Cycles = Medicine

I started anti-depressants and became the president of my elementary school in the same month- at age twelve. 

As president and homecoming queen of my junior high school I started taking downers, like Xanax, to quell social anxiety and the pressure of maintaining the 4.2 GPA that confirmed I was ‘successful.’

Again, as both president & homecoming queen of my high school I grew quite fond of uppers like adderall that allowed me to easefully stay up writing papers after an evening full of sports & school clubs. 

Raised by an insomniac night owl, I lived by my own clock - no one was going to tell me when to go to bed. I wrote nearly all of my university papers between 8pm-5am, maintaining a 3.9 average. I only signed up for classes that started after noon. 

Despite being viewed as a high performing, top-o’-the class type, I was highly depressed, anxious and plagued by disordered eating and obsessive exercise most of my life. 

I was raised in the land of pharmaceutical success, Orange County. Despite (because of?) both my parents’ Ph.D’s - they never told me that the balance of my physical body might be more important than being valedictorian or the the size of my jeans. 

The gym is a lonely place to be at midnight. Yet there I was, rain or shine, June or January.

Cycles Create Our Reality

The dance of light and dark caused by the angles of our spinning, tilting planet as we fly through space create the layers of cycles that shape life on earth. We are one of an endless number of planets in endless galaxies floating through space, therefore, we are swimming in an infinity of cycles. But the  most commonly known cycles we experience are days, months, seasons and years. 

Due to the rotation of the earth as she flies through space, circling the sun, our 24 hour day has a sacred arc. Ideally, we wake up slowly, get energized, build to a peak of creativity, focus and productivity, slow down, (attempt to) relax and finally give in to sleep, the daily death, in order to be reborn in the morning.

In the same way, the 27.5 day cycle of the moon around the earth dictates the monthly tide of our physical blood and the ebb and flow of our emotional peaks and valleys. We call this a month.

The giant revolution of Gaia orbiting the central locus of our galaxy also generates different weather and energetic patterns throughout the year. We call these seasons. 

It takes our planet 360 days to make a complete circle around the sun, starting again its spiral journey past the 12 major constellations of our galaxy. We call this a year. 

As I continue heal from the trance of a speed addicted culture that can wreak havoc on our mental health, I become more and more aware of the organic cycles of my home planet. The more aware I become, the more they pull me into their tide. 

The longer I’ve attuned to rising with the sun and sleeping by the moon, minimizing caffeine, sugar and prescription drugs that drive my brain chemistry from its natural state, practicing cleansing movement like yoga and hiking, eating local, organic food, actually listening to my emotions and spending more time in nature or even just noticing the unstoppable way nature flourishes even in my urban home, the more that the seasons have spoken both to me and through me in their own unique favor and language. 

Fight the Current or Ride the Wave?

Electricity was invented in 1837. 

Soon after the depression rate climbed. 

While it’s been persuasively argued that electro magnetic frequencies are responsible, it’s clear that when humans stray from the organic light cycle, our mental and physical health suffer (see scientific research studies in The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life by Arthur Firstenberg).

We've discovered we can override a certain amount of the impact of darkness with electric lights, caffeine, sugar, adrenaline, media and habituated thought patterns that associate success with being busy.  

Yet, the pull of these planetary cycles is strong. Research studies shows that shell fish removed far from the Ocean still pulse to the tides despite being nowhere near them. 

Despite the fact that our culture doesn’t offer women the grace of a monthly rest around her mooncycle, the same cycle that creates life, ask any woman if the moon impacts her mood, her energy, her health, her sex drive. Even men have a hormonal cycle tied to the moon’s monthly pulse. We are as paired with the moon as shellfish. 

The cycles of our moon, our planet and our galaxy are not separate from us- they dictate our inner and outer lives in profound and mysterious ways. We can be unconscious of these cycles, tossed around in the surf and fighting the current, or, we can learn to ride the wave.

Embodying the Change

Like my ancestors before me, not only do I optimally cut back on working out & long meditation sessions in winter while upping my dose of quality time with close friends and family, reading books, drinking tea, crafting, reflecting on my last year and planning my next year cycle, but I also cut back on work. 

As a small business owner I have the hard earned privilege of purposefully scaling back my schedule (and yes, sometimes, my income). I take a temporary loss for a long term gain in order to embody my value of standing with the Earth and listening to her ancient wisdom through my own energy cycles, trusting that I’ll come back stronger with more creativity and drive when the time is right.

Clearly that’s a privilege and not everyone has the power to do that. If you are a parent or employee, you have responsibilities that don’t hibernate or diminish for your moon cycle. And yet, changing the culture at large starts with our individual choices. When we create healthy boundaries around our self care, sacred rest and monthly and seasonal hormonal shifts, we send a message to our family and colleagues that rest, connection and reflection is valuable. 

It’s not a pill that’s always easy to swallow as it often requires going against the flow of a patriarchal culture’s definition of ‘success’ but how else is change made?

Climate Savior Complex

Our drive to ‘save the earth’ can be patronizing. 

My disordered college years were spent organizing for the environment while denying my own body of her nourishment in the form of sleep, healthy food and positive thoughts.

Our Planet, sometimes known as the great goddess of wisdom, Gaia, is the eternal shapeshifter. She will long outlast all of us no matter what we do to make her body more or less habitable.

She doesn’t need to be saved. We do. 

Our planet is the epitome of balance, the embodiment of the sacred yin/yang. Day and night, winter and summer, high and low tides - divinely and mysteriously orchestrated harmony.

“If the history of life on Earth were put to a 24‑hour clock, humans would have been here shaping the world for mere seconds. As latecomers, it’s time to begin asking the rest of our complex planetary family how to build a more resilient, regenerative, and beautiful world.” - Asknature.com 

Can we reframe the “savior” discourse around climate justice and instead turn towards our planet for answers of how we can return to balance? 

Deep in climate emergency, we’re faced with the possibility of our children not being able to breath outdoors. By 2050 half the planet will no longer have access to clean drinking water.

The extent to which we are willing to bravely interact with the larger cycles around us versus denying or ignoring their influence is the extent to which we can individually achieve health and balance and the extent to which humans may survive on this planet. 

The Dalai Lama’s Sugar Addiction

A woman took her son to see the Dalai Lama, asking for guidance about his sugar addiction. The Dalai Lama said, “I can’t help you now. Come back in three weeks.”

When the mother and son returned three weeks later, he said, “Son, sugar is addictive and bad for your health and mindset. I recommend staying away”

The woman was pleased but confused, asking “Why did it take you so long to say this simple thing?.”

He replied, “When you first came to me, I had not stopped eating sugar myself.”

Can we listen to the harmony of nature inside of us? 

Instead of substituting electrical and chemical stimulation, can we, as individuals and communities, explore a lifestyle of surrendering to the organic daily, monthly and yearly fluctuations of light?

It’s easy to get discouraged about the amount of plastic in the ocean. And yet, beginning the process of ‘saving the earth’ may be as simple as this… 

When your body, your mind or your heart is tired… rest.

Women, Join Us to Align to the Healing Medicine of Cycles

My entire adult life has been an experimental healing journey- I’ve tried it all. So I can say with confidence that one of the most potent medicines I’ve ever discovered for healing emotional trauma and resetting a frazzled nervous system is to gather in sacred space with soulful women to honor the cycles of the moon.

Join us for Earth Wisdom Moon Circles to nurture your heart and seed intentions for a balanced body-mind & globe.

We’d love to hear from you!

How have planetary cycles impacted your mental health positively or negatively? What techniques do you use to return to balance? Let us know below.