Let’s Talk About Seasonality

You’re feeling stuck. Maybe you’re recovering from an injury, and you’re not able to move the way you used to. Maybe you’re so busy at work that you feel like there is no time for anything else. Maybe you just had a baby, and you’re exhausted and unhappy with the changes to your body. Maybe you’re just tired.

If you’re feeling low right now, remember that this is a season of your life. Soon, work will slow down, or the baby will get older, or the injury will heal, and you’ll move into a different season. That’s how it works. I hear too many women talk to themselves as if what is going on right now is permanent: “I never have time to work out.” “I’m exhausted all the time; I’m so lazy.” “I have no self-control.”

Instead, let’s try to meet our bodies where they are. Yes, maybe you really don’t have the time or energy to exercise right now. That’s okay! Maybe this is a season of easy, pre-prepared dinners. That’s okay too! Does it mean that you will never have a hard workout, or never cook for your family again? Of course not!

Sometimes, I have days or weeks where I feel motivated to sweat and get a hard workout in - and some days or weeks, my body is telling me to stick to yoga. Sometimes, I have a few days where I can’t get to the grocery store, and I’m eating packaged food every day, and sometimes I have just been to the farmer’s market (check out the gorgeous pic!) and can’t wait to make dinner with fresh produce.

Which brings me to my second point - respect the season of the year. In addition to accepting the season your mind and body are in right now, don’t forget to accept the season that the earth is in as well. Right now on the East Coast, we are in the heat of summertime. That means that I am SO EXCITED to cook with eggplant, zucchini, corn, and LOTS of fresh fruit. It also means that when I go to a restaurant, I’m much more likely to order something cooling, like a salad or cold soup, than I am to order pasta or meat. Our bodies are always searching for balance, and listening to them and giving them what they need on these hot days is important (yes, that includes plenty of water!).

Looking to start bringing more seasonality into your life? Here’s how!

1. Accept your season

Maybe you’re like me and you hate the cold, but it’s winter. Or you wish you had time to cook nice dinners, but you have that big work project going on right now. The first step of living in the season is to accept where you are. Take a moment to listen to your body without judgment. What do you need right now? Time, space, heat, rest? Give yourself grace. Recognize that this is not how things are forever, but it is how they are right now, and choose to live in that season.

2. Give your body what it needs

I’ll give an example. I went out to eat with my mom this week, and we sat outside at a restaurant known for its burgers and sandwiches. I was watching the big, hearty sandwiches come out to the people around us, smelling the French fries, and felt that inner dialogue starting up:

“I should get a sandwich. But that would be unhealthy. I should get something healthier, like a salad. But no, I make salads at home all the time, I should splurge since we’re eating out. But no, it’s a Wednesday, I shouldn’t splurge on a weekday…”

Anyone else struggle with the eating-out angst? At this point though, I know that I need to put that voice to the side. Instead, I focused on myself in the moment, feeling the heat of the sun on my back as we sat outside, asking my body what would feel good right now.

I ordered a gorgeous salad, and it was perfect.

The moral of this story is not to eat salads instead of burgers. I just want to say that it is easy to let our the voices in our heads make simple choices complicated, when instead, we can listen to our body and discover what we need for the season we’re in.

3. Celebrate change

Change is an essential part of seasonality. We already know that the seasons change every year, and many of us know that we move in and out of seasons in our lives as well. But sometimes, we still have a hard time accepting it. Instead of fighting change, we can choose to go with the flow, knowing that every season is temporary. And, we can bring celebration to those changes! Whether it’s a personal ritual like a new journal or a welcome-summer yoga practice, or a big event like a summer solstice party (I’d love to have one of these!), marking and celebrating the seasons with rituals helps us to close one chapter and open another, and reminds us to embrace the cycle and the season we’re in.

Now enjoy those summer fruits and veggies!