We eat first with our eyes. -Apicius

The road from the eye to the heart is easy to follow. I am taking it with my eyes closed. - Christopher Agou

After summer's fiery bloom, where life opened for us to see in explicit glory, autumn is the time to bring those fruits into our earthly bodies for digestion and composting. This is our job each autumn.

What feels a stretch in the essence is the pressure to expand our vision in ways that are not automatic for most of us. Here's why:

What we bring into our bodies depends entirely on what you see. Will we see with the eyes of our conditioned minds or the eyes of our heart? That makes all the difference. I believe this autumn we have a particular opportunity to include, and make primary, the vision that is governed by the intellects of our hearts instead of only by our conditioned minds.

The intellect of the heart is collaborative, it is meant for partnership. It knows that all of life is alive and intelligent. It knows we are members of this web of life that understands how to participate in the cyclical nature of life. The heart sees what we cannot understand and it brings all into our bodies to be digested and composted and, then, listened to by our minds for next steps. The important thing about how the heart brings in what it sees: the heart does not try to understand. It welcomes and makes space for whatever comes. It knows understanding comes with digestion and composting.

Summer is a time of blossoming and fruiting. Autumn is a time of digesting and composting. Winter is time for rest and transformation. Spring starts the cycle again, bringing forth the seed you've made of the previous cycle.

How to take the essence:

After you take a few drops of the essence, look over your summer. What was happening with you, your family, your work, your health, your community, your interests, your environment? All has come blazing into fruit over the summer and is in its final fiery glow before turning back inside again. The "fruits" of your summer are not necessarily apparently delightful or pleasing to you. No matter. They are rich and beautiful.

Now, physically feel the road between your eyes and your heart. Notice how that pathway feels both when you are looking out at the world and when you are bringing what you see into your body. That is the pathway with which you want to look at your summer. With your eyes governed by your heart, look again at your summer and bring it into your body without trying to understand or categorize any of your experiences or curiosities. Let it all land in your heart and give thanks.

One more thing. A phrase from an ​acupuncturist​ I know, "When faced with an earth deficiency [misguided appetite or difficulty receiving] act from your sufficiency. Find a way to act from your sufficiency, In other words, by all means make contact with your resources and regard your resources as real." There may be times this fall when you feel as if you have no resources on which to draw. Those are the times we wear ourselves out. ​When you look for the resources available to you with the eyes of your heart,​ I have a feeling you will be deeply surprised at what you see.

To summarize:

• Take a few drops of the essence in the simplest way by welcoming autumn's flow into your life.
• Feel the road from your eyes to your heart, remember your summer, and take the essence.
• Take the essence when you are feeling under-resourced, by feeling that road and asking your body, "What resources are at hand right now?"

Read the essence definitions here.

Click below to buy the essence ($30):

Whether you buy the essence or not, whether you welcome the inward flow of autumn or not, I wish you a nourishing fall.

Lots of love to you,

Therese