We are officially into the fall season, which, depending on where you live, might bring with it a time of cooler weather and the first taste of that crisp air to help clear our thoughts and any old energies. No matter the weather, I find that the transition into fall (or any new season, really) often provides the opportunity for pause, reflection, beginning anew.

 

This time of year, my family and I celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival (we say it like, “jung chou ji”), also called the Moon Festival. My parents and grandparents brought over numerous traditions from the homeland and, well, they are all pretty much centered around an abundance of food and gathering, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. When I was growing up, the Mid-Autumn Festival was always my personal favorite since it happens near my birthday and (in my classic child brain) I would feel like the whole world was celebrating my special day by eating mooncake — a rich and symbolic pastry made from mashed red beans or lotus seeds.

 

Still now, there’s a magic in taking a moment to honor and celebrate the Moon; to celebrate family, prosperity, new goals, new chapters, a traditional harvest time. Mother Moon represents the divine feminine energy, our intuition, our subconscious mind, emotions, healing. This energy is so important to our overall balance, both individually and collectively. I’ve written often about balance, which is an ongoing dance through life, and in the past week, my lesson of balance and self-compassion showed up loudly.

 

So, compassion. We probably all know what compassion is and what it looks like, as well as give it to others often. As a big-hearted community of mothers, fathers, friends, therapists, teachers, healers, lightworkers, self-aware individuals, you’re probably familiar with how you give compassion to others effortlessly, and yet, when it comes to offering compassion to yourself in equal amounts, what happens? Do you find that your inner critic is so harsh, or that you tend to beat yourself up and withhold self-forgiveness?

 

That’s our human side. That’s the part of us that needs and deserves all the compassion. I’ve been practicing observing my own dynamic with that and reflecting on how true compassion is to offer grace and empathy to our own human experience, complete with all of its imperfections and challenges, all of which lead to growth. So, this month, I encourage us all to take note of our thoughts and to practice speaking more kindly to ourselves, to create that balance of allowing ourselves to receive as much as we give. And, in those moments when we notice we’re not speaking kindly to ourselves, just notice, just observe, reframe it when you can. With consistency and not pushing them away, or judging them, those thoughts will naturally lighten.

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Thank you for being on this journey!

 

With love and light,

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Sherri Huang 黄楚明, MA, CCC-SLP, RMT

Founder, The Holistic SLP