Cyclical Living - A Summary and a Connection to the 12 Seasonal Colour Palettes
When it comes to projects I love a list! Not any old list on a scrap on paper. It’s got to be a colour-coded one with strict timetables and unreasonable deadlines. Often I would not be in the right frame of mind for my cripplingly long to-do list. I’d be mentally tired or suddenly turn very negative about everything. Sometimes I’d have an overarching desire to just declutter the entire house or frantically create some space and a sense of calm. And it’s these moments when my latest project would be thrown out the window until I find more inspiration, gather some new ideas and start over again.
I became obsessed with searching Pinterest for the best productivity tips to overcome this unsatisfactory cycle. I am primarily an ideas person and a project planner but instead of searching why I was unable to complete most of my projects, I would start creating more planners and more overwhelming and unsustainable to do lists!
I then started to stumble across things like seasonal living, seasonal personalities (mine is spring by the way) and cyclical living all while learning about seasonal colour palettes and making lots of exciting connections between them all. Everything started to make a lot more sense.
Of course, I needed to cull a lot of my projects and try to focus on just one or two things at a time. But I also realised I needed to listen to my mind and body a lot more and plan things according to my own cycle.
Cyclical living means you listen to your body and the natural cyclical phases around us. You give yourself permission to rest when you need to (just like animals hibernate in the winter) and you try to plan your work and life around the inner seasons as much as you can to create a sustainable kind of productivity.
I’ve written this blog post to simplify and bring together all the things I’ve learnt so far on: seasonal colour palettes, cyclical living, seasonal living, planning, seasonal personality types and themes…
I’ve summarised everything I’ve learnt about cyclical living so far and how it can relate to the seasons.
✏️ Leave a comment and let me know if it was insightful in any way or if you have any other tips and ideas about it!
What is Cyclical Living?
Everything in nature seems to be based on a cycle and this is what I’ve found most fascinating about this concept. You can make connections with so many different elements of the natural world.
A cycle typically follows the same pattern:
a rest period which leads to a rise in energy;
a peak of energy;
and a decrease in energy levels in a preparation for another rest period
I believe that’s pretty much how you describe cyclical living in a nutshell. It’s all about energy levels which affect us physically, mentally and emotionally.
This concept applies to:
the four seasons of the year;
the lunar cycle;
your menstrual cycle (if you menstruate);
and the circadian 24-hour cycle of day and night
The Four Seasons of the Year
Winter - hibernation;
Spring - new growth;
Summer - abundance;
Autumn - harvest
The Lunar Cycle
New Moon - new beginnings, dream, set intentions;
Waxing Crescent - gain inspiration, experiment, play & plan;
First Quarter - energy rise, take action;
Waxing Gibbous - commit, trust, refine;
Full Moon - confidence peak, reach out, collaborate & celebrate;
Waning Gibbous - harvest rewards, create a routine, focus on completion;
Last Quarter - learn, focus, declutter & tick things off the list;
Waning Crescent - surrender, self-care, minimalism & rest.
The Menstrual Cycle
Menstrual - restore, reflect, wisdom, quiet, comfort;
Follicular - energy rise, motivation, positivity, plan, take action;
Ovulation - confidence, creativity, social, move, play;
Luteal - productivity, nest, focus, learn, calm, routine.
The Circadian Cycle
Night - deep sleep;
Early Morning - energy rise, wake up;
Morning - alertness;
Midday - take action;
Afternoon - crash, slow down;
Evening - body gets ready to sleep.
Hopefully you can gain a better visual understanding of cyclical living from these illustrations and see how they are all connected!
Connecting to the Four Seasons
Most articles on cyclical living reference the four seasons of the year: spring, summer, autumn and winter. So let’s start there.
This is a way of connecting the different cycles of life: the seasons of the year, the lunar cycle, the four phases of the menstrual cycle and the 24-hour variations of night, morning, afternoon and evening.
I’ve created a graphic to illustrate this for any fellow visual learners out there!
WINTER | Menstrual | New Moon | Night
Winter corresponds to the New Moon, the Menstrual Phase of the cycle and the middle of the night. It is the months of December, January and February.
This season resembles hibernation, a clean slate, dreaming and rest.
This is where energy levels are typically at their lowest. Rest feels important and keeping things simple is essential so we don’t get overwhelmed.
The colour palettes of winter are cool, dark and bright. They are full of drama, contrast and sometimes the unnatural.
Winter styles look like isolation, minimalism and lots of space which easily relates to what is necessary during this period.
It’s all about recuperation, self care and rest. Clearing our minds gives us the wisdom we need to answer difficult questions.
By clearing our minds, we give ourselves the potential for creating new ideas and listening to our intuition.
Spring | Follicular | Waxing Moon | Mornings
Spring corresponds to the Waxing Moon, the Follicular Phase of the menstrual cycle and mornings. It is the months of March, April and May.
