Living seasonally, what does it mean? Living seasonally means you align your lifestyle at that moment in conjunction with the season you are in. Be it through foods that are in season, wearing clothing made for that season, playing sports or exercising according to the season, be it indoors or outdoors, decorating, connecting with nature, traveling, reflecting. In the last handful of years I have truly tried to stick with a seasonal plan, one of which involves changing with the seasons. Now you might be asking yourself, but don’t you live in South Florida where it is one season, i.e. summer year round? Albeit that is somewhat true, but it is still important to adapt and go with the flow of the season changes no matter where you live.
Nutrition
You should strive to eat foods each season/month that is currently in harvest. Yes our many advances with offering produce and foods that are out of season help. None of that is done without modifications that are require the use of unnecessary chemicals, which we ultimately ingest. Brightland, a company dedicated to sourcing organically produced olive oil and vinegars does a lovely job of presenting a tile on the first of each month whereby they announce what produce is in season. There are also seasons and times that are better for fasting and to be fasting different foods and/or quantities. Your body will tell you when there are times to eat more / less so tune in.
Clothing
No matter where you live there is going to be a dial of sorts in either extreme direction on what clothes you will be able to wear according to the weather/temperatures as a result. Rotate your clothes you wear according to the season. This will help you rotate and not wear the same clothing over and over and help you dress for the weather. It has been exceptionally helpful for our family to go through our clothing, purge, and live minimally.
Sports and Exercise
There are different sports surrounding seasons drawing you either in or outdoors moreso for a time. As a family we strive to play different sports as the seasons change, even if we are not great at that sport. We allot time in nature as a result of playing outdoors, weather / temperature permitting. Some sports we enjoy as as family are tennis, pickleball, swimming, beach volleyball, basketball, baseball, riding bikes, walking, and running. No one is meant to be doing the same things over and over year round. Most detrain and cross train annually to give their bodies time to avoid injury.
Decor
What your are visually and spatially exposing yourself too can have a direct correlation to your mental health and well being. A home full of clutter and that is unorganized can wreak havoc on your ability to focus and feel calm. Organizing and refreshing your surroundings and decor can help with the change of each season. For those of you who leave your Christmas tree up year round, tisk, tisk.
NATURE
Connecting with nature is essential to your mental health and well being. We all need an amount of exposure to the sun for the natural absorption of vitamin D. There are many studies backed by science whereby being barefoot and grounding and spending time in nature / playing with dirt has a positive impact on mental health. There’s more specific research proving that spending time in nature lowers your heart rate and blood pressure.
Traveling
There are places you may love to travel to on certain seasons and there’s no mistaking it. Circling back to that conversation of Florida not having anything but one season…evidently, we Floridians are known to travel to places in the fall and winter and get a true taste of those seasons outside of Florida. I have been traveling to Sarasota during the summer since I was 15 years old. Not much has changed as we continue to take this annual trip as a family now. We have tried traveling to Sarasota during the winter when called on for specific events or work. It’s just not the same. After a year of snow reaching down further into Florida, we will continue to seek the snow as it shows no signs of making it to West Palm Beach, and it better not ever…or else. A favorite of many in Florida is traveling north to see the fall foliage.
Reflecting
You should reflect seasonally on these aforementioned things points in living seasonally. One was is through journaling. Not every season is going to require the same levels of energy. We are meant to change with the seasons. This change in turn will bring us overall balance in life.
