Understanding Seasons and Cycles to change your life
Welcome to Wisdom Keepers Musings,
A place for you to reclaim lost feminine knowledge and to regain your position as the expert in you.
I’m Nikki and I will be your guide through your journey of reclamation. Whether you choose to attend one of my courses or have some 1-2-1 support by me, or just hang out here in my musing space, you will unlock innate wisdom and slowly reclaim your sovereignty.
In this first musing I am going to share my thoughts on seasons & cycles and cyclical living, which are the foundations of my work. Let’s get started.
First of all, what do I mean by a cyclical life?
Cyclical living is about living in true alignment to the cycles around us. Most of us do this without even realising - living in alignment with our circadian rhythm is cyclical living. All humans are cyclical - the circadian rhythm influences when we are awake and when we want to go to sleep - when we honour this we are living cyclically.
Living in alignment with the seasons of the earth is cyclical living. But the world we live in hasn’t been designed to honour the seasons and so for many (my former self included) we spend a tremendous amount of our time & energy pushing against an invisible force that we cannot explain. We have been taught to keep pushing on, to keep showing up the same day after day, month after month, season after season with the same energy & attitude. Resilience and Discipline I think is what they call it. Even if it means risking physical, emotional and mental burnout. But when we drop into ourselves and into what is happening in nature around us we access a new way of living and feel all of its benefits. Now I invite you to spend a moment thinking about how you feel in peak summer…..and now compare that to how you feel in the depths of winter. Do you have the same energy levels? The same desire to be outside? The same urge to be socialising into the evening? I know I certainly don’t. Winter is the season of rest and rejuvenation - it doesn’t mean to resign from your job and hibernate like a bear. What it means is to live a slower pace, embracing being home & in bed more, eating warming foods, watching tv or reading books, reflecting on the last year & thinking about the next year. I always say Mother Nature is our biggest teacher and we should copy what she is doing.
This is easier for those living on lands with defined seasons but what about those who are reading this that live in a year-round tropical climate, who do not have the seasons to follow. How can you protect your energy at certain times of the year? How can you live in a more cyclical way?
Ok, and for females, we have another cycle that impacts us. That is the menstrual cycle. Our menstrual cycle has a significant influence on all areas of our being including how we are physically and emotionally feeling, our appetite, our sleep, the way we move, our resilience to stress, our capacity to support others, our creativity, our focus & concentration, our communication skills and so on. And that invisible force that we find ourselves pushing against in autumn and winter? You guessed it, there is another one that we push against if we are not living in alignment with the ebb and flow of our menstrual cycle. But when we do, we can receive many physical, emotional and mental benefits such as;
Pre Menstrual Symptoms (PMS) can reduce
Our mood is more stable
Period pain can reduce
Heavy periods can reduce
Bloating can reduce
We feel more rested and less tired
We feel nourished
Our skin can improve
If you have been struggling with any of the above and would like to actively find a way to begin your healing, you might be wondering where to begin. I am here to help.
You can start by developing a daily practice of tracking your cycle. When you consciously track your cycle, you begin to understand how you experience your unique menstrual cycle. You start to recognise your needs across your cycle and from there bring in different rituals, tools & resources to support yourself. For example, I try to do as little movement as possible on days 1-3 of my cycle. I won’t hang around at the school gate chatting. If I have to walk my dog, I sit mostly on a bench or tree stump while he runs around. And when it comes to planning for the near future i.e. social events, you can easily predict when you will feel sociable and when you will want to be alone. I am writing a post about deeper cycle tracking - subscribe to my newsletter to see when new musings drop.
Here are some other cycles that influence us;
Month
A year - 365 days - following the Gregorian Calendar (that new-year new-me vibe)
Moon Cycle
Pregnancy - this isn’t a cycle that starts over again as the same, it spirals and evolves
Female Life Cycle
Projects are cyclical
Within cycles, there are seasons
Seasons and their energetic qualities
Winter - slow, low energy, peaceful, alone-time, inward/reflective energy
Spring - energy rising, outward turning energy, inviting in fun & playfulness.
Summer - peak outward energy, inviting in long days & late nights, socialising
Autumn - energy waning, inward turning energy, inviting in alone time, reflection
Above are some example energetic qualities associated with the four seasons - depending on where you are in the world you may experience them differently. I am in England, UK and the they are my experiences. When we think about those qualities, we can apply them to cycles. Let me take you through some examples.
Circadian rhythm
You will see on the below image the hours of the day displayed like a clock along with the seasons layered over the top. Now take a moment to review the energetic qualities aligned with each season and how they match with a 24hour period.
Winter - 12am
slow, low energy, peaceful, alone-time, inward/reflective energy
Spring - 6am
energy rising, outward turning energy, inviting in fun & playfulness.
Summer - 12pm
peak outward energy, inviting in long days & late nights, socialising
Autumn - 6pm
energy waning, inward turning energy, inviting in alone time, reflection
Pregnancy
Spring - 1st trimester
energy rising, outward turning energy, inviting in fun & playfulness.
Summer - 2nd trimester
peak outward energy, inviting in long days & late nights, socialising
Autumn - 3rd trimester
energy waning, inward turning energy, inviting in alone time, reflection
Winter - 4th trimester (after birth)
slow, low energy, peaceful, alone-time, inward/reflective energy
Moon Cycle
Winter - Dark/New Moon
slow, low energy, peaceful, alone-time, inward/reflective energy
Spring - Waxing Moon
energy rising, outward turning energy, inviting in fun & playfulness.
Summer - Full Moon
peak outward energy, inviting in long days & late nights, socialising
Autumn - Waning Moon
energy waning, inward turning energy, inviting in alone time, reflection
Menstrual Cycle
Winter - A day or two before you bleed and during your bleed (Period)
slow, low energy, peaceful, alone-time, inward/reflective energy
Spring - Leading to Ovulation
energy rising, outward turning energy, inviting in fun & playfulness.
Summer - Ovulation
peak outward energy, inviting in long days & late nights, socialising
Autumn - After Ovulation
energy waning, inward turning energy, inviting in alone time, reflection
The sun & summer has been glorified - we no longer embrace and respect the need for winter.
Seasons - Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring…and so on. Over and over we move through four seasons.
You can use this framework to apply to other cycles such as a project or piece of homework. There will be the Winter - planning phase. Spring - get ideas on paper phase. Summer - all systems-go bringing it to life phase. And then the Autumn harvesting and reflective phase.
This is an area I love to explore and sink into. I am by no means a master of cyclical living, but I am really enjoying exploring and embodying what I am learning (and reclaiming).
I would love to hear what you think of cyclical living.