Are you ready to re-align with the changing seasons?

How in touch are you with the rhythms of nature and our planet? 

There is a wholeness to life where all parts make sense and there is a natural flow of universal energies. There are laws about rhythms and cycles, where whole complete circles (spirals) of energies are made to support us.

Yet we approach most of life's stimulus with the same unconscious, reactive, robotic or programmed responses. We think the world revolves around us. It is like golfing with one club only or cooking with one utensil only.

Getting in touch with nature's rhythms gives us a deeper connection to the earth's natural rotation around the sun. Every year at precise times the earth and sun find themselves in exactly the same places, showing us the beautiful rhythm of the cosmos. When we forget how connected we are to this natural rhythm we stay self-centered, lose perspective and miss out of the serenity that comes with it.

"In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy" -- William Blake

The Equinox and Solstice mark the changing of the four seasons as the earth rotates around the sun. The Equinox occurs in the fall and spring and is when night and day are exactly the same length. The solstice occurs in the summer and winter, the summer solstice being the longest day of the year, and the winter solstice the shortest day.

In the northern hemisphere we are approaching the winter solstice - the shortest day of the year. The north pole hibernates in its 24 hours of darkness. To our readers in the southern hemisphere, who are now wrapped in the light of the summer solstice, please forgive the northern focus. Information on cycles applies equally to us all, just at different times.

How do you align your life with these 4 important seasonal events?

1. Spring Equinox - A time of renewal and 'spring cleaning' that removes any negative and slower energy accumulated over the dark winter months and prepares us for the positive growing energy of spring and summer. A time to spring forward, risk, and start new projects. It is a time of awakening and recommitting to life as spring brings in energy and warmth. It ushers in a time of awakening and recommitting to life. It is a celebration of being resurrected from the dead of winter and being born again.

"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each." -- Henry David Thoreau

2. Summer Solstice - Summer blesses us with light, expansion, fulfillment, holidays, growth and creativity. To honour summer's approach, you might greet the early morning with yoga sun salutations and celebrate the bright evenings by dancing around a bonfire.

"The summer solstice is a time for strength and vitality, for action and movement." -- Carole Carlton

3. Autumn Equinox - Fall marks the beginning of shorter days and longer nights. This is a time of harvest, community, celebration and thanksgiving. It is a time of completion, balance and realizing the abundance around us. As the sunlight retreats, we also retreat inside to rest, reflect on the past and future, and strengthen our spirits.

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." -- Albert Camus

4. Winter Solstice - Solstice derives from an ancient Latin word meaning 'stop,' or 'to stand still.' Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year and was a time of both anticipation and rejoicing at the Sun's rebirth. This is a time of rejuvenation, reflection and healing. A time of integration as our consciousness expands due to the lessons we have learned. A time of anticipation of the increasing light and new experiences of a new cycle.

"In a way winter is the real spring, the time when the inner things happen, the resurge of nature." -- Edna O'Brien

Take full advantage of the energies of the season by allowing time for stillness, solitude and reflection.

For winter Solstice answer these questions:

• What needs healing or completing?
• What lessons have you learned that you now own and can move beyond?
• When have you booked time for stillness, reflection and review?

"Four seasons fill the measure of the year. There are four seasons in the mind of men." -- John Keats