PROLIFIC SUMMER BLOOMS BRING Us THANKFULLY To BRISK, INVIGORATING FALL - SEPTEMBER 2022

Welcome to our remodeled home! Front entrance and new courtyard shown here.

How glorious is the changing of the seasons here in the Northwest. After too much heat, we are greeted with invigorating, brisk mornings, familiar woodsy aromas and evolving light designs across the garden and landscape.

Here, phlox, rose and cimicifuga cohabitate happily in this August afternoon.  Also called bugbane and black cohosh, cimicifuga is a long-lived woodland plant. Black cohosh has a long history of use. Native Americans used it, for example, to treat musculoskeletal pain, fever, cough, pneumonia, sluggish labor, and menstrual irregularities.

Ahh Fall, my favorite season. My brain moves back into gear, my concentration deepens and my body moves more easily. We are each so unique in our body types and mine thrives in the cooler weather.

I am learning more about Ayurvedic ‘doshas’ where the differences in our bodies is understood and underlined in this ancient system. Doshas are the three energies that define every person's makeup.
In fact I am somewhat immersed in the ways of Indian culture as I take a course called Inner Engineering with Sadhguru, Jaggi Vasudev, a brilliant modern guru for our time. I highly recommend his book of the same name. Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic and visionary. Sadhguru’s work has touched the lives of millions worldwide through his transformational programs. Sadhguru has a unique ability to make the ancient yogic sciences relevant to contemporary minds. His approach does not ascribe to any belief system but offers methods for self-transformation.

Foxgloves that were unusually plentiful this year and Quan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion. She watches over my garden and reminds me to be compassionate and non-judgmental whenever possible, which is most of the time.

Yes, self-transformation is the key, is it not, to our world’s transformation from greed, insensitivity, and fear to collective consciousness and compassion for all. We cannot directly change others. Through our own transformation others will change.

This time of year it is Elul, the annual month of deep reflection in Judaism.  For a full month Jews around the world share the spirit & wisdom of these Holy Days. It is a time of realignment and healing: connection to Self, the Divine, Others, and the World. Thank you Ad Olam Eugene for this fabulous, kaleidoscopic image!

As I sit midday in the garden, the Autumn sunlight whispers nurturance. I slow down and bask in it. I feel pure warmth in every muscle, ligament, and bone of my body. The refreshing wind carries lively aromas; essences of ripe pear and grapes mingling into the air around me. I encourage you to savor these moments, allow the deep rays of sunlight to saturate your face and body.
For me, so much is encapsulated in this golden yellow sunlight; the turning of the season,  the magnificence of Creation, our extraordinary bodies and minds, all with a sense of appreciation and longing. This cosmic autumn stillness guides me to past memories and hopes for the future.

May you find peace and transformation in this Holy Season.