Fall 2025 Update and Hello

A Seasonal Hello 🍂

Hello and happy fall to you! I wanted to share some of the thoughts, reflections, and learnings that have followed me into this season. 

I know fall is many people’s favourite time of year, and for good reason! It is a chance to turn inward and get cozy after a summer of vacation, plans, and doing things. For me, I get excited about apple crumbles, candles at dinner, and the opportunity to hike in the middle of the day without getting heatstroke from that Okanagan summer sun!

Practice Happenings 🗓️

I am fully launched into my new office space, and have enjoyed my first month of fully private practice. Here is a picture of the new office, with the recent addition of my new disco mushroom, which provides (optional) sunbeams in the early afternoon 🙂

My practice was full this summer, but as we transition into fall I have had some daytime spots open up. If you know someone who is in need of support, they are welcome to contact me at charlotte@innerlightcounselling.net or browse my schedule and book a free consultation using this link.

What I’m Learning Lately

As much as I am a fan of learning from books and formalized training, I believe some of the best learning comes from lived experience. Recently, I had the opportunity to do some great experiential learning by going on a weeklong meditation retreat. Meditation (and especially meditation retreats) may not be for everyone, but there are definitely skills and tools that we can learn and practice that come from these traditions.

Here are a few of the insights and reflections I’m bringing back into my daily life, along with some reflection questions that I've been considering.

• Putting down the phone. 

  • A week without any technology can definitely be eye-opening in realizing not only how much we rely on it, but also in how peaceful it can be not to have it constantly in our face. I’m choosing to have a “docking” spot for my phone in my home office, so if I want to use it, I have to go and sit down in there. I’m finding this to be more effective than other strategies like using apps that limit phone usage.

  •  A reflection question to consider: Am I happy with the amount of time I am spending on my phone? If not, what is one small change I could make?

    
    

• Doing less, and doing things more slowly. 

  • Our culture celebrates being busy. Sometimes our busy-ness is by necessity (making ends meet and meeting all of our responsibilities), but sometimes we are mindlessly rushing through the to-do list just to crash afterwards and scroll the phone for an hour. It can be an interesting experiment to slow everything down - to walk a little more slowly, do the dishes a little more slowly, and maybe even say no to extra commitments. I find when I slow down my pace, I enjoy what I am doing more, feel more connected to myself, and I feel more rested. 

  • Reflection question: Are there any moments in my week where I can create some space to slow down?

    
    

• The benefits of attending to spiritual life.

  • Whether you meditate, go to yoga, go to church/mosque/temple, pray, go out into nature, or something else to connect with your spiritual life - it is something that can easily get set aside in the buzz of everyday life. I am reminded of the value of having these rituals and practices as a regular part of life, as a way to stay connected to something greater. This can be even more essential during difficult times. 

  • Reflection question: Are there specific practices I can do on a regular basis to stay connected to my spiritual life?

Book Recommendations 📚

I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction lately, particularly on the topics of meditation and finances. Here are a couple of my favourites:

Mindfulness in Plain English - Bhante Gunaratana

This is a fabulous book about how to meditate, and why we might want to bother doing so in the first place. It also highlights tools to integrate mindfulness into everyday life. This book comes from the tradition of Therevadan Buddhism, but is presented in an accessible, secular way, so you don’t need to be a Buddhist (or even particularly spiritual) to understand and benefit from it.

Financial Feminist - Tori Dunlap

This is a great primer on finances, highlighting how taking the time to learn about money and taking charge of our financial goals is an opportunity to empower ourselves. Whether your goals are to get out of debt, save for a home, or reach retirement goals, this book has lots of specific tips and information. Learning to invest and build wealth affords us choice and options. This is a book aimed at women and female identifying folks, but has great information for everyone!

Coming Up 💙

A few things to share for the rest of the fall:

• I’ll be taking a week off the week of November 10, as well as a couple of weeks around Christmas and New Years. 

• I will be opening up my schedule for the new year in mid-November. 

Wishing you a warm and cozy fall! I have taken up sewing this season, so you’ll find me buried in thrifted fabric, making wonky skirts and patchwork bags 🙂

All my best,

Charlotte