Entering the Equinox with balance and gratitude

article from the World Family Yoga newsletter, autumn 2007

Peggy Profant, certified Anusara Yoga instructorThere is a Sanskrit word, Purna, which means “fullness of heart” It is in this fullness of heart that we optimally begin our yoga practice. This gratitude practice is well received off the yoga mat in the rest of our life. We remember to pause, be grateful for the goodness that is in our life and inherent in our family.

Autumn is one of my favorite times of year. There is a sweet sadness as summer closes, yet we sit in the abundance, the purna of the richness of summer. My garden is overflowing, providing the rich harvest that my family enjoys on our table. When I look at my children I can see how they too have grown over the summer. The experiences they’ve had have shaped their personalities just a little more. I am grateful that I have them to show me such a marker of time.

Now with the new season they are presented with new schedules, choices of extra curricular activities that can offer new creative ways of expression. My six year old girl wants to do it all. My 10 year old son would be happy just playing soccer and perhaps not returning to school at all (except that his buddies are there to play soccer with). How can we prepare our young ones for the transition into this new season of learning and opportunity? It is a time to pause, return to gratitude.

Equinox is the season of balance. It is the time to balance the carefree, playful flow of summer and the opportunities for a more internal, creative and self knowing winter. The days are of equal length, giving us time to reflect on both. Over scheduling our kids makes us all ungrounded. We all need to maintain the sense of flow, free time to play and just be. In remembrance of the fullness, the harvest and bounty of summer we can open with readiness for what this new season offers. This is how we find balance and an ever deepening sense of purna, fullness of heart. 

- Peggy Profant