• The wisdom of the five seasons

  Understand the Five Phases of Chinese medicine—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water—and their relationships to the seasons, colors, natural cycles, and traditional animal symbolism. Explore the distinctive qualities of each season and how they can inform the way we live.

  The body and the seasons

  Learn about the traditional relationships between seasonal change, the organs and meridian systems, sleep, digestion, movement, and energy. Explore how to adapt everyday routines to support your body's changing needs throughout the year.

  Food, herbs, and the seasonal kitchen

  Discover seasonal ingredients, traditional food energetics, herbal infusions, simple recipes, and practical ways to work with the harvest. Learn how the qualities of foods, preparation methods, and seasonal availability can inform what you eat and drink.

  Movement, breath, and meditation

  Explore practices drawn from yoga, qigong, breathwork, and meditation. Learn how to adapt movement and stillness to the qualities of each season, creating a personal practice that can evolve throughout the year.

  Emotional health and inner ecology

  Consider the relationships between the seasons, emotional patterns, energy, and personal growth. Explore reflection practices and ways of working with your own inner landscape as the natural world changes around you.

  Living in relationship with the natural world

  Bring seasonal awareness into ordinary life through gardening, cooking, observing local plants, spending time outdoors, and marking seasonal transitions. Explore the connections between Chinese and Daoist traditions, Western seasonal customs, astrology, and the agricultural calendar.

Living with the Seasons is designed as an ongoing learning experience, allowing you to build knowledge and practical skills month by month.

• One live gathering each month: Meet on Zoom for 2 hours of guided teaching, exploration, and seasonal practice.

• One monthly recording guiding an activity to try on your own

• A year of learning: Follow the progression of the seasons, building on what you have learned and observed in previous months.

• Practical experiences: Take ideas beyond the screen through simple recipes, movement, meditation, observation, and seasonal activities.

• Time for reflection: Consider what is changing in nature and in your own life, and how to apply each month's learning in meaningful ways.

• A growing personal practice: Develop a collection of seasonal tools and practices you can return to year after year.

• Recorded learning: Sessions will be recorded, making the course material available for future on-demand learning until February 1, 2028.

This course is for curious people who want to understand themselves and their environment more deeply and bring that understanding into everyday life.

You may be interested in Chinese medicine, herbalism, yoga, qigong, meditation, seasonal food, gardening, traditional philosophies, or the relationship between human health and the natural world.

You do not need previous experience with Chinese medicine or any particular movement practice. The course is designed to welcome beginners while offering depth for those who already have experience in these areas.

Come ready to learn, ask questions, observe, and experiment. The intention is not to follow a rigid set of rules, but to develop the knowledge and confidence to make thoughtful choices in relationship with the changing world around you.

• Human Ecology Method is an evolving body of work. Future courses and learning experiences will explore the principles of human ecology through focused subjects, practical workshops, and opportunities to develop your own knowledge and skills.

  From seasonal living and traditional health practices to the relationships between our homes, habits, emotions, and natural environments, each course offers another way to explore what it means to live as part of a larger ecological whole.

  Explore. Learn. Practice. Integrate.

  The aim is to leave with more than information: a deeper understanding of yourself, a greater awareness of the world around you, and practical ways to put what you learn into action.