Hello gorgeous!
​If you're in the Northern Hemisphere we're looking at cooler temperatures and quickly moving into my favorite time of the year. Of course, I'm talking about Autumn (and Halloween!). As you know those gorgeous changing leaves won't be around for very long and while they're here they gave me a grand idea for a guided imagery mediation. 

If you've never tried guided imagery meditation before I highly recommend giving it a try! I believe meditation doesn't have to be about clearing the mind so to speak but guiding the mind. For guided imagery meditations you'll have a topic to focus on which helps to keep the mind on track, so to speak. 

For extra oomph, why not record yourself reading this meditation out loud, then find a comfy place to sit or lie down and fully immerse yourself in this meditation!

Autumn Leaves Guided Meditation
Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down.
Close your eyes, soften your shoulders away from your ears and start by focusing on your breath. 
Actively notice your chest rise and fall with every inhalation and exhalation. 
Take a few mindful breaths to slow down your body and mind. 

Then shift your focus to your mind's eye, otherwise known as your imagination. 
Within your mind's eye, see a large tree with green leaves.
Perhaps it's a tree you've known since you were a child or a new tree that is willing to work with you today. 

Take some time to notice the height of the tree, the color of the bark, the shape of the branches and the shape of the leaves. In your mind's eye see yourself taking a walk around the trunk of the tree to see it from all sides and as many perspectives as possible. Allow your mind to notice as many details as you possibly can.

As you are taking in the details of the tree, you begin to notice the leaves starting to change color. Slowly one by one each leaf starts to change. Perhaps you see yellows, oranges, browns or reds. Whatever comes to mind first allow it to happen without judgement, until each leaf has transformed. 

Take a moment to see this tree in all it's colorful beauty. Notice the different shades and hues of the transformed leaves. Perhaps taking another walk around the tree to see each perspective and how it has changed. At this point a single leaf lets go of the tree branch and slowly cascades down to your feet. Notice the color, shape and any other details of this first fallen leaf. 

As you notice the first leaf, slowly another falls and another, and another.... 
This process continues as you begin to look back up to almost bare branches and a gentle gust of wind blows taking a few more leaves with it. Notice if you can feel this breeze as the cool crisp air of Autumn settles in. 

If it feels right, see yourself picking up that first fallen leaf. Thank the tree for this mindful moment and see yourself slowly walking away from this tree. Begin to let the image fade and return to your breath. Notice your chest gently rising and falling. Gently wiggle your fingers and toes. Slowly open your eyes.

As you return from your guided meditation you may wish to take a few moments to journal about your journey; be sure to include the colors of leaves you saw. I love guided imagery meditations that don't exactly tell you which colors you're working with because your brain will generally fill in as needed. At that point it may be fun to do some color association. I've included a few examples below:

Reds: Passion, Love, Urgency
Yellows: Creativity, Happiness, Warmth, Caution
Oranges: Playfulness, Friendly, Success, Change
Browns: Stability, Simplicity, Tradition

You may even associate these colors with something else based on your personal experience. Take some time and journal it out. See what that first fallen leaf has to tell you from your meditation. <3

​- Jenn Rose

(Journal Photo by Katie Harp on Unsplash
Autumn leaf Photo by Nong Vang on Unsplash)

First up, It's been a while and a whirlwind.
​
So much has been happening in my day to day that I haven't been able to keep up a regular blog schedule; which should be a reminder to check in with my priorities/goals before I became overwhelmed! Needless to say the Universe replays messages until we get them and if we learn to lean into the seasons we're about to learn how good it feels to let go of things just like the leaves on the trees. 

Sitting with the Seasons is a concept I've been toying with for some time. Autumn is such a good example of this concept. I'm all about feeling the vibes of the seasons and Fall is about letting go. We often know we should let go of things when they no fit, are useful, etc. However, I find it's often the memories associated with that thing/pattern that we have a hard time releasing. 

This is where the trees can teach us a thing or two. ​

I've always liked to write and while I love my blog, there's just something beautiful and magical seeing your own handwriting on paper. Growing up I kept a diary to help process my thoughts and keep track of those exciting moments. Now-a-days I see my journal work as a key component of my self-care practice. ​

​How, you ask? Check out these four different ideas on how to use your journal for self-care.

Those of us who keep track of Mercury's crazy cycle know how much we dread hearing those words, "Mercury's in Retrograde." Mercury is said to rule over communication, travel and technology and in our fast paced world those things going haywire can cause quite a few issues. Have you ever experienced flight cancellations and tech failures during a mercury retrograde? Those things alone can cause some communication issues...

But what if we took Mercury's patterns as a sign for us to look backwards and slow down?

When Mercury goes "retrograde" it appears that Mercury is moving backwards in the sky and lucky for us we just started another round on Sunday, July 7th. 

There are times our confidence gets a bit of a shake up and who can blame you in this fast paced world where information, opinions and facts are all flying at us at once from all sides! While I believe it takes time to build up your self confidence and a healthy dose of putting yourself out there, there are a few little tricks you can employ to feel confident at any moment. ​

When I think of this first one, I'm always reminded of that episode of Grey's Anatomy when the neurosurgeon strikes a pose before a super intense surgery. I'm not saying you have to be brain surgeon for this one to work, but perhaps this idea could gift you some of that confidence in the face of your challenge. ​

Back in November we took some time to check in with that gratitude mindset towards others and of course for yourself! We see a lot of posts on social media about gratitude during the holidays, but what about  connecting with that feeling when it's no longer being published in every social media post/etc. to remind us to do it?

1. Journal it out.
Always my first suggestion. Taking the time to write something out helps us to organize our thoughts and give us time to really feel it. Also, if you write it down you can go back to it later and remember that feeling of gratitude or joy. ​