Spring Equinox: Rebirthing Your Business through Seasonal Wisdom - EP 041

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What if the greatest business wisdom isn't found in bestselling books or trending posts, but in the thawing earth beneath our feet? What if, instead of forcing growth at all costs, we tuned into the natural ebbs and flows of our energy and creativity?

In this special episode, I'm joined by wellness expert, artist, and activist Krissy Shields to explore the profound connection between the spring equinox and how we can birth new iterations of our businesses. We discuss how this powerful threshold moment – positioned between the lunar eclipse on March 13th and the solar eclipse on March 29th – creates both a pulling backward as we release old patterns and a pushing forward into new possibilities.

Together, we explore rituals for honoring transitions, the intentional practice of seed-planting, and the shift from individualism to community-centered approaches. You'll discover practical ways to align your business with seasonal wisdom and embrace the sometimes messy process of authentic transformation.

Episode Takeaways:

• The spring equinox represents a powerful threshold moment of balance before transformation.
• Aligning business planning with natural cycles creates more sustainable growth patterns.
• Natural transitions are messy by design – embracing this creates space for authentic growth.
• Intentional seed-planting in business requires proper foundation and reciprocity.
• Working with elemental energies creates more balance in our business approach.
• The Three Sisters agricultural practice offers a powerful metaphor for business collaboration.
• Different "growing conditions" in business require different approaches and expectations.
• Seasonal wisdom teaches us to honor cycles of action, rest, and renewal.
• Community-centered approaches create more resilience than individualistic ones.
• Embracing the threshold energy of this time means letting go of what no longer serves your growth.

Key Insights:

"The equinox itself serves as a sacred pause in this dynamic, a moment of stillness at the center of transformation. It's like standing at a threshold with one foot in what's ending and one in what's beginning."

"When we try to operate at peak productivity all year round, we inevitably burn out. Just as the earth moves through seasons of planting, growth, harvest, and rest, our businesses benefit from similar rhythms."

"The transition from winter to spring isn't instantaneous or neat. It's messy, with warm days followed by cold snaps, with mud and melting and uncertainty. Our business transformations often follow similar patterns."

Resources Mentioned:

• The Medicine Woman Oracle Deck by Catherine Maillard
• Pause, Rest, Be by Octavia F. Raheem
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• There There by Tommy Orange 
• Qoya Inspired Movement

Connect with Krissy Shields: 

• mahamamma.com
• Instagram: @krissyshields 

Connect With Me:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @RachelAnzalone
• Facebook: Rachel.Anzalone
• LinkedIn: RachelAnzalone

Question for Your Reflection:

What seeds are ready to be planted in your business this spring, and what old patterns need to be released to make space for new growth?

 

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Remember: Your pleasure is your power. 💫

 

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Episode Transcript

Rachel Anzalone (01:14)

Hello and welcome to Pleasure and Profits. I'm your host, Rachel Anzalone. And for today's episode, I have something a little bit different for you. We're gonna be exploring the power of connection between the spring equinox and how we're often birthing new iterations of ourselves and our businesses in seasons and cycles as well.

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the March equinox marks a moment of perfect balance. Equal day and equal night. Before we tip into the spring season of growth and expansion, it's a potent time for setting intentions and planting seeds that will flourish in the months ahead. What's particularly powerful about this year's equinox is its timing within the astrological window of the lunar eclipse that occurred on March 13th and the solar eclipse that's coming up on March 29th.

In this window, we're experiencing an intensified period of release and renewal. I don't know if you're feeling that, but I most definitely am. What I'm experiencing, and maybe you are too, is that this is creating a really visceral tension, a simultaneous pulling backward as we shed old patterns and pushing forward as new possibilities emerge. 

The equinox itself serves as a sacred pause in this dynamic, a moment of stillness at the center of transformation. It's like standing at the threshold with one foot in what's ending and one in what's beginning. I really feel like this mirrors what's happening collectively as well as old systems crumble and new ones take shape. Something that I discussed with Sheri Salata in episode 38 about the long transition between paradigm shifts.

Recently, I had a wonderful conversation with my friend, Krissy Shields, about these themes. Krissy is a wellness expert, an artist, an activist, and she's been empowering women and families with accessible movement practices, spiritual herbalism, and mindfulness for over 20 years. As the founder of MahaMama, she weaves together her passion for social justice and advocacy for maternal health. She's led yoga teacher training programs around the US. She has taught in homeless shelters, prisons, public schools, and has led global experiences to foster well-being through embodied movement and collective care. She lives with her family in New York City and in the Catskill Mountains, where she's in deep reciprocity with the land.

