Seasonal Living in Every Ecosystem

The Wheel of the Woman Around the World

When we talk about seasonal living, we often speak of temperate climates where the year clearly moves from spring to summer, autumn to winter. We follow sunlight, harvest cycles, and weather changes to guide our energy, movement, meals, and rituals. But what about women living at the edges of the earth, where the sun can linger for months, or beneath the equator, where it hovers high and steady, or in lands where the seasons unfold opposite to ours?

Seasonal living still applies. The key is tuning into your environment and your body, rather than strictly following a calendar.

In high latitude places like Alaska, northern Europe, or northern Canada, the seasons can feel extreme. Summer can stretch into endless daylight while winter hides the sun for months. Here, seasonal living leans on temperature, nature cycles, and energy patterns. Winter still invites rest, introspection, warm nourishing foods, and cozy indoor rituals. Spring still calls for gentle movement, new growth, and clearing space in life. Summer still asks for active, high-energy experiences, long walks, swimming, and community connection. Autumn continues to be a time to harvest, reflect, and prepare for slower months. Even when sunlight is blaring or scarce, paying attention to these cues keeps you in harmony with the natural cycles around you.

Near the equator, the sun barely shifts, and daylight is consistent year-round. Seasons are often defined by rainfall rather than temperature. The wet season invites slowing down, introspection, and nurturing indoor practices. The dry season encourages activity, exploration, and connection with community and the outdoors. Meals still follow the seasonal availability of fresh fruits, vegetables, and local foods, and movement is still adapted to the weather and energy levels.

For those living in the opposite hemisphere, like Australia or South America, the traditional seasons may feel backwards to what many of us here at MM or in the Northern Hemisphere think of as “typical.” Christmas comes in the heat of summer, autumn arrives as we’re just experiencing spring, and winter falls while it’s summer elsewhere. Seasonal living here is about observing the local rhythm and flipping the northern-centric ideas of the calendar. What matters is noticing the cycles in your environment and aligning your energy, meals, and rituals to them.

The beauty of the Wheel of the Woman approach is that it gives all women a bridge to connect with these principles, no matter where you live. The wheel is not tied to a calendar; it is tied to life itself, to cycles we can observe in our bodies, in our emotions, and in the rhythms of the earth, moon, and sun around us. Whether your seasons are defined by the sun, the rain, the turning of leaves, or the opposite of what others experience, you can observe, honor, and align with them.

How to practice seasonal living anywhere:

• Observe local nature. Notice the plants, animals, and weather patterns.

• Tune into your body's cycles. When do you naturally feel more awake, more creative, more introspective?

• Align meals and movement with your energy and local environment. Warm, nourishing foods in slower seasons; fresh, light foods when energy peaks.

• Create small rituals that mark the seasons— i.e. journaling, tea ceremonies, yoga flows, or connecting with your community.

Seasonal living is not about strict rules. It is about noticing, adjusting, and celebrating your life in harmony with the nature around you. No matter your latitude or which hemisphere you live in, you can move through your own seasons in a way that feels natural, grounded, and deeply nourishing.

Learn more about Seasonal Living in my book, The Wheel of the Woman.