Seasonal Self-Care: September

Mood: Somewhere between “I’m not ready” and “It’s time anyway.”

September is the month that holds its breath.

Summer starts fading—quietly, but unmistakably. The light slants. The evenings stretch a little longer. You blink, and suddenly the calendar is full again.

If you’re feeling scattered, sluggish, or tender right now… it’s not just you. And no, you’re not “falling behind.” You’re falling into something.

September is a pivot point. Not the Pinterest kind. The real kind—where grief and growth live side by side. Where transitions aren’t motivational poster material. They’re complicated. Messy. Sacred.

Let’s talk about that.

The Weight of What’s Unspoken

Suicide Prevention Day (September 10)

You don’t need a crisis to feel like you’re drowning. High-functioning doesn’t mean high-coping. And silence? It’s never neutral. It’s heavy. Especially when you’re the one everyone leans on.

This month is a reminder that mental health isn’t about symptoms. It’s about connection. Belonging. Being able to say, “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up,” and have someone say, “You don’t have to.” It’s about hope.

If you’ve lost someone—or yourself in some way—this month might sting. Let it. Grief is memory’s way of holding on to what mattered. But you don’t have to carry it alone.

💡 Try this: Write a letter. To the one you lost. Or the version of yourself. No edits. No polish. Just honesty.

Accessibility Is Emotional, Too

International Day of Sign Languages (September 23)

Accessibility isn’t just about ramps and captions. It’s about emotional access—to care, to communication, to being understood.

Many of us learned to survive by reading the room before we learned to read. We adapted, translated, contorted ourselves. But fluency in code-switching is not the same as feeling safe.

This month, ask yourself: Where in my life do I still have to shout to be heard? Where do I silence myself because I think I’m “too much” or “not enough”?

Therapy isn’t just about speaking. It’s about being translated back into yourself.

The Equinox Doesn’t Care About Your Inbox

Autumnal Equinox (September 22)

Balance isn’t always peaceful. Sometimes it feels like being pulled in two directions and learning how to stand anyway.

Transitions, especially seasonal ones, have a way of stirring grief you didn’t know you were still carrying.

Summer endings, back-to-school shifts, calendar pressure, aging parents, growing kids—it’s a lot. Don’t gaslight yourself into calling it “just busy.”

💡 Gentle Reframe: You’re not “behind.” You’re in a seasonal shift. Productivity is not your compass—presence is.

Micro-Habits

National Make Your Bed Day (September 11)

No, we’re not about to glorify hospital corners.

But here’s the truth: when depression drags you under, small wins matter. Making your bed isn’t about discipline. It’s a vote for aliveness. For reclaiming one tiny patch of your day as yours.

Routines don’t have to be rigid to be regulating. They just have to hold you, not control you.

💡 Try This: Pick one thing you can do each morning that doesn’t require willpower. Water a plant. Open a curtain. Pet your dog. Maybe make your bed. Let that be enough.

Books, Letters, and Inner Conversations

Read a Book Day / World Letter Writing Day (September 6–7)

Therapy doesn’t always start with talking. Sometimes, it starts with reading. Or writing. Or re-reading the same paragraph five times until something softens.

Bibliotherapy is real. So is writing a letter to your inner child, your future self, or the one who needed an apology and never got it.

These are acts of repair. You don’t have to believe every word yet. Just begin the conversation.

💡 Prompt: “Dear Me—the one who I try to forget…”

The Neighbors You Forgot You Needed

National Neighbor Day (September 28)

Not every connection has to be soul-deep. Sometimes healing begins with a wave across the yard, a borrowed egg, or a shared dog walk.

We weren’t built for isolation. Especially not the high-functioning kind that looks like “having it all together.”

💡 Reminder: Let someone bring you soup. Or awkwardly check on you. Don’t wave them off. Receive it. And when the opportunity arises, give it a chance.

Permission to Ask the “Stupid” Question

Ask a Stupid Question Day (September 28)

If you’ve ever felt ashamed for not knowing something—or been praised for being “so insightful” just because you finally asked the obvious—you’re not alone.

In therapy, there are no stupid questions. There are only shame scripts you haven’t dismantled yet.

💡 Question to Consider: “What if I’m not broken, just misunderstood?”

When Grief Wears Fur

Pet Memorial Day

Grief for animals is still grief. Period. And if your heartbreak still stings, even years later—good. That’s proof of a bond that mattered.

You don’t have to “move on.” You get to move with it.

💡 Ritual: Light a candle. Say their name. Let yourself cry. Then go outside and notice something still here.

September’s Not Asking You to Start Over

It’s just inviting you to shift—from output to observation, from pressure to permission, from survival to something slightly softer.

You don’t have to fix yourself.

You get to witness yourself.

You get to grieve and grow and rest without proving your progress.

Need support with seasonal shifts, grief, or emotional overload?

📩 Reach out to schedule a session

We work with women who feel too much and not enough—often at the exact same time.