The Elements & The Seasons
“Each day is a journey. We come out of the night into the day. All creativity awakens at this primal threshold where light and darkness test and bless each other. You only discover balance in your life when you learn to trust this ancient rhythm. The year is also a journey with the same rhythm. The Celtic people had a deep sense of the circular nature of our journey. We come out of the darkness of winter into the possibility and effervescence of springtime.” - John O’Donahue, Anam Cara
We know the cycles of time very well - they are the very measure of our existence and they keep our pace and cadence in life.
Living in harmony with its cycles, brings us closer to nature and to our Selves.
While the entirety of our life is characterized by a birth, a maturing, and a dissolution, throughout a lifetime we experience smaller cycles of each: When starting something new - beginning a new job, relationship, or hobby. Followed by the phase of productivity, tending to, sustaining. And ultimately again, the dissolution of our endeavors. Even if the career, relationship, or hobby carries on, it evolves into a new form in such a way that it is unrecognizable from what it was at the start. All things transform. But, if the thing we gave ourselves to, does happen to dissolve, we can grant ourselves closure with an appreciation for the experience and embrace the promise of what is next. Each stage of a cycle holds purpose and meaning. It contributes to the larger cycle of our lifetime as a whole. Awareness and reverence for each period of time, enables us to continuously create through an honoring of our own nature and the flow of time.
Even our sense of self is constantly in flux. This is our human nature. We are moved and molded by our life experiences, our thoughts, and our actions. We create an identity for ourselves, nourish it, and then let it go to make space for a new way of being. Transformation is predicated upon a cyclical movement. We are constantly evolving and coming into a new version of ourselves. As Hericlitus states: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man. Everything about who we are is in constant change”.
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Time is ever changing and characterized by cycles, as are we. But we also share other attributes with the essence of time.
Both the nature of time and the nature of our human form are composed of the five elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether.
When we can keep our body and minds in rhythm with the nature of time, we maintain health and wellness while simultaneously supporting our spiritual evolution - simply by being present and in tune with nature.
Every year, we witness the cycles of the seasons and how they are characterized by the qualities of nature’s elements.
Spring emerges from winter’s darkness and with a great thawing of ice, it generates flowing waters and sets the stage for a rebirth. Spring brings with it a heaviness, this wet and muddy season is the epitome of Earth and Water.
The year moves into the heat of summer, a peak of productivity and growth.
Summer’s sun is hot and intense as Fire personified.
And in the final transition into Fall and Winter, we witness the activity of wind and shorter days that encourage changing, falling leaves and eventually, dissolution.
The seasons are cold, dry, and windy - Air and Ether’s cool subtleness can be felt in our bones and seen through our breath.
The cycle of our days and lifetime also follow a similar rhythm with the elements as:
Earth & Water : A beginning, setting the foundation and structure
Fire : A middle, heat of productivity and energy
Air & Ether: An end, closure, reflection, connection
Cycle of the Day
The day begins with a re-awakening to our life at dawn, sun rising from the east. Our days begin with a setting of foundations through routines and intention setting start off on the right foot. Meditations, movement, or time to pause before we enter into the day.
Both sun-light and our productivity peak mid-day, this is our time to be productive, to engage in physical, intellectual, or analytical work.
The day dissolves at dusk for us to rest our bodies and minds, only to begin the cycle again with a renewed vitality.
Our days come to a close with a tying up of projects and a preparation for rest - our time to turn our minds off and surrender to rejuvenate the body.
Cycle of the Seasons
The cycle of our year begins with spring’s renewal and a new feeling of vitality and creativity. Our summer months are active, playful, and social.
Our falls and winters present the opportunity to retreat within ourselves and to spend more time within the places we dwell. A time to recover from summer’s intensity by slowing down. The rest granted in the fall and winter months makes way for a renewal in spring. There cannot be a rebirth without a preceding closure, death or decay of some sort.
Lifetime
I don’t believe that the cycles of our lives don’t often receive the appreciation they deserve. Youth is coveted and old age is viewed as a failure of sorts. In truth, just like all cycles, our life cycle is to be celebrated at every stage. Childhood innocence is magical. Our middle-age years of evolving in our work and in sense of self gives way to empowerment and maturity. End of life brings reflection, a closer spiritual connection, and teaches us true joy, acceptance and release.
During our early years our life is much like the qualities of earth - we are setting the foundations for growth through our primary focus of learning, developing ourselves, planting seeds. We are imbued with the freedom to explore and create without having to commit so seriously to life. We learn through play. Our eyes are filled with wonder and awe of the world as we take it all in, for the first time.
Our productive work years are marked by a fiery drive and ambition to act in this world, to make our mark. We produce projects and we reproduce life.
As we transition toward the end of our life into a more etheric nature, we are presented with a beautiful opportunity to connect to ourselves even more so on a spiritual level, to release the egoic demands of proving ourselves, to reflect upon the magic of the journey and relish in the memories we’ve created and those whom we’ve been so lucky to have connected with. We also get to delve into our creativity beyond the confines of a particular career. Work and play become newly defined and hold greater meaning and purpose.
As with all cycles, life returns to begin the process all over again.
All of it, a metaphor for our own patterns of rebirth, productivity, and dissolution found within every aspect of our life. We begin a new project, career, or relationship and see it through its course of evolution and dissolution. With each beginning, and ending and with each ending, a new possibility is made space for. Nature reminds us that change in life is normal and natural, that it is part of our path. When we let ourselves grow and adapt to both the changes within ourselves and outside of ourselves, we are able to live harmoniously. Oftentimes we resist change and in doing so, we create a layer of suffering that is unnecessary for us. Change teaches us to surrender, over and over again.
Beyond the framework of time of life, day, and year, we also experience cycles of rebirth, growth, dissolution, and endings - continuously. We grieve many things that come to pass during the course of our life and celebrate new beginnings. It’s nice to be reminded as Muir does, so eloquently, that all starts and stops, creating and dying is part of the divine order, the rhythm and nature of life.
Recognizing the cyclical quality of nature, we learn how to embrace and accept the natural rhythms of time within our own existence as all part of the grand ordering of life. Not as something to work against, but to work with so that we can co-exist harmoniously with the forces of life that are beyond our control.
Our willingness to adjust our routines through each cycle will dictate whether we meet life in resistance or in fluidity. This also pertains to shifting our perspective so that we mature and evolve along our path of imminent change. This is how we live in harmony. And, also how we live in freedom as we surrender to life’s flow.
Time is the framework in which we live. It is the measure of our incarnation, our human life. So, understanding how to live in balance with time is necessary for living well in body, mind, and spirit. Honoring each phase of the cycles within our lives, the year, the day increases our insight, awareness, and well being.
If we recall the goal of Ayurveda being to live in harmony with nature, then to do so is to live in sync with the cyclical nature of time.
