Going through periods of interrupted sleep takes a significant toll on body, mind & emotions. There are different expressions of insomnia and different ways of quantifying insomnia. No matter what you call it though, it’s awful, stressful and impacts daily living.

The sweetest young shoots of yarrow, chamomile and chickweed greeted me this morning when I visited the garden. I even found the teeniest of stinging nettles, newly through the soil. Green life is rebirthing itself and it is exactly what we need as we transition from the heavier foods that our bodies require in winter.

Currently, on the wheel of the year we are moving from winter, the most yin season, to spring, which marks the return of the yang energies. In Chinese Medicine it is the yang principle - warming, dynamic, active - that supports healthy metabolism of food, thought and emotion.

As the holidays evaporate and the new calendar year dawns, it’s natural to feel inspired to prioritize your well-being. To organize the bones of your life. To sweetly refocus on your self-care. To vision newly what you want your days and nights to feel like. To pause and reflect on what you wish to leave behind and what you aspire to actualize.

We are cyclical creatures, governed by the ever changing tides of heaven and earth. As we awaken and attune with the primal rhythms - seasonal, lunar, astrological - a deeper well of energy, inspiration and connection avails itself to us.

The new moon in Virgo arrives on Thursday, 9/14. As an earth sign Virgo invites us to examine our relationship with the structure of our lives - body, abode and the ways in which we nourish ourselves. This is a season of recommitting to sacred acts of self- care. Small steps count.

Late summer has arrived. In Chinese Cosmology, late summer is the fifth season, the bridge between summer and autumn. Late Summer corresponds with the Earth Element. The energetic movement of late summer is circular and slow. The climatic factor is damp. The taste is sweet. The corresponding organ systems are the stomach & spleen/pancreas.

The energetic movement of the Wood element is UP & OUT. Cue the dandelions pushing through the cracks in the pavement. As the energy of early Spring begins to rise within us it can manifest as anger, frustration and/or irritability especially so if/when we are under resourced.

Last weekend I attended a collegial retreat at Woodberry Crossing in Parkton, MD. We were a group of female identifying folx, ranging in age from 45 - 82. The overarching intention of the gathering was to get to know one another better, share life giving practices, break bread together and replenish the well of our being.

Wandering is perennial medicine yet wandering in winter is unique. Solitary. Revelatory. The ground is all sepia and decay on the surface. Sorcery and loam beneath. The trees bare boned and contemplative. The sky a spacious, weighted blanket of permission to rest.

The garden is sleeping now and so too can you. Your muscles are still supple and strong from digging fall roots but you can lay them down for a moment. The nights have become long and the sky has become dark. Go to your herbal stores and bring together a mix of herbs that speak to the long year of harvests you have made.

As we attune with Nature’s cycles and become more conscious of how the seasonal transitions effect us we can then adopt supportive lifestyle practices - nourishment, herbs, movement & rest - that help make the transitions easier on us. How can we best support ourselves as we prepare to bed down in the dark sheets of winter?

In Five Element theory, each element has a unique energetic signature that resonates with an organ system, an emotion, an action, an energetic movement in the body and a taste/ flavor that helps to bring balance to the related organ systems. Each flavor has an affinity for certain organ systems and a specific effect on circulation, digestion & metabolism.

The temperatures are dropping. Daylight is waning. The trees are pulling minerals from their leaves, sending them down to the root cellar. The squirrels are gathering acorns. The night sky is ever clear. Outer nature reminds us of inner nature. The ancients understood that longevity, wellness and fulfillment are the fruits of honoring Nature’s cycles. Each season has a unique Rx on how to ‘nourish life’. Disharmony and dis-ease arise when we live counter to Nature’s way.

When I say sacred space I'm referring to a dedicated space that honors the sacred. For me, the natural world is inextricably entwined with the sacred. How you conceive of the sacred, though, is yours alone to cultivate and express. Generally speaking, an altar is a place of reverence that evokes feelings of calm, connection and receptivity. A safe haven. A portal to the Divine. A place to pray, reflect and heal. A place to offer gratitude and devotion.

I am rearranging the furniture in my house to make space for the crone. Her fierceness. Her wisdom. Her magic. As the natural world turns towards the cooler, darker months I am slipping into my snake skinned robe, lined with tufts of velvet, trimmed with eagle feathers, amethyst & artemisia .

Every transition brings complexity & opportunity. In Chinese Medicine, the yin principle declines as we age. The yin principle represents cooling, nourishing, moistening, suppleness, blood, hormones, collagen & fluids. The myriad symptoms that (may) arrive in menopause - hot flashes, night sweats, dryness, insomnia, low libido, anxiety, poor focus, poor memory, thinning hair, less resilience in body, dry scalp, etc - are the expression of yin deficiency.

Daoist philosophy reminds us that we are nature. We wax and wane. Ebb and flow. Expand and contract. The moon pulls on the tides of our emotions and fluids. The pulse of our living is (still) imbued with the silent cycles of seasons, stars, sun and moon. We experience seasons of lack and seasons of abundance. Every sentient being is a dynamic dance of heaven and earth.

How do we move from the dark, quiet cave of winter to the exuberance of spring in a thoughtful way? We do it with care and kindness. We honor the wisdom of Nature, of body, of soul. We make space to slowly wander out among the still bare trees. We feel the frozen earth thawing into mud beneath our feet. We ground ourselves with calming practices like meditation, tai chi and gentle yoga.