The autumn equinox is the perfect time to recalibrate our inner and outer lives. On this special day, the hours of sunlight and moonlight are equal.

Depending on how this affects you personally, it could be the perfect time to do some culling of emotional baggage and let fall the dead relationships that are holding you back. For others, it's a time to reap all of that we've sown in the spring.

Here's how you can take advantage of this season of gratitude and abundance:

Find Balance

As daylight shifts into shorter hours, prepare your body and mind for the shifting energy by meditating and going to sleep a little earlier.

Get all the rest you need and remember to practice the art of letting go. This is also the perfect time to declutter your home and office.

Have A Potluck

It's harvest time! Share in the bounty of the summer's growth by preparing a delicious spread of baked root vegetables, creamy cheeses, roasted nuts and hearty stews. Invite your friends over and ask them to bring their favorite dish!

Pick Some Apples

Is there anything sweeter than a crisp apple picked fresh off the tree? Take in the crisp cool air and bright sunny days as you quietly stroll through the orchard.

Take a moment to breath it all in and daydream about the delicious apple pies you'll bake for Thanksgiving!

There are so many things to love about autumn, from the multi-colored leaves, to the crisp air and the warm apple cider.

Autumn is also a season of welcome emotional release. Spiritually and emotionally, this new season helps us to let the old patterns and beliefs fall away as we prepare to do the soul-healing work of winter's hibernation

Here are a few more ways to celebrate nature's bounty and the beginning of a new cycle.

Count Your Blessings

Autumn is the time between the bright, vibrant summer and the long, sleepy winter. It's a time of reflection and release.

Take advantage of those rainy days to count the fallen leaves and all of the beautiful things you have to be grateful for going into the end of one season and the beginning of another.

Honor The Darkness

Rather than feel sad about the fading daylight hours, learn to embrace the time nature gives us to restore ourselves. Like the bear that enters into hibernation, take this opportunity to nurture your inner hibernator with a cozy evening stroll.

Get Back To Nature

It might be cool outside, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself! Toss on another layer and strap on your running shoes.

Autumn is nature's final, spectacular splash of color before we descend int the white winter landscape. Soak in the fresh air and the smell of falling leaves as you take in the sights on a forest hike!

Tell Stories

Many cultures celebrate autumn with friends and relatives. This season is one of gathering the family close together before the cold winter kept them away for months at a time.

One of the best customs at traditional family gatherings was story telling. An older relative would gather the family around to tell stories about the cycles of death and rebirth.

If you have little ones, take advantage of the cooler weather to snuggle them close - then make up a few fantastic stories of your own!

Raise Some Energy

Some people who celebrate the change of seasons notice a kind of different "energy" that comes along with the transition.

If you feel like raising the vibration and bursting into some positive autumn energy, join a local drum circle, or start your own. Begin with a slow regular rhythm and then gradually increase the tempo until you can feel that positive energy rushing over you in waves.

Celebrate Hearth & Home

Now that you've cleared your own energy, why not shake off the dust in your living space too? Autumn is the time we transform our homes from breezy summer living to a cozy cold-weather abode.

Clean your home from top to bottom and then light some sage. Follow a simple smudging ritual to breathe new, positive energy into your home.

Drink Wine

If you're lucky enough to live near vineyards, you know that autumn is also grape season! The fall equinox is a popular time to celebrate wine making and the harvest of the grape.

Take a winery tour, sample some new varieties or make your own!

[h/t ThoughtCo.]