Living in sync with the seasons in Central America

I lived the first 37 years of my life in places that had four seasons. I loved it so much that I eventually transitioned into living intentionally with each season. Then I learned about women’s inner seasons and started tracking those as well. Living in this way guided me, building my confidence in the winter as it gave me permission to go inward and allow my system to be depressed. Then the spring would bring me back to life. I didn’t have to do anything, I was opened by the sun and the bright colors and rain. Now, I live in Guatemala where there are two seasons, the rainy season and the dry season. Feeling lost in my first six months, I am gradually finding my flow and surrendering to the seasons.

I always flowed with the seasons I just didn’t realize it. We all do. I had patterns of depression in the winter, feelings of inspiration during the spring, excitement of summer activities, and an autumn mourning of the long days of light. Then I heard David Deida talk about living in the feminine flow and surrendering to it. He said, when the wind blows, you blow. The wind is what touched me at that moment and I felt what he meant.

It was an autumn day and the leaves were falling from the trees. I felt my energy lowering as each day lost more light. I always noticed the slight sadness in the anticipation of the winter, the times when I struggled the most. But when I heard him talk about living in this flow with the seasons it gave me the permission I needed to be led. I am not hugely into David Deida’s teachings, but what I have received so deeply from his work is permission to be in my feminine. Permission to live freely in my wild, authentic heart.

I began to pay attention to these feelings that came with the seasons. In autumn, the trees go through the process of losing their leaves. The colors change, the days shorten, and we grieve. We begin to let go of our leaves as well. When we do that we give ourselves permission to let go of whatever is not serving us and to move forward in life. To gradually slow down, observe, and pull out the comfy blankets. A woman’s inner autumn is her luteal phase. Her body’s hormones begin to lower, if the egg does not fertilize then the lining prepares to let go, she feels a need to wrap things up, check off her to-do lists, and prepare to get quiet and rest.

Winter is the period of dormancy. Nature is in its dormancy stage, the trees show their bare bodies, their true beauty that lies hidden during the spring and summer months. The ponds and lakes freeze on the cold days, and the snow eliminates all sound. We are at the mercy of the weather patterns. So we hunker in, sit by the fireplace, reflect, process, and slow down. When I gained an awareness of these patterns I was given permission. The same went for my body, I was given permission to clear out my schedule for menstruation, to lie down and rest while my body released its lining. There was no pressure to do anything by accepting the truth of the season. I was living in sync with Mother Nature and it felt like a surrender rather than a punishment or shaming of the mind.

Then the spring would lift me back into life. I would watch it happen as I noticed my energy rise when I saw the tiny buds on the bushes and trees. I would watch the spring closely, noticing how much earlier it began when I paid attention. As I connected to this awareness I noticed my motivation return, feeling inspired to get out and hike or wake up early to watch the sunrise. I would feel excitement at the arrival of rain rather than impatience for the summer to come.

In a woman’s body, her spring is her follicular phase. The estrogen begins its rise as the uterus grows its new lining preparing for the egg. The body is lifted into action and motivation. We tend to feel a shift from the bleed to ready to begin again. For me, it is like my birth after death. Then the progesterone begins to rise to meet the estrogen as we move into our inner summer, the time of ovulation.

The inner summer brings us out to be more social and creative in this time because our bodies are wanting to create and produce a fetus. This evolutionary act moves us into our yang, open-hearted shining faces, feeling incredibly beautiful times of our cycles. The same is with the summer season with school being out, everyone is going on vacation, doing activities, feeling the sun, and socializing with friends and new people. We are moved into this with the long days of sun and heat. We are energized by the sky and the natural world that is full of life.

Living in sync with the seasons made me feel healthy as my body was held by the Earth and her flow. I could easily surrender and trust the feelings in my body, knowing how they would constantly change. But when I moved to Guatemala, I got lost.

I left Colorado at the beginning of September, so my body was expecting the fall. Instead, the summer continued. I came into a rainy season, but even in the rainy season, there are still warm sunny days. It was a prolonged summer. I watched my friends post pictures of the seasons as they changed into fall, winter, and spring. For me, it stayed summer.

When March came, I was warned by the locals that the summer was upon us. What! I didn’t know what to do with myself. I had been in a constant struggle of the mind in this tranquil lifestyle, desiring my winter permission to be a depressed fish. But there was only more heat.

With the rising heat, the leaves on many of the trees fell. Some trees went to seed, then fruit, and lost their leaves simultaneously. Some bushes changed color and kept their leaves. Fascinated and confused, I realized I was shifting into my winter.

The heat is so intense it slows everyone down. The locals advised me to get all of my stuff done early in the day and then take a nap, allowing myself to rest until the sun goes down. There is no fighting it. You just get through it by taking it easy. This is my winter. This is the permission that I needed. Everyone slows down.

We are still in the summer, but the rainy season is approaching. This will be my first full rainy season here, so there will be more to report after a year or two of exploring the seasonal flow. But for now, I am happy to be held in it again. To be in sync and to let go.

I have come to the realization that it is not the cold that makes the winter, it is the process of the natural world. It is the feeling and the flow. I am humbled by the seasons and processes here, which brings me deeper into surrender. What do I need to learn? How much more can I let go and allow myself to be held and carried by the Mother? These are the questions that guide me into a deeper understanding of myself and of my relationship to the feminine flow that is life.