Growing Through Cycles

Image courtesy of http://www.nicolefazioillustration.com

Where are you at in your cycles?  Personal stubbornness and fast-paced, push-through-it culture often distract me from seeing myself as a cyclical being.  Because I live in the south, it’s easy to blend seasons together and feel like it’s perennially summer.   With electricity, an iPhone, and general busyness, it’s easy to lose touch with the light dark cycle each day.  Without attention to it, I can lose track of where I’m at in my menstrual cycle and experience surprise at the mood and energy changes that come my way.  I barely notice the moon unless it’s full and staring me in the face.  And those are just obvious physical cycles that many of us share.  I’m humbled by the realization that I am flying through my life barely utilizing very natural and beautiful tools that I believe are designed to realistically maximize growth.

In reading “The Rise” with some friends, we discussed the idea that things and people grow when there are limits and that unbounded growth is not actually optimal in the long run because you end up with parts that probably would’ve been pruned if there had been limited resources.  There are also course corrections and clues about oneself that come with boundaries and yet we are beings who constantly seek to grow.  Considering growth in cycles gives us space and permission for that growth to be renewed, re-committed to and sometimes scaled back in a patient, nonjudgmental way; realizing that’s the way growth is intended.   Attuning ourselves to the cycles in our lives seems like a gracious way to treat the development of our minds, bodies and spirits.  Healing and understanding have slipped into this life of mine as I’ve become aware of and sought to connect with my cycles.

Want to tune into the patient perspective of cyclical growth?

*Seek to notice just one cycle. It might be seasonal, lunar, day/night, menstrual, digestive, just notice it without judgment to yourself for not noticing it before, without frustration at the fleeting nature of it and without promising to yourself that you’ll never miss it again.  Just be present in what it looks like and how it feels for a few moments.

*Cultivate awareness about your cycles by observing patterns in your life without judgment.  It’s easy to get caught up berating oneself about repeated mistakes or seeming setbacks, but if you can just patiently observe yourself you might tune into some insights on natural cycles that are a part of your unique world.  (Thanks to Alisa Vitti for that suggestion).