The Fall Equinox

Around September 22nd or 23rd each year, day and night fall into perfect balance, twelve hours of light and twelve of dark. In Chinese medicine, this point is called Qiufen, the Autumn Equinox, and it is a quietly meaningful moment on the seasonal calendar.

A Pause at the Midpoint

Qiufen sits at the exact center of fall, halfway between the Start of Autumn in early August and the Start of Winter in early November. Everything before this point has been transition. After it, the yin, inward energy of the colder months takes hold more firmly.

The equinox is a checkpoint, a moment to ask how the transition into fall has actually been going for you.

What Balance Looks Like

A few questions worth sitting with this week:

• Are you resting enough, or has summer's pace carried over into a season that wants something slower?

• Is your diet still full of the cold, light foods that suited the heat, or is it time for more warmth?

• Are you honoring the pull toward quiet, or pushing past it out of habit?

None of these have a right answer. They are just worth noticing.

A Simple Equinox Practice

Take a few minutes to look back over the last six months. What did you set out to grow this year, and what actually came of it? Not everything needs to have gone to plan for this to be worth acknowledging.

You might also spend a few minutes outside around sunset, noticing the balance of light and dark for what it is.
There is something grounding about marking a moment the whole planet shares, even if your day looks no different than usual.

Balance is not something you achieve once. It is something you return to, each day, each month, and season after season. Qiufen is one more reminder to come back to it.

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