Time As Nature Intended

I used to try and go at the same pace all year round.

I was the queen of planning. Literally! By my late 20’s I was financial planning manager for a FTSE company. My life revolved around monthly and annual budget cycles.

I took it in to my own life – a 40 things to do before I’m 40 list, my own 5 year plan, colour coded online calendars🤦🏻‍♀️All hangovers from the 1980’s Working Girl influences of my formative years.

Sound familiar?

But, how to ditch the planning and still get stuff done?🤔

Gardening has been my biggest teacher. Seeds are sown at certain times of the year, there’s a vigorous growth period, there’s a letting go time, and there’s a rest time.

It took me a number of years to embrace (remember?!) this rhythm in my everyday life; reverting to old school diaries and even ditching planning completely along the way!

I had to re-build my relationship to time.

I needed to embrace the seasonal energy, to trust that I could still get stuff done and to develop some simple structures to support me in this.

The wheel of the year. 

We have marked the turning of the wheel of the year since the start of time. 

We’re aware of the seasons of the year and can associate an energy with each. Spring for planting, summer a time of intense growth, autumn for harvesting, and winter for rest. 

In the Celtic lands of Britain and Ireland, seasonal festivals marked the ever-turning wheel of the year. The four main festivals (winter solstice, spring equinox, summer solstice and autumn equinox) plus four cross-quarter festivals in-between, making eight in total.

I have this lovely pictorial representation of the wheel of the year on my office wall. Clients see it in the background on Zoom sessions. It even comes off and frequently gets used as a teaching prop!

You can find out more about the wheel of the year and the seasonal celebrations in Danu Forest’s wonderful book, The Magical Year.

I ’create’ my year in mid-January; sifting the dreams and ideas that have arisen during the winter rest period, choosing what to ‘plant’ from early February onwards. Then I review according to the seasonal energy – see summer solstice blog here.

Lunar cycles

Over time, I started gardening with the moon, following the biodynamic planting calendar. I noticed that plants grew more vigorously and were less susceptible to disease when I did so. What if I could do this with my life too?🤔

The run up to the full moon is a time of expansive energy and heightened activity, The days before the new moon, a time of contraction, of going inner. The new moon itself is a potent time to set new intentions.

Yasmin Boland’s book, Moonology explains in detail the phases within the cycle of each moon. For example, at the time of writing, it’s about 11 days after a full moon, which I now know is the Balsamic phase. Balsam as in soothing. It’s a time to soften and surrender. 

It’s also just after summer solstice which is a pause time cycle of the year. So I find myself at the height of the year, with ideas about what I most want to do for the remainder of the year with my precious energy, and at the same time surrendering; trusting that both clarity and ease for moving ahead will come with the new moon in a few days time.

So if you find yourself, 

• going at the same pace all year round

• feeling like you’re preprogrammed to behave this way

• experiencing heart sink when you read the words ‘time management’

How about synching up with nature instead? Operating in a way that allows for active time and for rest time.

Can it really be that simple, I hear you ask? Why not give it a try?

What one’s thing you could do to embrace nature’s cycles in your life?

Feel free to write in the comments and let me know. 

Let’s flourish together!

Arlene x