Why Do I Feel So Flat Now That Summer's Over - A 10-Minute Meditation for September Sadness and Autumn Anxiety

You're standing in the kitchen and it's already getting dark. A few weeks ago, at this time, there was still plenty of light coming through the window. The evening felt like it belonged to you and now it's dark. The summer has gone, the children are back at school, the diary is filling up again, the alarm is going off.

The morning seems to have got back into gear and somehow you're feeling worse, not devastated, not falling apart, just well flat. And that can be the frightening bit because nothing bad has happened. So why do I feel like this? Why does September feel so heavy?

If you've been wondering about September sadness or asking yourself, why do I feel sad when summer ends? Then stay with me for the next 10 minutes. There's a reason this transition can feel strange and it isn't because you're doing September wrong. Hi there, welcome to calming anxiety, I'm Martin, for good many years a paramedic and now a clinical hypnotherapist.

Today as always my friend, I'm sponsoring myself by mentioning Ankit, my app. It's got everything in it, you can open Ankit in the evening, choose a calm session and give yourself 10 minutes that belong entirely to you. Just a little gift of time to your soul. Anchored available for iPhone and Android.

Now find your quiet place, somewhere comfy to settle into where you won't be disturbed.

Close your eyes if you can and let's focus on your breathing. Be almost hypnotic rhythm of the rise and form of every breath. So let's stop trying to make ourselves feel different for a moment and simply breathe. Today, hold in it nostril breathing, naadi shadana, nothing complicated, we're simply giving your breath a little rhythm and allow the two sides of the breath to alternate gently.

If this technique isn't comfortable at the moment, just return to a normal easy breath. So sit comfy, let your shoulders soften and when you're ready, bring your attention to your breathing. Simply close your right nostril and breathe in through your left and slowly out through the right. Again, breathe in through the right nostril and out through the left.

Let's do that once more, in through the left in and out through the right, then in through the right. Now out through the left, now in through the left, out through the right, in through the right, out through the left and just let your breathing find its own moment of peace.

Just take a moment to feel all of you with your mind, the heaviness of your limbs supported, that sense of peace when you give yourself ten minutes, your coffee break for the song.

Let's do one more round, here we go, in through the right, out through the left, in through the left, out through the right and now just be nothing to focus on, just love all that you are. Now let the breathing do whatever it wants and I'd like you to put down one particular thought, the thought that says, if I can't explain why I feel like this, then there must be something wrong, but that doesn't have to be. You don't need a dramatic reason to feel low, it's part of being human, you don't need to justify every change in your mood. Sometimes the light changes, sometimes it's the routine, sometimes the year turns a corner and your body notices before your mind does, and perhaps that's all this is, a transition.

So instead of asking yourself, what's wrong with me? Try asking, what does my body need from me today? Maybe, it just needs a slower morning, maybe it needs daylight, maybe it needs 10 quiet minutes. This is a season that changes, it's not a failing in you.

Learn to open your eyes and see the beauty that is autumn. Now, let these words settle, say them inwardly with me, and as you do, if you can, imagine a warm golden light resting gently over your chest. This is the season changing, not me failing.

I do not need a reason to feel low.

September sadness does not mean there is something wrong with me.

I can notice how I feel without judging how I feel.

I am allowed to slow down when the year does. The light is changing and I can change gently with it.

I do not have to force myself to feel differently today.

I can simply be kind to myself. Relax now. Let those shoulders just drop a little lower. And if the end of summer anxiety has been sitting quietly in the background, you can meet it with patience rather than fear, because simply put, you.

Are worthy. You are here. You are safe. So take one step at a time and be gentle with yourself.

And to stay with you over the coming days and weeks as the season deepens. Here are your three daily caring tips. One. You can get outside for 10 minutes before 10am if you can.

No phone, no podcast, no scrolling, just daylight. Two. Say this one out loud once today. This is the season, not me.

Not as a diagnosis, not as an explanation for everything, just as a gentle reminder, but to change in the world around you can affect how you feel. And three. Put one small pleasant thing in the diary for this week. Not for December, not for something you have to wait months for.

Just something small. A coffee with someone you like, a walk somewhere beautiful. 10 minutes with a book. Now, gently my friend, bring your awareness back into the space around you.

Deepen the breath a little. Now wiggle your fingers and toes. Now breathe in, hold, and as you breathe out, stretch out those arms then roll the shoulders. And softly open your eyes.

You don't have to make the whole autumn wonderful. You just have to give day something gentle to hold. Thank you for looking after you today. If today landed somewhere true, anchored is there for you in those darker evenings.

Why not try out the books at bedtime? Something to fall asleep to. There's a timer, so we'll turn itself off when you want, and you can download them for the commute as well. But more than that, this is genuinely about you.

My hope as much as it pains me is that you find you and you never need me again. Have a lovely day. Take care and in everything. Be kind.