Hey yogis,

As you may know, Autumn equinox is nearly upon us. The season changes are such a nice quarterly marker to clean the slate. It is a time to let go of the old and make space for the new.
This equinox happens to fall precisely on the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur. The translation of the name Yom Kippur is literally 'Day of Atonement.'
Which begins to describe what Yom Kippur is all about. Since I'm not Jewish, I won't claim to know all the hard-fast rules of this holiday, but I would love to borrow a few of them to incorporate into our practice of cleaning the slate.

The day (or days) of atonement are days meant for repenting for our sins. To make amends. To make things right, where this is possible. In the Jewish faith, it refers to repenting for sins against God, but for our purposes, let's just repent for our sins in general.

Ask yourself these questions:

• How have my actions caused suffering for me?
• How have my actions caused suffering for others?
• Can I make amends for any of these? If so, how will I do this?

As for the other suffering that you feel you've caused...

• Have you learned from it in any way? Think of these actions as an opportunity to learn about yourself. Why have you acted the way that you have? Are you ready to be done with some of this stuff? How has this affected the way you plan to treat yourself and others in the future?

The practice...

As for your practice for this Autumn Equinox, after you have thought about these ideas, perhaps you'd like to use your asana practice to clear the slate.
(In my little world, we are planning to do this with the 108 sun salutation practice.)
If you would like to join us in doing this, then please do, wherever your little world may be!
If 108 isn't going to happen, but you would like to clean the slate in some way, choose a number that's a multiple of 12. (12, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 108)
These numbers are auspicious and sacred, and have been used for important stuff for many many many years. You can do all sun salutation a or you can do five a and then one b, five a and then one b. Sun salutation b helps to keep the heat high in the body... good for purification.

As you move through your practice, focus on forgiveness. Feel yourself being forgiven (especially by you, who is probably the hardest on you of all!) The heart-opening parts (especially upward dog) of the sun salutations are especially conducive to forgiveness. Feel that space opening up.

After your sun salutations, choose to practice a few postures that you feel are especially detoxifying. Backbends, twists, inversions (like shoulderstand). Seal your practice in with a nice long forward bend.
Then savasana (of course.)

If you would like to do a meditation to honour this change, here is a nice idea:

There is a ritual in the holiday of Yom Kippur where you walk near a lake or a river and empty the contents of your pockets into it, symbolising the release of whatever you have been holding onto.
For your practice, maybe you would like to do this. Write down on a piece of paper the ills you have caused this past season. Walk to a body of water. Release the paper into the water and let it be washed away.
Or you can use this in a mediation practice. As you lay in savasana or sit afterward, imagine all the sins that you have acted this season manifesting into little pieces or rocks and visualize placing them in your pockets. Visualized the most beautiful, cleansing body of water you can see. Watch yourself throw these little bits of regret into the water. Watch as the water swallows them up or the waves wash them away.
As you finish this practice, feel lighter and more free than you did when you began. Feel still imperfect, but much more able to act without causing suffering. Imagine what a beautiful next four months you will enjoy!

So your practice will be something like this:

• Take a few moments to focus on the suffering you have caused yourself and others. Set the intention to release it.
• Clean the slate with x number of sun salutes.

(Feel the forgiveness in the backbends and the humility of your imperfection in the forward bends.)

• Backbend(s) (whatever version feels challenging, but comfortable to your body today)
• Seated twist (to clear out the old)
• Shoulderstand (15 breaths)
• Seated forward bend (15 breaths)
• Savasana
• Meditation (if you feel so inspired)

Happy Autumn my sweet friends! May you all be happy and healthy and peaceful and free from suffering.

p.s. Oh yeah... and it's customary to wear white on the holiday, which symbolizes purity and calls to mind the promise that our sins shall be made as "white as snow."

p.p.s. and... the end of yom kippur marks the end of the year and thus the beginning of a new one! Happy new year! How will you celebrate this? Brie? Wine for breakfast?