Walking Lightly - Embracing the End of Summer

Summary

In this episode of Growth from Grief, Susan Andersen invites listeners to embrace the end of summer by walking lightly through their days, even while carrying heavy emotional loads. She emphasizes the importance of being present in nature, allowing emotions to surface, and finding moments of lightness amidst grief. The conversation encourages listeners to set intentions for self-care and to seek resources for healing as they navigate their emotional journeys.

Takeaways

• Embrace the end of summer with intention.
• Walking lightly means being present in nature.
• Allow emotions to surface without dwelling on them.
• Nature can improve mood and reduce stress.
• Collect moments of lightness each day.
• Give yourself permission to move at your own rhythm.

Thank you for listening!   Visit www.sueandersenyoga.com for Yoga for Grief classes and additional resources.

Transcript

Susan Andersen (00:01.614)
Hello and welcome to Growth from Grief. I'm Sue Andersen. In today's episode, I'm going to invite you to soften, to slow down, and to notice what still wants to be lived in these final days of summer.

Let's explore what it means to walk lightly through our days, even when we carry heavy things.

Susan Andersen (00:37.76)
In the Western Hemisphere, there are officially only a few days left of summer. Kids are going back to school. New college students are coming to their campuses for orientation. Businesses are starting to gear up for end of year planning, maybe training. 

I remember when I was working for tech companies, we always had different events that started in September. So from a marketing perspective, we were always...at the end of August, planning for those kinds of events that were in September, October, even into early November. And so all of a sudden, our attention shifts from vacation mode to start again mode. 

And even if you're retired, maybe you feel this too. I know for me, I always get that back to school feeling or this feeling that I need to be preparing for the fall. That always happens to me in August and certainly has been in the forefront of my mind of the last week or so. You know, I mean, the weather is still warm here. And for me in Massachusetts, we still have days of humidity, but we also have some really nice days, cool breezes in the morning. Flowers are still bright and blooming. The ocean water is warm for here. And certainly, you know, close to the warmest that it gets. 

Susan Andersen (02:41.335)
And, you know, there's still a lot of time to enjoy. And so, you know, even though I find myself gearing up towards this planning mode, I want to try to walk a little bit lighter the next couple of weeks. And so why don't you come with me right now and we'll kind of explore together what this means.

So let's start with today. So the day that I'm recording this, I'm sitting at a computer and actually I've been sitting at my computer for over an hour. And I could spend the whole day here at my computer. I could be planning my schedule for the fall, know, September to December. I can look out the window and see how beautiful it is, but say, no, I really want to try to do these few more things.

And you know, I thought this morning, good, there is a high tide this afternoon. I'll take my kayak out and just be on the water because I've only been out just actually this summer. I've only been out just once and it really is so peaceful on the river. So I'm in an area where I'm near a river and it's a river that goes out to the Bay. So there are changing tides here and sometimes a little bit of wave, but at high tide today, I'm hoping that it's gonna be as calm as it was the other day that I went out.

So just like you, I have the opportunity to be with nature today and this week, to marvel at the birds and to notice the clouds in the sky, to hear the buzzing of the bees as they're going into the flowers of the zucchini plants. 

Susan Andersen (04:48.087)
I can be fully present with the moments when I'm out there. If you are a gardener, you may do this just naturally. You're just fully present in the garden, whether you're weeding or you're picking vegetables or you're watering. If you get into that mode, then you're not really thinking about anything. You're sort of just just there just being just being present.

But sometimes thoughts come up, I mean, thoughts don't stop. And sometimes those thoughts invoke sadness. And that's okay. Sometimes they invoke happiness or other emotions, right? They're emotions. They come up. And we can let them come up and not dwell on them.

Susan Andersen (06:05.461)
And that's okay if you do dwell on them, right? But allow yourself these moments when you're outside, when you're in the garden, when you're just watering the plants or just looking at the trees, not doing anything, just spending that time in nature. You're physically present. 

Maybe you're near some woods or you can drive over to some woods or a beach and get there when there's not a lot of people. So you can really be present, present with your footsteps, present with your breath.

Susan Andersen (06:59.347)
And again, sometimes it's difficult when emotions arise and you want to drift towards those emotions. You want to focus on them, on your breath. Allow your breath to help you to come back to that present moment, allowing the emotions to surface and then gently dissipate. 

Think of a wave. Just allowing the emotions to crest like the wave and then gently dissipate to the breath. The breath can help when you find yourself in that situation.

So being out in nature helps us to physically soften, right? You're able to just relax your shoulders, relax your body. And hey, a good way to relax your body is just resting in a hammock. Sometimes I wish I had a hammock again. You know, or just on a blanket or a lounge chair, staring into the sky, just...

Having that 10 minutes, 15 minutes, whatever time it is. Mindful walking. Are you able to find a place, if you are working, are you able to find a place near your office or your place of work that you can admire trees?

Or you know just flowers. You can have that focus and just rest there maybe have your lunch outside and be able to focus, be present with what's around you in nature.  You know there is scientific evidence that being out in nature can help improve mood, reduce stress, and improve sleep. So it's a good thing to practice this. 

And at the end of this summer season, to take the opportunity to walk lightly, to be lightly, to be present and not rush into that planning mode and be in that planning mode all day. Give yourself a break.

Susan Andersen (10:01.237)
I know that for those of you who are carrying heavy emotional or mental loads, the idea of slowing down can be challenging. Maybe your emotions are just constantly bubbling up and, or maybe your emotions are building up and the thought of allowing them to flow feels a little scary. And so being still, being present, walking lightly, maybe that feels like, ooh, these emotions are gonna come up and then what's going to happen?

Susan Andersen (10:52.429)
But perhaps thinking of it this way, in the presence of nature, maybe you can just allow the tears to fall. And then notice the sun through the trees or an interesting shell on the beach or a bee in a flower. Letting it out i sometimes scary, whatever that emotion is, letting it out. But then coming back to that present moment, finding your breath and looking for that joy from nature.

Susan Andersen (11:46.572)
Maybe you also feel that the world is speeding up and you're out of sync, right? Well, that's normal in grief. So if this is the way you're feeling right now, maybe asking yourself, what if walking lightly means giving myself permission to move at a different rhythm than the rest of the world? So think about it. What if walking lightly means giving yourself permission to move at a different rhythm than the rest of the world?

Susan Andersen (12:33.069)
I know that there are some days we can't get out in nature to enjoy these remaining summer days as often as we'd like, but consider during a coffee break at work or maybe first thing in the morning while you're in your car, right? Maybe you just look out your windshield and notice something. Notice something in nature. And then before you drive off, close your eyes and repeat, I walk gently with myself today. I walk gently with myself today.

Susan Andersen (13:25.207)
Think about walking lightly as noticing footprints in the sand, present and soft. Notice one small thing each day that feels light, a breeze, a flower, a smile. Think about this as collecting moments of lightness.

Susan Andersen (13:54.997)
As you consider this week, ways that you can walk lightly and embrace the end of summer with intention, perhaps set an intention, an intention for one way that you will walk lightly.

May each one of us find one way this week to soften, to pause, and to honor the season we're in.

If you are looking for resources to help guide you through your grief, if you're looking for yoga classes, please visit my website, sueandersenyoga.com, where I have a podcast, blog posts, downloadable guides, links to YouTube videos and other materials that can help you as you walk through your grief and as you walk lightly for the rest of this summer. 

Thanks for listening.