The Art of Living According to Nature’s Healthy Rhythms!

The seasons and nature’s healthy rhythms are part of nature’s treasure trove that shows us the ultimate path toward creating a healthier, happier, and more meaningful life. Learn how to access your inner and outer compass along with shamanic wisdom to find your way to a life of greater abundance.

As a shaman and teacher, one of my core missions is to help people rediscover that the answers and recipe for creating a happy, healthy, and meaningful life have always been right in front of us – in Mother Earth’s nurturing nature.

In this article, we’ll explore why we’re here on this Earth and how we can connect with our built-in compass that guides us toward an enlightened and purposeful life.

Common to Us All

What characterizes all of us is that we enter this world naked and leave it in the same way.

So what, then, is the purpose of the time between birth and death?
Logically, it can have little to do with accumulating the greatest possible wealth, career achievements, or fame since none of these hold any significance when life ends.

Our life is like a tiny blip compared to the billions of years the universe has existed, so there must be something more than an inflated material existence, career accomplishments, and a legacy that explains why we’re here.

The Longest Study on Happiness

In a study of the millennial generation (born between 1980 and 1995) conducted by Harvard University in the USA, where participants were asked about their most important life goals, researchers found that 80 percent wanted to become rich, while 50 percent wanted to become famous.

The researchers aimed to uncover the factors that truly played a role in living a happy life with good health.

In 1938, they initiated The Harvard Study of Adult Development (Ref. 1, 2, and 3), where researchers followed a group of people from age 19 through their elderly years. For over 80 remarkable years (!), they’ve monitored participants every two years through medical tests, blood work, and interviews. The study’s key findings so far reveal:

• Neither wealth, career success, hard work, nor fame contribute significantly to a happy and fulfilling life.
• Strong and healthy relationships with partners, family, and friends are the most crucial factors for happiness and wellbeing.
• Loneliness is deadly, emerging as the primary driver of poor health and emptiness.

Given these insights, is it any wonder that we’re seeing unprecedented levels of depression, chronic illness, and anxiety disorders worldwide, when so many people focus their lives on pursuits that contradict what truly creates a fundamentally healthy, happy, and meaningful existence?

The Path Back to Our True Nature

When we examine indigenous peoples untouched by Western society’s dogmas, morals, lifestyle, or philosophy, we find that depression, anxiety, and chronic illness are virtually non-existent.

So why is this the case? The answer is simple: They still live in harmony with nature and its rhythms.

They maintain a healthy balance between activity and rest, align their lives with seasonal changes – slowing down in winter and becoming more active in spring and summer, nurture close relationships within their tribe, prioritize family and friends as life’s foundation, and hold a deep understanding and respect for nature as both provider and teacher.

This stands in stark contrast to our modern society, where natural rhythms like day and night cycles are increasingly blurred by technology and endless possibilities for activity. We’ve created a world where we can do what we want, when we want, driven by goals that have little connection to our true purpose here.

Why We Are Here

Our soul enters this life to learn and experience things it cannot comprehend from its true nature – where time, space, suffering, conflicts, and earthly sensations like tasting strawberries don’t exist.

In essence, your soul has deliberately placed itself in a situation bound by space, time, karma, and free will in this lifetime.

We can see the consequences of these limitations in our society today. The soul undertakes this journey not to accumulate wealth or fame, but to learn and experience things in relation to its life mission – something impossible in its ‘free’ state. Each incarnation carries specific lessons and experiences crucial to the soul’s evolution.

Our Inner Compass

We’re all born with an internal compass designed to guide us along the path our soul has chosen for this incarnation.

This compass consists of two main components: The heart’s primary emotions and our inner Upa Guru, your internal teacher who guides you from darkness to light, connected to the 6th chakra located between your eyebrows.

The more a person listens to and expresses their heart’s needs through rich emotional states, the more the soul creates a fundamental energy for action that also nourishes the flame of existential hope. These states are driven by the heart’s primary emotions such as happiness, passion, love, courage, empathy, care, and compassion.

In these states, we consistently treat ourselves and others with kindness and respect. When we’re aligned with these emotions, knowing the right course of action becomes effortless, and all types of interpersonal challenges become easier to resolve in a loving and respectful manner.

The simplest way to gain better access to the second part of your inner compass, your Upa Guru, is through daily meditation aimed at quieting the mind.

You don’t need to meditate for hours each day. With the right meditation technique, as little as 5-10 minutes daily can be sufficient.  that works exceptionally well for this purpose.

The more you allow yourself to be guided by your heart’s primary emotions and your Upa Guru, the more you listen to your inner compass that connects you with your natural and healthy inner rhythms.

In Yggdrasil Shamanic School, we call this following the Path of the Heart, which is essential for shamans in our tradition. This isn’t easy to do alone initially, as the ego tends to resist all forms of change. It’s highly recommended to seek guidance from a qualified teacher in this journey.

Our External Compass

Mother Earth and her pristine nature have existed since the dawn of time, long before the first humans walked the Earth, and will likely continue to exist long after humanity’s departure. Many seem to overlook that we are actually a product of nature’s evolution, and therefore, nature itself serves as the blueprint for the healthy and natural rhythms that shaped our existence.

The more deeply we understand and align ourselves with these fundamental rhythms of life, the more capable we become of living in harmony with our true nature, which forms the foundation for creating a meaningful, joyful, and healthy existence.

Consider nature’s perfect balance between activity, regeneration, and rest, often governed by daily cycles and seasonal changes. The birch tree buds in spring, stands in full green splendor during summer, sheds its leaves in autumn, and regenerates through winter, only to bud again when spring returns.

Modern humans have strayed far from these healthy rhythms. We aspire to flourish year-round. Today, most people lead hectic lives, rushing from dawn till dusk with work commitments, career pursuits, family responsibilities, childcare, social connections, fitness routines, recreational activities, and the ever-present demands of social media.

Modern technology and artificial lighting have made it unnecessary for us to pay attention to nature’s day-night rhythms anymore. As a consequence, more people than ever before in history are struggling with sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, exhaustion, burnout, and chronic illnesses, partly because their autonomic nervous system remains constantly in a state of alert (Ref. 8-10).

If you take the time to spend a long weekend at a cabin without a clock, PC, mobile phone, TV, or artificial light, and simply be present to enjoy the incredible stillness, peace, and balance offered to you, you’ll experience the amazing harmonious interplay between forest, mountains, wildlife, day-night rhythms, and all the elements.

The challenge lies in experiencing this state in our daily lives without making a conscious effort ourselves.

The Healthy Rhythms of Seasons and Nature

Throughout millennia, shamans have celebrated seasonal rituals including summer solstice, autumn equinox, winter solstice, and spring equinox. Through their profound understanding of nature’s rhythmic essence, shamans use their medicine wheel, which rotates through the seasons and elements, to guide humans, animals, and nature back to their healthy state.

This is something I emphasize heavily when training students in shamanism. The more deeply someone understands these rhythms and how they reveal the blueprint for healthy internal rhythms in humans, the more inspired they become to practically implement these in their lives.

Here are some brief examples:

Winter: During winter, the primary focus is on regeneration, rest, and contemplation – crucial for body, psyche, and soul. This is a time for reflecting on the past year, evaluating what worked and what didn’t. Through the descending peace and tranquility, you become better equipped to envision your path forward, understand what’s right for you, and identify which projects and goals to focus on, such as building a stronger relationship with your partner or improving your health.

Spring: Now is the time to sow the seeds you prepared during winter. Activity gradually increases and intensifies towards summer. For some, this might mean beginning to act on New Year’s resolutions, such as taking daily nature walks in the forest.

Summer: During this season, the sun blazes at its peak intensity, creating perfect conditions for the seeds planted in spring to flourish and bloom vigorously. Perhaps you began with gentle 20-minute forest walks on flat terrain during spring, and now find yourself confidently tackling uphill paths without feeling exhausted.

Autumn: This is the season when trees release their leaves. What aspects of your life do you need to let go of – things that might be causing problems, diminishing your quality of life, or preventing you from embracing opportunities for growth? Having support from a trusted friend, mentor, life coach, or therapist can be invaluable during this process, as it’s often challenging to maintain objectivity about ourselves, especially when our ego resists any form of change. This might involve releasing limiting beliefs, outdated knowledge, or restrictive perceptions.

Weekly Rhythm as Seasonal Rhythm

These natural rhythms can be observed on daily, weekly, and monthly cycles. Night embodies winter’s rest and regeneration, morning awakens with spring’s energy, daytime channels summer’s full activity, and evening mirrors autumn’s release of accumulated daily stress, preparing us for winter’s restorative rest.

My weekly routine aligns with these seasonal rhythms. Friday represents autumn, when I consciously release what no longer serves me – insights that have surfaced throughout the week. I celebrate autumn evenings with my wife and our two greyhounds, sometimes enjoying organic food.

The weekend embodies winter’s essence, where rest and regeneration take priority. I dedicate time to reflect deeply on the week’s journey – analyzing what worked well, what didn’t, what valuable lessons emerged, what adjustments I should implement, and where to direct my focus for the upcoming week.

I carefully choose to spend time only with those I share meaningful connections with – people who don’t drain my energy or create stress. When Monday morning arrives, it brings spring’s brief awakening as the week begins, where new seeds of intention are planted and focus areas are established. By lunchtime, summer’s energy takes over, and activities are in full swing.

Shamanic Seasonal Rituals

During these ceremonies, the ritual master first explains the celebration’s central theme (such as the spring equinox). Participants then reflect on their personal intentions for the ritual, desired transformations, and practical steps needed afterward.

This process unfolds through a specialized shamanic guided meditation, accompanied by the ritual master’s drumming, singing, and invocation of shamanic helpers like various power animals. Support is available from both the ritual master and experienced senior shamans present.

Once participants have crystallized their intentions, the ritual master performs the ceremony. The experience concludes with sharing of insights and revelations. Participating in these rituals often creates profound, lasting impressions that deeply touch the soul.

The most valuable aspect of participating in seasonal rituals is that they provide you with a comprehensive impulse and reminder of the healthy rhythm’s blueprint connected to the ritual. This wisdom can be integrated into your busy daily life, helping you think more clearly and empowering you to take actions that create a healthier, happier, and more meaningful existence.

This process helps you reconnect with the healthy natural rhythms within yourself. 

Chronomedicine

One of the trending research areas in Western conventional medicine is chronomedicine, including chronobiology – the study of biological rhythms in humans and other organisms.

In 2017, a research team studying the mechanisms behind circadian rhythms – our internal clock – received the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

What shamans have known for millennia is now being hailed as groundbreaking in orthodox medicine…

90-day Reset

To better connect with your external compass, I recommend completing 90 days of daily forest bathing, which simply means walking in the forest without an agenda.

No phone, no music, no planning, no daily review, no jogging or workout. It’s about spending thirty minutes each day meandering through nature, fully present with all your senses. One key objective is rediscovering peace, tranquility, and balance through walking and contemplation in nature amidst an otherwise chaotic daily life.

All of my students and clients who have completed daily forest bathing for 90 days have experienced remarkable results.

To better access your inner compass, I recommend beginning with a brief  and exploring how to become more conscious of forgiveness, self-regulation, and gratitude in your daily life.

This represents a simple and optimal starting point on the journey to discovering the blueprint for a good life that Mother Earth has literally placed beneath our feet.

Doctor vs. Shaman

I always find it fascinating when dogmatic and often arrogant doctors and renowned medical specialists with impressive titles, along with the media, dismiss shamanism as nonsense and foolishness.

It’s interesting to observe how people are influenced by the statements of a single shaman who might not be fully focused and conclude that shamanism in general is quackery.

The fact that one doctor is irresponsible or holds a particular opinion doesn’t mean all doctors are irresponsible or share the same view. This principle naturally applies to all other groups, including shamans.

Through my articles about shamanism, I aim to illuminate how incredibly valuable this insight has been for my life and can be for all people.

In my seminars and educational programs, I integrate the best elements from shamanism and holistic medicine with contemporary Western medicine and psychology. I see no contradiction between these approaches. They describe the world from two different perspectives that fundamentally don’t invalidate each other.

I collaborate with several respected doctors, psychologists, and other specialists to help people achieve optimal and effective healing. These specialists have reached their positions because they refuse to confine themselves within narrow professional boundaries protected by blinders. They think outside conventional parameters and remain open to discussions and new knowledge – even when it extends beyond their specific field and personal belief system.

One approach cannot accomplish what the other can – so why not combine them?

Only a medical doctor can halt aggressive cancer using chemotherapy and radiation. A shaman can assist with preventive work and heal the psychosomatic causes of cancer by, for example, helping clients understand and healthily align with Mother Earth’s natural rhythms.

In other words, an ill patient always stands stronger when receiving qualified help from both worlds. The challenge lies in finding this qualified assistance, both medical and shamanic.

The issue is that there are many practitioners in both camps whom I would never allow to treat me. Having impressive titles, completing medical school, writing books, or being famous doesn’t necessarily indicate the quality of care they provide.

One of the most crucial steps you can take is to verify the quality of your general practitioner, psychologist, therapist, and others you seek help from.

References

Ref. 1: Harvard Study of Adult Development. https://www.adultdevelopmentstudy.org/

Ref. 2: Harvard University: Good genes are nice, but joy is better https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/

Ref. 3: TED Talk: What makes a good live? Lessons from the longest study of happiness. https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness