Cycles

​Our ancestors lives revolved around cycles Their very survival depended on understanding the cycles of the seasons that dictated what food would be available, and what shelter they would need. They respected the cycles of day and night. The protective life-giving light of the sun, and the mystery and uncertainty of the dark. Eventually marking the phases of the moon as spiritually significant.
These days, we don’t put as much importance on these cycles. Unless they are part of your spiritual practice, or your job (like a farmer), we don’t pay them much mind beyond what we need to wear, what the driving conditions may be like, what holidays are approaching, or what vacation we would like to book.
While we may all but ignore most of these cycles, there are two that are natural to our body. If you are a woman you are familiar with your menstrual cycle, and how it affects (or sometimes dictates) your life/schedule. We also all have a natural circadian rhythm. This is your internal biological clock that not only regulates your sleep cycles, but also other processes like the release of hormones, and body temperature. While our bodies naturally regulate these cycles for us, as humans, we spend a lot of time and energy exerting control over them, trying to bend them to our will. Whether through pharmaceuticals, technology, or just our own will power, we work to alter these rhythms to suit our needs or current lifestyles. We do this with they larger cycles too, like the seasons, creating mechanisms and evolving technology to grow crops, manufacture meat, and manipulate the weather.
While these advances have benefited us in many ways, like being able to sustain larger populations, it has also caused disconnect between ourselves and our planet, and even within our own bodies. Instead of working with/respecting the natural cycles we strive to control them, but at what cost?
What do you think would happen if we, as a society, decided to eat what our bodies needed, according to what should be available in that season, and adhere to the larger cycles of work and rest, according to the seasons? Would our physical health improve? What about our mental health? Would it cause us to have to cooperate and coordinate within our communities more? What kind of society do you think we could/would build if we listened to our bodies and lived in accordance with Earth’s natural rhythms?
There are plenty of people out there that do try to do this. Whether that is through their spiritual practice, or to create a more practical (and peaceful) lifestyle (like homesteaders and even preppers). Regardless of the reasons, more and more people are looking to reconnect to this planet and each other. Our current societal structure of 9 to 5 work days, high stress, convenience foods, and lack of self-care make returning to a “simpler”, less anxiety inducing lifestyle difficult, but not impossible. As more and more people gravitate towards this, I wonder how we, as people, and as a society at large, will evolve and change.
How about you? Do you listen to your own natural cycles? Is it a spiritual or more practical practice for you? If you have made these kinds of changes, did you notice what affects it had physically, mentally, spiritually (if any)? If you haven’t, are there changes you would or would like to make? I would love to know.