Living in Line With the Cycles [#17]

Happy New Year!

Thanks for being here in 2026. I don't take you for granted and feel grateful that I can share some of my experience with you on how to live a more meaningful and joyful life in changing times. :-)

I took time last week to unplug, reflect, and rest, and I hope you were able to do the same.

Most people have lost the art of chilling. They are constantly on, stimulated, and busy. It’s hard for them to do nothing.

Part of it is the demands on our time. Part of it is because we have lost touch with nature.

The problem with you being always on is that you don’t have time to reflect, let new ideas come up, or ask deeper questions about life.

For a meaningful and joyful life, you need to slow down every once in a while to refuel the batteries and set a new course with the insights of the past.

Living closer to nature, observing its pace, I have started to ask some questions:

Why has our life become so fast when nature seems to be slow and steady?

What can we do to live more in the rhythm of nature?

I believe you need to look at the cycles of life and try to live more according to them.

If you do that, you will feel more in tune with yourself, more balanced, more rested, more intentional, and simply happier.

There are 3 cycles that I invite you to catch on to in the new year:

1 - The Seasons

We used to live in tune with the seasons.

Spring is for planning and planting seeds.

Summer is for growing, working the land, and being outside.

Fall for harvesting, celebrating, and slowing down.

Winter for resting, going inwards, reflecting.

But the modern world has trained that out of us, even though our bodies react to the differences in daylight hours and temperature.

Do you also feel more tired and like sitting in front of a fireplace with a book during winter rather than summer?

I have felt super tired in the last days after the festivities and took the liberty to sleep past midday a few times. It felt amazing. I would never do that in summer.

The point here is:

It’s okay to take more rest in winter, use quiet time to reflect, let something go, chill out, and reload the batteries.

Listen more to your body on what you need rather than the assumed expectations of others.

Be more confident in living according to what the season asks you to do. :-)

2 - The Cycles of the Moon

I used to journal in a monthly rhythm. Every end of the month, I would sit down to reflect and plan the next month.

It worked well for a while, but when I moved to the countryside, it started to feel off.

This coincided with me starting to notice the moon more often. (Which is natural, when you spend more time outside and see it at night without light-polluted skies.)

I thought: If the moon has such a big impact on the waterbodies on Earth (low tide/high tide) and humans are made out of 70% water, then the moon should have some kind of impact on us.

I also recently learned that you prune trees best around the new moon because they will have less liquid in the branches.

So I got the app “​The Moon Calendar​” and changed my journaling rhythm:
Planning at new moon.
Doing from quarter moon to quarter moon.
Reflection and rest quarter moon to new moon.

It felt a bit woozy at first, going against how the Western time world works, and doing it like in the old days.

Then, I noticed crazy differences in energy between the new and full moon and started to schedule my activities according to that.

Chill, reflective days during the days before and during the new moon.

Outgoing, high-energy activity around full moon. (I guess that’s why full moon parties are a thing.)

Life gets better when you live more in tune with the moon.

3 - The Menstrual Cycle

I am no pro here, and it’s a sensitive topic, so I will touch it briefly from a male body point of view.

I think that if you are a guy, you can benefit from knowing the cycle of your female friends or partner and be a better man because of it.

The menstrual cycle has different phases with big differences in hormone levels, which highly impact how you, your friend, or partner feels.

For simplicity, I divide it into 2 main phases:
pre-ovulation & post-ovulation.

Pre-ovulation is when Oestrogen is rising. Good time for planning, doing, and socializing. This is also when sexy time is more likely, and the chances of getting pregnant are highest.

Post-ovulation is when progesterone rises and estrogen drops. Good time to rest, reflect, and do some self-care.

So this is a very clear, biological cycle to look out for in your life and relationships.

As a man, I encourage you to support the women in your life according to what they need in each phase.

It’s personal, but I learned that gifting chocolate to your partner during Post-Ovulation (Luteal and Menstrual Phase) and doing the dishes leads to a meaningful and joyful life almost immediately. ;-)

Seasonal Cycle, Moon Cycle, Menstrual Cycle

Notice how there is a theme in all 3 cycles:

Plan –> Do –> Reflect –> Rest

It’s a useful iterative pattern in different cycles.

A day can be:
1. Plan in the morning: What are your 3 most important things to do?
2. Do during the day: Do these 3 things + some.
3. Reflect after work: What did I do? What did I learn? What do I need to change?
4. Rest in the evening and night.

A week can be:
1. Plan Sunday.
2. Do during the week.
3. Reflect on Friday.
4. Rest on the weekend.

To me, this nature-inspired cycle in different forms has become a bedrock in learning and adapting, where I go and what a meaningful and joyful life means to me.

What is a way you can live more in line with the cycles?

Happy regenerating,

Jonas

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P.S.: I am still in rest and reflection mode and will make a directional plan for the newsletter in 2026 soon.

I am pondering what direction to go, depending on what interests you most:
- more stories from the ecovillage/ country life
- more around my work in Bioregional Regeneration
- more abstract philosophical thinking
- more practical advice

Or shall I just keep going as I do with sharing about what feels right in the context of my experience of building a meaningful and joyful life?

If you have an opinion or questions, let me know!

P.P.S.:
I am also pondering organizing a week-long experience here in Galicia at the ecovillage next summer. I think it might be interesting for some of you to experience this way of life.
We might be doing some natural building with cob, learning about permaculture, or just immersing in and enjoying nature.

Write me an email if you are interested in this!