul. You may want to keep your eyes open, you may want to close them but planting your feet firmly on the ground, lengthening through the spine if that feels comfortable for you, letting yourself feel held by the chair or whatever it is you’re sitting or lying or standing on and taking just a moment to scan your whole self, your whole body, your whole energy field and ask yourself what you’re going to do for yourself right now.

It might be as a result of listening to the episode, it might be something else, it might be a nap, it might be something to eat, it might be some kind of movement but let yourself ground, let yourself get into the habit of connecting with your inner wisdom and notice what you need and give yourself what you need.

Thanks for listening to this episode. If you haven’t already and would like to, please like, subscribe, comment, engage across the platforms wherever you may be accessing this and you can also email me eve at solestosoul.ie.

Thank you for listening, I look forward to sharing more next week.