This season resembles new beginnings, hope, youth, new ideas and an increase in energy.
Energy levels are dramatically rising. We tend to have a lot of positive energy, too. This is a time for having many new ideas, multi-tasking and getting to work on our new projects and goals.
The rise in energy provides us with enthusiasm and assertiveness. If we’ve not rested enough in the winter season then this might affect how we feel now.
The colour palettes of spring are warm, light and bright. The warm colours provide us with energy; the lightness makes the season appear youthful and fun; and the bright, high saturation adds to the freshness and high enthusiasm.
Summer | Ovulatory | Full Moon | Midday
Summer corresponds to the Full Moon, the Ovulation Phase of the menstrual cycle and midday. It is the months of June, July and August.
This season resembles a sense of accomplishment, calm, gratitude and a peak in confidence. This is usually represented in our gardens when there’s an abundance of flowers and green.
This is when we feel our best. We are feeling our most confident at this time and we’re starting to reap the rewards of spring.
This is the time for sharing and communication. Public speaking and presentations tend to feel easier during the inner summer season. It’s a time for networking, collaborating and allowing our enthusiasm and confidence to shine.
As our energy is at its peak now, it’s a good time to do anything strenuous or active. Cardio and HIIT are good examples of exercise that we’ll excel at.
Being our most energetic and confident also makes us feel a sense of calm and accomplishment. This is what relates most to the tranquil colour palettes of summer.
The colour palettes of summer are cool, light and soft. The blues and greens dominate the colour palettes and this gives us that overarching feeling of calm and tranquility. Romance and grace and obvious in this season with the light and softness of the colours.
Autumn | Luteal | Waning Moon | Afternoon and Evening
Autumn corresponds to the Last Quarter Moon, the Luteal Phase of the menstrual cycle and late afternoons.
This season resembles harvest and the preparation for winter. There’s a desire for feeling cosy and warm as well as a need for completion of tasks and getting projects out of the way.
The inner season of autumn has that back-to-school vibe with a need for a routine again after learning to relax in the summer. There’s a slight rise in energy levels which slowly decreases as we move into winter. The energy levels are nature’s way of telling us to prepare for the winter. There’s a need to get things done so they can put aside when we’re ready to rest.
We are at our most critical and introverted here so self-doubt is likely to creep in which may interfere with the completion of projects that we started in spring.
There’s usually a great desire to tidy, declutter and organise everything in your life in this season. It’s almost like we want to get rid of anything that’s outstanding or incomplete so we’ve got the white space we need by the time winter comes along.
We are analytical, focussed, a little sensitive, highly organised and stubborn during this season.
The autumn colour palettes are warm, soft and dark. The warmth as in spring gives us the energy we need to prepare for winter. The soft and muted tones cause us to feel more focussed rather than sociable and enthusiastic. The dark values give us the feeling and desire for all things warm and cosy.
Tracking the Cycles
Tracking our cycles allows us to feel more connected to our inner seasons. This means we can work with our energy levels instead of against them. Energy affects our physical energy, our mental energy and our emotions. All of these things greatly affect our productivity and wellbeing.
I believe there are pros and cons to every stage of the inner seasons and it’s a good idea to work with them all to create the best results (as best we can of course).
Where to start with tracking our inner cycles?
The main two cycles to start tracking and investigating are the lunar and menstrual cycles. If you menstruate, then start with the menstrual cycle; if you don’t menstruate (or if you’re pregnant or using birth control) then track the lunar cycle.
Start with using just one or two words to describe your symptoms, your mood, how you’re feeling, your motivation levels, your physical energy levels and so on.
It’s important to remember that there is no perfection in cycle tracking as every cycle is unique; time passes and we continue to grow and change. We are all unique as well and my cycle may look completely different to yours. However, we can hopefully spot some recurring patterns that might help us with self-care, goals and lifestyle.
Some of the things I’ve found cycle tracking can help with include: exercise, weight loss, diet, goals, planning, work, creativity, learning new skills and most day-to-day activities.
TRACKING MULTIPLE SEASONS AND CYCLES
Something I used to get confused about when first reading about this concept is how the different cycles overlap. For example, you might be in the ovulatory phase (summer) but it’s also a new moon (winter) in October (autumn) …so what should we expect here?! Well, I think it’s important to track the cycle that affects you the most for consistency and this will become your primary cycle. For me, that’s my menstrual cycle (with my many mood swings and hormonal changes). If it’s a new moon at the same time as ovulation, then the energy and confidence peak may not be as great as if there was a full moon during the summer, for example.
We all have our own circadian rhythms of night and day. Some of us are night owls and some are early birds. It’s fairly easy to know when we focus the best, have the most energy and when we need to rest.
It’s all about listening to our bodies, observing these cycles, making the most of the energy peaks and giving ourselves permission to rest when we need to.