Throughout today's episode, I'll be sharing excerpts from our conversation as we explore how we can align our businesses with this powerful seasonal energy. We’ll discuss everything from honoring transitions to literal and metaphorical seed planting, to shifting from individualism to community-centered approaches. 

But first, I'd like to invite you into the energy of this transition with a grounding practice that Krissy Shields shared during our conversation. If you're driving or in an environment where closing your eyes is not appropriate, that's completely fine. Just absorb what resonates and let the rest flow by for the next three to four minutes.

 

Krissy Shields (04:06)

Beautiful. So if it feels comfortable for you, close your eyes. If it doesn't, that's okay. Just lower your gaze to one point.

And if it feels comfortable for you, allow your spine to grow tall. If you're relaxing on your back, that works too. Just allow yourself to be still for a moment and connect in with your breath.

Expanding in the ribcage as you inhale.

And exhale release.

And there is a settling that happens when we do that with consciousness. So take a few more breaths.

Lengthening your spine and then softening like the ice melts where you can. Maybe it's in your face, your cheeks or your jaw. Perhaps your shoulders can thaw out.

Perhaps on this next inhale and then the exhale, you can release the thoughts that may be keeping you trapped.

Like you see ice melt into the soil. There's a little cushion on the ground. So allow yourself to feel that softness underneath.

And then from your midline on the next inhale, feel a growth, a line along your spine like a sprout of crocus or daffodils or tulips. When you exhale, just pause.

Like it so beautifully does these bulb plants inhaling continue to grow up along your spine, slowly making your way to your heart, pausing for a moment as you exhale. 

Inhaling up to your throat and holding as you exhale in this space of your truth.

Inhaling to your third eye, holding here.

And one more inhale through the crown and blossom. Feel the blossom of the flower. Whatever it may be, Hyacinth with great aroma, the regalness of Tulip, the sprightliness of Daffodil, the innocence of the Crocus.

Take a moment and feel into that blossom, softening where you can.

When you’re ready, flutter your eyes open.

 

Rachel Anzalone (08:52)

That was really beautiful. Thank you so much. I love that there is this background of children laughing.

Krissy is located in New York City in Hell's Kitchen, and I know your apartment is right by a school. And so there's that background noise, which is so beautiful and so fun to listen to.

 

Krissy Shields (09:06)

Yeah.

 

Rachel Anzalone (09:12)

And then the New York City sounds, like a siren coming in, right? And so I just think it's great, great symbolism for kind of the times that we're in and the need to learn to go inward and focus and be present, regardless of what's going on around us.

 

Rachel Anzalone (09:33)

There's something powerful about taking these moments to connect with our bodies and with the natural rhythms around us. As entrepreneurs, we're often caught in the hustle of constantly doing, constantly producing. But as Krissy reminds us, there's wisdom in softening and allowing ourselves to thaw like the spring ice melt into the earth. I love that while we were recording this, there were sounds of New York City in the background, children playing on the playground at the school, across the street from Krissy's apartment, a couple of sirens wailing because it's such a metaphor for our lives as entrepreneurs. We're constantly surrounded by noise and stimulation and yet we need to find that center, that still point within ourselves where we can connect with our deeper wisdom. That's the real practice, not meditating on a mountain top in silence and privacy, but finding clarity amidst the chaos of our daily lives.

As we explore the significance of the spring equinox, I'd like to share a card that I pulled from an oracle deck in preparation for this episode. I pulled it right before my conversation with Krissy and it really couldn't be more perfect. I pulled the card from the Medicine Woman Oracle deck by Catherine Maillard. 

And the card I pulled was Rebirth and its message feels particularly relevant to this moment. “An opportunity for deep transformation is before you. Life is punctuated with passages. After sacred waiting comes the birthing process.” 

Winter is that sacred waiting, the internal reflection, the dormancy that precedes growth. And right now, as we transition into spring, we enter the birthing process. This card invites us to ask what gift, talent, or great love is waiting to hatch in your life and in your business? What seeds are you ready to plant? So many cultures around the world honor this transition with rituals and celebrations. In our conversation, Krissy shared about the Persian New Year, