Coming Home to Nature: A Journey Through Seasonal Practice and Earth Wisdom

Nature is my sanctuary, a place of solace and quiet restoration. Though I’ve long found the natural world a calming presence, it wasn’t until I began exploring Druidry and earth wisdom that I truly understood why. These traditions don’t just speak to the beauty of the natural world; they reveal its rhythms, its teachings, and demonstrate just how much we are inherently connected to nature, no matter how much humanity may choose to separate itself from it.

The experiential approach to teaching in these traditions, not only helps me to better understand my connection with nature, the lunar cycles, and the seasons, but also ensures that I embody the learnings in my daily life. It seems only natural to me then, to bring this wisdom into my yoga practice.

Nature is my sanctuary. It seemed only natural to bring this wisdom into my yoga practice.

Letting my body guide the way

Seasonal approaches to yoga are of course nothing new, and before following this path I experimented with other ways of tailoring my practice to the time of year. In Ayurveda, an ancient holistic wellbeing tradition derived in East Asia, yoga practice is guided with the aim of pacifying the ruling dosha (energy principle) of a particular season within our bodies. For example, Pitta season (summer and early autumn) is associated with rising heat and fieriness, and to pacify this, gentle cooling and calming practices are advised. Conversely, Kapha season (winter and early spring) is characterised by qualities of heaviness and coldness, and to balance this within our bodies, energising and invigorating practices are suggested.

This makes a lot of sense, and I can totally understand the wisdom and reasoning behind this. But something about these methods never quite fully resonated with me in my own practice. Why slow down when the sun is at its strongest and my energy at its highest? Why push through fiery vinyasa flows when my body, chilled by winter, craves stillness, rest and honestly just wants to hibernate? Fighting against what my body wants and what nature is telling me to do feels like more of a struggle than inner peace, more of a cruelty than a kindness. It’s not to say that I don’t sometimes crave a little heat in the winter, or coolness in the summer, but I’m learning to listen to what my body needs, not what I feel I should be doing.*

Practising seasonally means tuning into my energy levels. Why slow down when the sun is at its strongest and my energy at its highest?

Reclaiming my intuition

One of the first ways I began to incorporate seasonality into my practice was by starting everyday outdoors, no matter the weather, and planting my feet firmly in the grass. Easy-peasy in the summer, not always so pleasant in the winter. Sometimes this ritual is short and sweet, some grounding deep breaths and a moment just to pause, listen. At other times I’ll take some sage, sit on the earth and meditate. No matter what I have the time or headspace for, this ritual helps me to tune into what’s going on in the natural world on any given day and start the day feeling connected and grounded. A little one on one time with nature, like this, is something I would urge everyone to try.

The more time spent in this way, listening and observing, the more I understood what my body was saying to me, I could see its needs reflected all around me in the natural world. I began to trust my intuition and my body’s own wisdom. In the depths of winter, I stopped forcing myself into practices that felt like hard work. Instead, I embraced breath-led practices, somatic movement, or simply lay on the mat with my eyes closed.

Yoga practice is so much deeper than the asana, the physical postures: it’s a journey inward as a way to liberate the mind. It’s the peeling back of the layers constructed by your own mind and ego, and those imposed by society, as a way of coming home to your true self. Letting go of the idea that I should always incorporate asana into my practice was incredibly liberating. As soon as I stopped pushing my practice into what I thought it “should” look like, things began to feel, well, more natural.

As soon as I stopped pushing my practice into what I thought it “should” look like, things began to feel more natural.

Seasonal practice as a path to presence

Practicing seasonally is about listening to what your body needs and responding. Nature can help give you hints as to what that might be. As I write this in the golden haze of late summer, the plants and fruits are reaching their maturity, there’s a sleepy quality to the world, as if contentment abounds, and the need to strive begins to abate. The sun is high and at its strongest, the sea temperatures at their warmest and the nights at their balmiest. True, there’s a gentle whisper of autumn in the early morning chill, but for now, the world invites us to absorbs the sun’s energy, to be present, to soak in the abundance.

My body responds to this call. I feel drawn to energising practices that harness solar vitality and fuel my subtle body, and balance this with grounding movements that connect me to the earth and feelings of gratitude. This seasonal harmonisation has deepened my connection to the natural world, its ebbs, and flows, and to myself.

Beyond the mat: a life in tune with nature

This shift hasn’t just transformed my yoga practice; it’s rippled through every part of my life. I’ve become more curious about plants, the gardening year, seasonality of produce, and the life cycles of animals and insects. I feel more present, more connected, more alive.

In embracing seasonal practice and earth wisdom, and the cycles of the seasons, I feel like I’ve come home.

*NB: Of course everyone is different, and you may resonate strongly with the ayurvedic way of practicing. Always listen to your own body and do what feels right for you.