No matter the differences in our religious and spiritual belief systems, there’s one thing we all have in common. We are all human. And as human beings we are made of spirit and body, both of which were designed to work perfectly and in alignment with the world we live upon.

The vast amount of people suffering from varying imbalances is startling. Mental, physical, and spiritual well-being has been shaped, molded and recreated altogether and shoved into a little box called success and achievements. That box holds all you need to be happy, they’ve said. And we’ve bought the lie. Until we can’t anymore. Until our body begins speaking loudly to us and we can’t seemingly handle anything. Then, almost as if forced, our eyes are opened. And just like that we’re “awake.” We realize that we desperately need something has to change. Something “new.” What we need though isn’t new at all. In actuality it’s very, very old.

We need to go back to the “Old Ways” and live by the seasons. Some of our bodies are demanding it.

Old cultures didn’t need a name for this. They just did it. Christian & Pagan alike – human.

SPRING – SUMMER – FALL – WINTER each with their own purpose.

It seems like it should be common sense, but I assure you it isn’t. Even for someone like me who was a very spiritual child. I too was a product of the world and its stories. Where I lived in southeast Texas, we joked that we had two seasons back then. Hot and hotter. That’s not totally true but it felt like it some years. We can totally live seasonally in a place like that. We just might have to slow down and pay a little closer attention, because in those regions the seasonal shifts are sometimes very subtle.

It wasn’t until I was in my early thirties that my spirit would start getting loud about what it needed. It was crying out to live where there were all 4 Seasons visibly. I personally needed a new environment. One where I could begin my personal healing. I wanted to see the seasons change through the trees. Where we lived in Texas we were surrounded by beautiful evergreens that could survive in high heat. They stayed beautifully green all year. I love evergreens, however I wanted to witness trees that changed with the seasons too. Not everyone needs to do this, but for me at that point in my life it was almost non-negotiable for my health and healing.

With everything at our fingertips, the seasons and all they are trying to do for us is a mere suggestion, one many of us ignore. We push our bodies past dark and our minds past exhaustion. Winter is no longer a time of rest and Spring is no longer a time of cleansing the body. Spring is a gift, a time of cleansing, a clearing out and rebirth of the body, mind & spirit after a long restful, sometimes stagnant winter season. We burn ourselves at both ends and then wonder why we have nothing left. That is not how it’s supposed to be.

My First introduction to seasonal living was through Ayurveda, a 3,000 year old Indian holistic medicine belief system. Researching it was eye opening. Little by little I began to pay attention and to try to bring in more seasonal foods. As it always does, life happened, a new pregnancy came and so did a cross country move during the pandemic in my third trimester. In came survival mode and out went the dream of “eating seasonally.”

I now know that this belief wasn’t limited to Ayurveda. Instead, it was how all of our ancestors once lived.

Religions such as Catholicism follow a seasonal calendar called, “The Liturgical Year.” It is a cyclical calendar with markers and celebrations that change with the seasons. It is not food based, but it does serve a similar purpose. As Catholics walk through the life of Jesus through the year, each part represents a season. A season of change. It is cyclical. Science has proven that being active with the changing of seasons can reduce depression and seasonal anxiety. It teaches us that no matter what season we’re in, it too will end. Nothing here on earth is forever and nothing is hopeless. Change is always possible and always right around the corner.

Druidism and Wicca both embrace The Wheel of the Year, a seasonal marker to guide one through life, repeating each year. It features eight seasonal festivals celebrating natures rhythms It is heavily focused on the cycle of nature. It is also heavily focused on ancient Celtic and Germanic traditions. It focuses on the agricultural cycle during the year, as well as the cycle of life, death, and rebirth of the earth and humans. This can be looked at in a merely physical way or it can be seen and used psychologically in a spiritual way. We too go through seasons of growth and new life. We go through the death of relationships, death of old versions of ourselves and rebirth. We become a “new” person after changing from the proverbial “death” we experienced. Each one of these markers serve a reminder that we too are changing right alongside the earth and all that dwell on her with us.

No matter what your belief system, you too can implement this starting today. You don’t need a religion or a Wheel of the Year to live cyclically. All we need to do is slow down and start paying attention. We need to get outside and look around us. With search engines at our finger tips, it’s super easy to look up which foods are in season and start eating more of those. The saying “progress over perfection” comes to mind here. This isn’t a race and it isn’t a challenge. How lovely. It’s peaceful. In my opinion, it’s just what our overrun central nervous systems needs. There is no list of how to’s. It is merely us coming home to the way our Creator made us.