Spring Forward: Living with the Seasons
- M Hakikah Shamsideen
- Mar 26, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 3, 2025
"Arise! Look around you! Winter is over; the winter rains are over, gone!
Spring flowers are in blossom all over.
The whole world’s a choir—and singing!"
(Song of Solomon 2:11)
Since 2020 we have had a wake up call that our health is paramount. Without your health, what is there? For me, the unexpected transition in the last six months of four close friends really brought it home. There is a lot of talk these days about self care, rest, and having a soft life. The first step in achieving that is to make paying attention to yourself non-negotiable.
Now, Spring is here, the season many, including me, consider the real New Year!
Plant your vision seeds now for the harvest to come. For the rest of the year, I'll be exploring all the many ways we can rest, live, prioritize
our self-healing and begin the process of self-recovery.
"Healing is a deep return to the self."
What Is Seasonal Living?
Seasonal living is more than eating watermelon in the summertime and wearing your favorite sweater in the winter. It is the art of aligning with and embracing the cycles of nature, rather than resisting them.
Living in tune with the seasons is being connected to nature. It's acknowledging the seasonal changes in nature that help guide us to wholeness.
The result? Happiness, peace and joy, comes forth.
Intentionally plugging back into and recognizing these cycles and transitions into each season is called seasonal living. Everything in our world exists cyclically, with each phase giving way to the next in perfect harmony.
Honoring rhythms within and around us is something humans have done for centuries, but the noise of our modern world tends to distract us.
Seasonal Living: Then and Now
Our ancestors were far better at observing and honoring the rhythms of nature than we are today. Of course, they didn't have the distractions we have. They rose with the sun, ate locally--the original farm to table--and went to bed when the sun went down. We are so engrossed in our phones, tablets and and 100 inch Smart TVs that we have become disconnected from the earth.
One simple way to reconnect is eating seasonally. Any personal trainer, nutritionist or doctor will tell you, what you eat is, for better or worse, the foundation of your health.
if you're post 50 you know this. Those pounds that used to melt away won't budge. Suddenly the list of foods that "don't agree" with you is getting longer!
The Wisdom of Mother Nature
Just because you are not growing your own food, and relying solely on the sun for light, doesn’t mean we can’t find ways to embrace nature each and every day. Busy as you are, and regardless of where you live, you can still live according to nature's rhythms.
Taking a page from Mother Nature would do us all some good!
Following the cyclical changes in nature can help us do just that. Practice the wisdom of the seasons:
The energy of Spring is creative action, development, and planning
The energy of Summer is playing, rejoicing, and enjoying.
The energy of fall is gathering, focus, turning inward and letting go
The energy of winter is rest, reflection, and preparation.
Use this information to set your actions and intentions during that time.
Eating Seasonally
The most important way to bring nature into your life is through your food.
By eating foods that are in season you will be connecting with the earth, feeding your body richer nutrients, less pesticides, and adding much needed variety. Seasonal foods support the way you move: Fall and Winter foods are primarily root vegetables which warm and comfort you, and are idea for the slower days of winter. Nothing like a filling soup or casserole on a cold evening. During Spring and Summer, because of the warmer weather, we usually eat light-- primarily fruit and light vegetables, perfect for those seasons when we're more active. You'll also enjoy better quality and variety of produce.
Download (see below), print, and take this list of spring friendly foods with you to the grocery store or farmers market. If there's something on the list you don't usually eat, try it. Always "taste the rainbow." Make sure to choose fruits and veggies of all colors: orange, purple, green, yellow, red and blue. Each color provides a different essential nutrient. A colorful plate ensures you are getting good nutritional value.
Supporting your local farmers markets is a wonderful way to do this. You know everything will be in season (and often organic). You will also be giving some love to smaller farmers and businesses, which is powerful!
But even if you do all of your shopping at the supermarket, commit to buying mostly seasonal.
Did I mention your bank account will see an added difference too? That's a welcome bonus.
To live seasonally is the ultimate tool for experiencing a 360 degree, whole life evolution.
When we resist the natural rhythms of life, either consciously or subconsciously, we create dis-ease and disharmony on all levels of our being – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. We may feel lost, frustrated, joyless, hopeless.
Neither the Earth or humans are meant to sustain 365 days of any one season. All living things require phases of conscious contraction and expansion, rest and activity, purging and building.
In a time when we’re all constantly seeking something and bombarded with information (and misinformation), it’s imperative to remember your own innate wisdom and to turn to it daily.
'In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto' author Michael Pollan advises readers to "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." He says that we should make healthy food more of a priority, even if it means spending more time and money, or get used to chronic disease.
I'll add, resolve to rest and reap the benefits. Even the smallest changes will create significant shifts in your health.
The practice of seasonal living contains the medicine you need to live ageless and live well. This is what it means to pay attention to yourself. Now is always the time to plant your seeds--spiritually, mentally, physically--for the future you desire
Have questions about seasonal living and living with intention? Practice any seasonal celebrations or rituals that you’d like to share? Contact me and leave a comment.
Don't let anything, or anyone, steal your joy!
Love, Hakikah
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