Autumn Meditations for Changing Seasons

The autumn meditations below will help you stay present in a season of change by maintaining and building a sense of gratitude and abundance.  Looking at the spiritual symbolism of autumn and the significance it holds in our holistic Christian life grounds us as we prepare for the changing season and upcoming holidays.

Want to continue this sweet and savory feeling year-round? Entering each day like it’s a new season filled with exciting things to explore? Check out this series!

 

Autumn is a crowd favorite! We welcome its milder temps, glorious colors, increased opportunities to spend time with friends and family, football, comfort food, and yes, the jubilation over the return of all things pumpkin spice.

I promise sitting still and setting an intention for the changing seasons ahead won’t detract a bit. An autumn meditation may even help the crunching of leaves underfoot and the sipping of lattes feel even more satisfying!

 

Spiritual Meaning of Autumn

How can we incorporate the spiritual meaning of autumn into meditation and contemplation?

Find Balance with Autumn Meditation

Autumn has a strong pull for many of us. We are quicker to acknowledge and appreciate the changes in nature, which leads us to be particularly mindful. Autumn sets a beautiful example and calls us to find balance in finishing a season of busyness and finding rest before we start with new growth once again. 

We see this pattern of balance with the leaves, the animals gathering food for hibernation, and on the first day of the season, the Autumn Equinox. Equinox is a Latin term for “equal night“ which references the balance of an almost equal 12 hour day and 12 hour night that we experience at the start of both autumn and spring. 

Spiritually, we may choose to observe autumn as a time to restore the balance in our lives. Self-care and boundaries, including the attitude of Sabbath rest, are all strengthening spiritual disciplines that will set us up for a peaceful and joy-filled holiday season. 

 

Acknowledge Abundance & Grow in Gratitude with Autumn Meditation

Though mining our closets for donation prospects or volunteering doesn’t appear to be overtly spiritual, generous activities help us participate in the abundance of the season. Part of harvesting is also preparing the soil for new growth. When we view ourselves as harvesting our blessings and generously outpouring them to others, we prepare ourselves for spiritual growth. This conditioning sets us up for continued giving and receiving in the coming months.

The Letting Go meditation exercise below can help with loosening a grip on items we no longer need, as well as activities or attitudes that are no longer serving us. In this way, autumn meditation can assist you in showing generosity to others or yourself. Maybe even both!

 

Biblical verses for Autumn

There are only a few references to autumn in the Bible. I did, however, pull this handful of sweet and savory Bible verses for autumn last year that I find especially satiating in seasons of change.

Autumn provides us with countless opportunities to experience God in nature. While this truth remains any time of year, there is a Christ-like beauty and mystery that laces autumn.

Everything comes from the Lord. All things were made because of him and will return to him. Praise the Lord forever! Amen.  ~Romans 11:36 (CEV)

In the vivid color of fall leaves, we see a beauty in death and renewal. Perhaps for us holistic Christians, we can also bear witness to Christ displayed in nature. Click To Tweet

The changes that swirl around us remind us God has a purpose and plan for every season and that he alone remains unchanged and unchangeable. 

“Death has no sting; winter has no bite. We will fall from the tree of Adam; but we will flower again in a spring of eternal, glorious growth.” ~ Joseph Rhea

 

Autumn Meditations

I’ve included two autumn meditations, both of which help us build on the spiritual meaning of autumn. These easy to follow Christian meditation scripts help with spiritual grounding in seasons of change. These are helpful when setting an intention for surrender to God’s plans and unburdening ourselves as we prepare for purposeful change. 

 

Letting Go Meditation Exercise

Autumn is a season of change. Creatures big and small prepare for hibernation, leading to new life and the renewal of spring. Part of the magic of autumn is seeing how the leaves light themselves up with color just before they fall and nurture the earth. As the leaves decay, the soil is activated for new growth in the spring.

Reflecting on this process, what might you need to shed as a way to prepare the soil of your life for new growth? Are you carrying a burden in the form of a habit, relationship, behavior, or specific fear? Maybe a go-to reaction that isn’t serving you well? Perhaps your burden is an excessive amount of cluttered things preventing you from true appreciation.

As you prepare to meditate consider what it is that binds you and prevents growth.

Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free—not partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past. ~ Galatians 5:1 (TPT)

If you successfully let go of these items, behaviors, attitudes, and priorities, what would be the result? This answer, the result you’re looking to manifest, is your personal and powerful “why”.

You may want to spend some time in prayer or invite the Holy Spirit in as you journal contemplatively. Or take a walk in nature and ask Christ to reveal himself to you there. 

After getting acquainted with these figurative leaves to shed and the new growth you want to encourage, settle in with this Letting Go Meditation Exercise. 

Letting Go Meditation Exercise for Autumn

• • Sit comfortably with a straight back.
  • Breathe naturally and feel your mind and body relax.
  • Inhale a one or two word phrase representative of that what you wish to manifest. If you’re unsure, “freedom to grow” or “a nourished spirit” may work.
  • Exhale a one or two-word phrase representative of what you wish to let go and be unburdened of. If you’re unsure, “anything in Christ’s way” or self-imposed burdens” may work.
  • Repeat this process as many times as it feels comfortable, perhaps 10.
  • Don’t rush! Sit quietly for a few more minutes and relish the freedom of letting go in Christ. Recognize that letting go is something God wants for you and supports in you.
  • If you get distracted, repeat the focused inhale and exhale portion a few more times.
  • When you’re ready, gently open the eyes and take one more big, cleansing breath.

  Build upon this intention of letting go through journaling, sticky notes in prominent places, and scheduling reminders to pop up on your phone. You’ve got this! If you feel tempted to pick up what you’ve been working hard to let go of, remember you have a partner in Christ.

  And beyond that, you can always reach out to me!

 

Surrender Meditation Script for Autumn

Change can feel daunting! There’s no doubt about that.

In our walk with God, however, we know that there is always a good plan for our future. Not only are our good works prepared in advance, but we are also being prepared to do them in a way that brings glory to God and blesses others.  

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ~ Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

 

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. ~ Hebrews 13:20-21 (NIV)

Autumn is a great time to set intentions of surrender to God’s plans and remaining malleable under his artistry.  Every good gift comes from above. There is no part of God’s purpose for our lives which we need to fear. On top of this good news, God even takes the hardest parts of or life and works them to good for those who believe. 

 

Surrender Meditation Script for Autumn

• Settle in and get comfortable.
• Feel the weight of your body sink into the ground or chair and let your body breathe naturally.
• Gently inhale and exhale.
• Notice how inhaling and exhaling affect different parts of your body.
• Trust that your mind and body know how to lead this process of relaxation.
• See how your body takes a natural rest between each breath cycle without conscious direction? Acknowledge that God created your body to work, even in rest, and be strengthened in trusting God with every season of your life. 
• Focus on the Centering Thought, “I safely surrender to God’s loving plans.” to set an intention of surrender to the love, mystery, and steadfast character of God.
• Continue breathing slowly and begin your meditation. 
• Silently repeat the one-word mantra, “Chaliyphah”. Pronounced khal-ee-faw, this Hebrew word means change and is used interchangeably for a change of garments or a change to the course of life. This mantra represents the holistic transformation God’s presence brings. There is no need for fear. Surrender to God results in good gifts! “Khal-ee-faw.” You are ready for what’s next. “Khal-ee-faw.”
• When your time is complete, gently open your eyes and sit restfully for a moment of gratitude and prayer. This is going to be a great season!

 

spark new growth this season

So many times, we dread change because we feel unprepared. But Autumn with all its announcements of change, comes in confidently and brilliantly adding a shroud of comfort and beauty to change. I see God in every season, but Autumn holds a sweet spot for me. As the leaves blanket the ground, composting under the autumn sun, sacrificing themselves to feed the soil so new life may begin again in the spring, many of us also feel a pull to turn inward and inspect what we want to nurture and what we’d like to change before closing out the year.

Christian meditation helps carry this introspection and intentionality throughout the year. The sign of a good meditation practice is not what happens during the practice. Because we all get fidgety or have times where our to-do list just won’t quit. No, the sign of a good practice is actually what begins to transform afterward! This transformation beneath the surface feels perfectly timed with the intentionality and beauty of this season. Consistency is key to seeing long-lasting changes in your focus, sense of peace, relaxation, and emotional control. This How to Do Christian Meditation series is a great way to start on that path!

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Be blessed!