EPISODE 107

The 4 Season Solution

In a mechanistic, always-on world, seasonal living is all about mixing things up in the healthier, more oscillating rhythms dictated by nature. Here, we talk about Dallas’s exciting new book on the topic, and the counsel it offers health-seekers of all stripes.

This week we’re talking about Dallas’s new book, The 4 Season Solution, which is now available in bookstores everywhere!  

In addition to recapping the central themes of Dallas’s book, and hearing about the excited response it has gotten from early readers, we talk about the relevance of the book’s themes to the challenges so many of us are facing now.  

We explore the overall importance of seasonal living in relation to good health. And we also consider how incorporating season-appropriate adjustments can relieve stress and even support the reversal of chronic conditions and diseases — by lowering inflammation, re-regulating our biochemistry, and improving the resilience of our body-mind’s integrated systems. 

As always, we wrap up with some experiments to help you integrate more season-driven wisdom into your own life.

“The 4 Season Solution” Episode Highlights

  • The scope of The 4 Season Solution: What you eat, what your dark/light cycle is like, how you move and how you connect
  • How we got stuck and where we went wrong (Part 1 of the book), and how we get unstuck (Part 2)
  • Listening to your inner expert: If something that is supposedly good for you doesn’t feel right in your body, it’s not good for you
  • How each of the seasons has a symbolic theme that can be represented by neurotransmitters and hormones, and our year-round cultural focus on the high productivity of summer
  • Why we fight nature’s cycles at our own peril, and why honoring each season’s unique patterns is an essential part of the solution
  • How we’ve become more binary in our thinking and prone to tunnel vision as we’ve become more stressed as a society
  • Integrating seasonal health into the functional/integrative medicine model
  • “Anchors”: The most critical, impactful things anyone can do, regardless of resources or circumstances
  • How people are responding to The 4 Season Solution and living it themselves

Right now (or tomorrow morning, first thing), walk outside, take a deep breath and smell the air. Notice the feel of the air on your skin and the quality of the light or dark. Notice the sounds. What are the qualities of this moment and how are they broadcasting the season to you? How does your body feel in response to the stimulus? What messages is nature sending you? See if noticing these seasonal inputs inspires you to change some aspect of your daily choices, attitudes or behaviors.

Do something to release yourself from our society’s chronic and stressful “summer” energy. If you don’t have a meditative practice, start a tiny one — even two to five minutes can bring you more into the present moment. During the meditation think about what you have in your life and see if you can notice what you’re grateful for. Gratitude can spark spontaneous generosity, and generosity can help heal the world.

Resources

  • The “We’re Back” episode of The Living Experiment, in which Dallas and Pilar both offer updates on their books, and Dallas presents a detailed overview of his book’s key messages
  • Episodes that delve deeper into Dallas’s seasonal model of health: “Seasons”, “Winter”, “Spring”, “Summer” and “Autumn”
  • Want to come on a retreat with Dallas and Pilar? Tell us so we can hook you up! Click here or on the “Retreat” button in the nav bar to give us your contact info and tell us which locations and seasons appeal to you most!

Order Our Books!

You’ve heard us talking about them for years. Wouldn’t you like to among the very first to read them? Both are on shelves now!

The Healthy Deviant: A Rule Breaker’s Guide to Being Healthy in an Unhealthy World by Pilar Gerasimo.

ORDER FROM AN INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLER

ORDER FROM AMAZON
The 4 Season Solution: The Groundbreaking New Plan for Feeling Better, Living Well, and Powering Down Our Always-On Lives by Dallas Hartwig

ORDER FROM AN INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLER

ORDER FROM AMAZON

Plus …

Sign up for The Living Experiment newsletter so you can stay up to date with us, and receive notifications when new episodes are released.

Subscribe to The Living Experiment on Apple Podcasts to have fresh episodes delivered to your podcast feed as soon as they’re released.

Share the Love!

Have you told your friends and family about The Living Experiment? If you dig the podcast, please share it! And leave a review at Apple Podcasts or wherever you subscribe. Every recommendation from you means a lot!

We’d also love to have you connect with us on Facebook. Tell us about your experiments, and share your thoughts, stories and reflections there.