The Equinox Within by Lexie Wolf
The Autumn Equinox is almost here—a celestial moment of balance when day and night are of equal length. Yoga, too, is deeply rooted in balance: effort and ease, light and dark, inner and outer. Balance is not often handed to us. It’s for us to cultivate it—through cooling or heating breaths, energizing kriyas or grounding practices. Through activity or rest, the support of a sangha (community) or time alone in contemplation. Knowing what you need in any given moment and actually being able to give it to yourself is a huge blessing and an accomplishment.
Balance is not just pleasant; it is essential for the soul’s journey. It’s the ground that allows both our struggles and our bursts of brilliance to be metabolized into growth. Without it, our energy scatters in the search for stability instead of moving us forward. When we’re able to find and hold center, what needs to take root in us can finally take root.
Where’s the excitement, you might be wondering. Don’t worry! Balance is never permanent, nor should it be. Destabilizing (exciting?) moments—hours, months, even years—are essential and inevitable. They can spark innovation, creativity, or deeper lessons buried in the shadows.
My own tolerance and desire for destabilization seems to get lower as I age. That may limit how high I climb or how far I leap. But that’s okay. Part of my practice is learning to manage this human Self of mine so that it feels like a good place to live, most of the time. I hope you are doing the same with yours.
Yoga offers us timeless tools for returning to center, because the essence of yoga is unity. When the mind, body, and heart pull in different directions, we feel scattered. This is a really common state and one that most of us have probably become accustomed to, but it doesn’t have to be that way. From an aligned, unified center, we find stable ground from which to evolve.
And so this season reminds me: just as the Earth pauses at equinox, holding day and night in brief harmony, we too are invited to pause, find our center, and remember what it feels like to live in balance. Even if just for a moment.
We celebrate the Equinox with Mystic Garden Coven this Sunday evening. We invite you to join us in celebrating this sacred turning with a welcome circle, grounding ritual, guided meditation, and a simple crafting activity to anchor your intentions. Mystic Garden is donating proceeds to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.
