Your constitution is changing constantly. Your body and its needs vary from moment to moment, day to day, month to month, season to season, year to year. What your body needed and could handle ten years ago, of course, is very different than what it can handle today, but this is also true for the change in seasons. When the seasons change, so does your body.
Your body, you see, is an ever-changing living, breathing organism. Similar to the weather and the seasons, your body is constantly adapting and changing along with the changes in the environment.
Perhaps you have allergies at a given season, or you might note that you want to stay in more and rest during the winter seasons. You might think that it’s because you don’t like the cold, but your body may want that too, as it is the season for the body to hibernate and store fuel, rather than use it.
Your body is ultimately part of the landscape of nature. Your body’s functions, your mind’s thoughts, and your behaviors are therefore directly and indirectly influenced by changes in the weather patterns as seasons change. Your ability to maintain a balanced and healthy life involves living in accordance with these changes, eating, moving, sleeping and socializing as the seasons allow.
For instance, the winter is the time for us to slow down and to save our energy; a time where we are building our strength, so that when spring comes, we can literally, spring forth with energy and renewal. And, we can learn a lot from the moon.
Think about the seasons of winter versus spring: How did you feel during the winter months? What did you choose to eat? How do you feel when spring starts to show it’s head? What is your energy like? Your attitude?
Many of my clients complain of gaining weight, feeling less energy and coming down with colds during the winter, feeling better and more energized in the spring, but also having some allergies. They report that during the winter, they often crave comfort foods that often come in the form of baked goods, sweets, and fried food, while in the spring, they crave lighter foods like salads and fruit.
Of course, this often leads to the body gaining more weight, feeling more lethargic, with the slackening down of the metabolic rate, which has already slowed because the winter is the season for the body to slow down and hibernate.
For this reason, during the winter, it is important that we eat foods that are high in protein and fat, like beef, eggs, duck, dates, mushrooms or nuts, and to increase bitter foods like asparagus, celery, coffee, kohlrabi, radish leave, kale, vinegar and wine, to help us store energy, keep warm, and our metabolism moving.
When it is time to move, your body will do just that. It will get up and move in the spring, when you can get outdoors and appreciate everything else in bloom. Your metabolism follows….Unless, you override your natural state of being by continuing to eat unhealthy foods and sitting on the couch watching TV.
My recommendation for you is this:
- Get acquainted with your body and how it responds to different foods or activities during different times of the day, week and year.
- Pay attention to what is growing locally and try to eat the organic foods coming from your local farmers.
- Pay attention to when you are feeling damp (have a runny nose, congestion, diarrhea or feel bloated) or dry (are constipated, have dry skin, or dehydration) and notice what foods you may have eaten or what thoughts you might be upholding.
- Keep a journal.
- Pay attention to whether you are craving food for comfort, or need food for fuel and regulating your metabolism. The minute you decide to delineate the difference, you will start removing your cravings and taking better care of yourself and your body.
You are not separate from nature. Move with nature and nature will move with you. Love your own nature, and your love will bring you into a state of harmony and health.
Other Great Reads on Nature, Serenity and Spirituality:
- Sleep, Diet & Down Time on the the Road
- A Happy Attitude Can Add Years to your Life
- WBTW’s Spirituality Section
- WBTW’s Wellness Section
- See Wildlife and Nature Throughout the Seasons
- What Humans Can Learn from the Moon
- The African Bush Helps You Grasp the Honesty of Nature
- 3 Great Books on Feng Shui
- Animals Celebrate Family Bonding
- 3 Great Spiritual Reads This Summer
Dr. Eva Selhub is an internationally recognized resiliency expert, physician, author, speaker, scientist and consultant. Dr. Eva engages her clients and her audiences with her powerful energy, words of wisdom and scientific knowledge to activate the five pillars of resilience–physical, mental, spiritual, relationship and team– to achieve optimal resilience, success, health and happiness. Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Dr. Eva served as an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and as a Clinical Associate of the world renowned Benson Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital for nearly 20 years. She is the author of The Love Response and the co-author of Your Brain on Nature, and her latest book Blow up or Bliss Out will release in 2018. Dr. Eva has been included in national media such as The New York Times, USA Today, Self, Shape, Fitness, Health, The Dr. Oz show and more. In addition to We Blog the World, she also writes for Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen, Steven Aitchison, Success Stories, Rebelle Society, Good Men Project and Human Spaces.
