Be Grounded This Fall: Finding Stability and Calm with Big Raven Yoga Mats
Fall has a way of pulling you back down to earth.
The air cools, the pace slows, and everything around you starts to whisper, steady now. After the restless heat of summer, you can almost feel your body craving stillness — warm drinks, quiet mornings, slower breath, heavier feet.
This is the season of grounding. Of reconnecting to your body, your breath, and the ground that’s been under you all along.
When you roll out your mat this fall, think of it not just as a place to move, but as a place to land.
What Grounding Really Means in Yoga
In yoga, grounding isn’t about staying still — it’s about stability. It’s the way you balance energy so you can move from strength rather than strain.
You ground when you press your palms firmly into your mat in Downward Dog. You ground when you feel your feet root into the earth in Mountain Pose. You even ground through your breath — that slow, steady rhythm that keeps you present.
When life gets busy (and it always does), grounding is your reminder that you can come home to your body.
You don’t have to control the world. You just have to feel your feet again.
Why Fall Is the Perfect Time to Ground
Fall is the transition between the fiery energy of summer and the deep rest of winter. In Ayurveda, it’s considered a vata season: cool, dry, windy, and light. All that movement can make you feel scattered or anxious if you’re not careful.
Grounding practices — especially yoga — help counter that by inviting in the opposite qualities: warmth, stillness, and weight.
So as the leaves fall and the air shifts, your yoga mat becomes the one place where you can settle, breathe, and reconnect.
The Foundation Beneath You Matters
Think about how your body reacts to what’s beneath it.
When you stand on uneven ground, your muscles tense. When you step on a firm, stable surface, your body relaxes. The same is true for your yoga mat.
A mat that slips, curls, or feels thin keeps you in your head — always adjusting, compensating, balancing. But when your mat is solid and supportive, your nervous system relaxes. You can finally focus inward.
That’s what a Big Raven Yoga mat offers: support that lets you sink into your practice. It’s thick enough to cushion your knees but firm enough for balance. The texture holds you steady without ever feeling sticky. And because every design is a work of art, it invites you to be more mindful — to actually look at the surface beneath you and feel grateful for it.
Art That Anchors You
At Big Raven Yoga, your mat isn’t just functional. It’s expressive. Each design carries energy — color, movement, emotion — that becomes part of your practice.
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Autumn Paintbrush by Rachel Pohl is a celebration of fall itself. Warm reds and golden tones swirl like sunlight through leaves. When you stand on it, you can almost feel the late-afternoon warmth of an October hike. It’s perfect for days when you crave steadiness — when you need to feel held by the earth.
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Denali Fireweed by Rachel Pohl captures resilience in color form — the magenta-pink blooms of fireweed rising through the ash of Alaskan soil. This mat reminds you that growth comes after transformation, that you can rebuild and root again.
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Moonrise by Elena Brower is soft, silvery calm. Its cool palette and gentle gradients mirror the quiet clarity of evening light. This mat feels like a deep breath — perfect for reflection, rest, and stillness.
Each design carries its own kind of grounding energy — warmth, renewal, calm. When you unroll one, you’re not just choosing a color scheme. You’re choosing the kind of energy you want to bring into your practice.
The Science Behind Feeling Grounded
There’s real physiology behind why grounding feels so good.
When your body connects with a stable surface, your brain receives signals that activate the parasympathetic nervous system — your “rest and digest” mode. Heart rate slows, breath deepens, tension melts.
This is why just standing on your mat with awareness can change how you feel.
It’s not about perfection or flexibility. It’s about awareness of contact: palms, soles, fingertips, spine.
Your mat is your reminder that you are supported, even when life feels uncertain.
Five Grounding Yoga Poses for Fall
Try these five poses as a simple fall ritual — a short practice to reconnect whenever you feel untethered.
Each one draws your awareness down, helping you stabilize from the inside out.
1. Mountain Pose (Tadasana)
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. Spread your toes wide and press evenly through all four corners of your feet.
Imagine the fiery hues of Autumn Paintbrush beneath you — warm, steady, rooted. Feel that color energy rising through your legs and spine.
Let your shoulders drop. Breathe slow.
You’re not holding still; you’re standing strong.
2. Tree Pose (Vrksasana)
Shift your weight into one foot. Bring the other to your calf or inner thigh. Find a steady gaze point.
Just like the fireweed rising through rocky soil, balance here is about micro-adjustments, not perfection. You wobble, you root deeper, you find your center again.
Hold for 5–10 breaths, then switch sides.
3. Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II)
Step your feet wide and bend your front knee over your ankle. Extend your arms parallel to the ground.
Feel your feet anchor firmly into the mat.
The soft gradients of Moonrise mirror this still strength — steady but fluid, like breath moving through twilight air.
This pose reminds you that grounding isn’t stiffness. It’s alert relaxation.
4. Garland Pose (Malasana)
Squat down, feet wider than your hips. Press your elbows into your knees and lengthen your spine.
This pose connects you to the base of the body — hips, legs, feet — your root chakra.
It’s also an invitation to release: to exhale what you no longer need, to sink into the safety of the ground.
5. Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Come to your knees, big toes touching, forehead resting on the mat. Stretch your arms forward or bring them by your sides.
Feel the weight of your body supported by the earth. Let the breath slow.
If you’re practicing on Denali Fireweed, imagine the colors beneath you — vivid pinks fading into deep greens — a visual reminder that growth happens after fire, after change.
Stay here as long as you need. This is where grounding becomes surrender.
Bringing the Season Into Your Practice
Your yoga doesn’t have to stop when you roll up your mat. Grounding is a theme you can carry through every part of your day.
Here are a few fall rituals that pair beautifully with your practice:
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Morning grounding: Before your first sip of coffee, stand barefoot on your mat. Take three full breaths and set an intention for calm.
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Evening unwind: Practice Legs Up the Wall on your Moonrise mat while soft music plays. Let the day drain from your legs.
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Nature meditation: Roll out Autumn Paintbrush near a window or outside if you can. Watch the leaves move as you breathe.
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Color visualization: During Savasana, imagine the fiery pinks of Denali Fireweed glowing softly at your heart center — warmth meeting resilience.
The beauty of grounding is that it’s simple. It doesn’t require perfect poses or an hour-long flow. It’s about noticing — feeling — connecting.
Staying Grounded Off the Mat
When life pulls you in too many directions, grounding is what brings you back to yourself.
The same stability you practice in Tree Pose or Warrior II can carry into how you move through your day — how you listen, how you react, how you rest.
Try this small exercise when you feel uncentered:
Pause. Take one deep breath. Feel your feet. Notice what’s beneath you — the floor, the chair, your mat.
That’s the earth holding you up. Always has been.
Your Mat as a Daily Anchor
Over time, your yoga mat becomes more than equipment. It becomes your anchor — a place you return to when the world feels like too much.
Whatever draws you to it, your mat reflects your own inner landscape — colorful, imperfect, resilient, and full of life.
A Gentle Invitation
If this season has you craving calm and connection, start where you are — right at your feet.
Explore Big Raven Yoga’s artist-designed mats and find one that helps you feel rooted in your practice.
Whether you’re drawn to the earthy warmth of Autumn Paintbrush, the quiet glow of Moonrise, or the vibrant strength of Denali Fireweed, your mat can become a daily reminder to stay steady and grounded, no matter what changes come your way.
Because being grounded isn’t about staying still — it’s about standing strong, breathing deeply, and knowing you belong exactly where you are.