Sweater Weather
BY JEN WIDERSTROM
We are all a part of nature. A part of the way the world works. Just like a tree goes dormant in the winter, we also have times of dormancy. Through modern science and evolution we have been able to manipulate those cycles in order to operate at the same level of speed and bloom year-round, but that’s a deviation from what our bodies are naturally programmed to do.
As we transition season to season, all life is transitioning too, and so often confusion arises when people are caught in frustration when their bodies and their moods are shifting too. This shift is represented in not being able to stay a certain size or maintain a certain energy level… or even less than favorable changes in their skin texture and sex drive. In today’s world, we try to harness our expectations for our bodies and control them to keep up with the pace we’ve set for ourselves as a society. But it’s just not the way nature intended us to be.
In my own life, I’m noticing that I’m in a hibernating phase. I’m saying no to dinner plans, I’m saying no to more trips.
I know I need to retreat and rest, or my personal Spring won’t come.
I’ll be too expended over this time where I know psychologically I need to retreat inward, even though on the surface, my physical energy is the best it’s been in months. I feel the most athletic and the most rested I’ve been in a while. However, what I hope to teach you today, is that doesn’t mean that mentally I have to match how my body is performing.
If you look at your circadian rhythm (your body’s 24-hour biological cycle), every hour of the day there’s a function your body is naturally performing: optimization of alertness, coordination, prime cardiovascular and muscular stamina in the afternoon, secretion of melatonin around 9pm to help you close out the day and wind you down for sleep…then you wake up the next morning at your body’s coolest temperature, with the clearest, sharpest blood pressure, and the cycle starts over again.
We have this incredible biological system that your body relies on for optimal function, and yet we think this daily system applies to overriding our emotional bandwidth, when it should not.
Starting today, I encourage you to give yourself a little space from your body’s daily physiology and befriend your infradian rhythms instead. (Infra meaning “beyond one day.”) These can be physical, like your metabolism, menstrual cycles, immunity, and hair loss/growth, or more internal that are psychological in nature, presenting in your mood, sensitivity and mental acuity.
Rather than staying focused on the details of what you can’t control in the short-term; learn from your bigger picture, infradian cycles, by zooming out and taking a 10,000-foot view of your body’s physical rhythms and cycles, alongside your psychological and emotional rhythms and cycles.
It’s okay to tap into your intuition this season, and listen to your mind, body and spirit… your well being and personal alignment might just depend on allowing them each to have a voice.
Jen Widerstrom, Founder
P.S. Remember that no matter what you're going through right now, you don't have to do it alone! There are others like you in our community, where we interact on a daily basis, fight our demons, share our victories, and watch over each other as friends and accountability partners.
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