Aligning with the Cycles of Nature

Aligning Yourself with the Cycles of Nature

In the Daoist tradition I trained in, the leading cause of dis-ease is forgetting to adjust our conduct with the seasons.

That is the whole teaching, in one sentence.

We live in a modern world of artificial lights, artificial timing, and technologies that subvert the body's subtle intelligence. We forget to take our cues from the earth. We work when we should sleep, eat what is out of season, push when the season is asking us to draw inward, and then we wonder why our bodies break down.

We carry an ancestral prayer to live a deeply embodied, earthly existence in harmony with our surroundings. As Starhawk writes, "We do not live in the unchanging twilight realm of Faery, but in the living, dying, fading, and growing realm of the earth."

This page is dedicated to the practice of remembering that. The cycles, the seasons, the qi nodes, the eight pivot points of the year. The body's rhythm. The earth's rhythm. How they are the same rhythm.

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In the Lineage of Liu Ming

Liu Ming (1947–2015) was the biggest inspiration for me on this path.

He introduced me to the Tong Shu — the ancient Chinese almanac — and aligned me with a pre-communist lineage of Chinese medicine that had the rhythms of nature at its heart. So much of how I teach, how I treat, and how I live a year is downstream of what I received from him.

Thank you, Liu Ming, for these teachings.

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What the Tong Shu Actually Tells You

The Tong Shu divides the year into 24 qi nodes — two-week periods, each with its own quality, its own work, its own permission and prohibition. It further subdivides into days, hours, even minutes.

The almanac indicates appropriate and inappropriate times for plantings, weddings, feng shui adjustments, travel, digging a well, initiating austerities, domestic conversations, funerals, hard physical labor, new ventures, repairing tombs, and purchasing property — among hundreds of other categories.

Underlying the structure are eight pivot points in the year:

• The two solstices — winter and summer

• The two equinoxes — spring and autumn

• The four cross-quarter days that divide the seasons in half — early spring, early summer, early autumn, early winter

When we calibrate our lives to these pivot points and follow the guidance of stars, seasons, and nature's cycles, we are in accordance with universal qi. This is the original meaning of health and longevity in Chinese medicine — not the absence of disease, but the alignment of the human with the cosmos.

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Seasonal Ceremonies

I gather circles eight times a year — at each of the eight pivot points — to align together with the season.

In each ceremony, we receive a teaching on the season at hand: its philosophy, its foods, its movement, its medicines, its timing, and the healing relationships it asks us to attend to with self and family. We then transition into embodiment practice and ritual, calibrating our bodies to the season's qi.

My intention is to create a space that is deeply nourishing and engaging for both body and mind, and to leave you with practical ways of connecting to the season in your everyday life.

These ceremonies happen primarily inside the Sanctuary — my weekly Thursday container — and as occasional in-person gatherings.

Join the Sanctuary (https://www.bronwynayla.com/sanctuary)

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Resources for Seasonal Practice

The Alchemy with Bronwyn Podcast

I record seasonal teachings, lineage transmissions, and conversations with practitioners I respect. Available on Apple, Spotify, and at bronwynayla.com/podcast (https://www.bronwynayla.com/podcast).

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Stay in Touch with the Cycles

Receive seasonal teachings, qi-node reminders, and inspiration as we move through the year — every moon.

Subscribe to the newsletter (https://www.bronwynayla.com/sanctuary)

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Want to keep practicing with material like this? Sanctuary is my weekly Thursday call — where seasonal teaching becomes a rhythm rather than a one-time read.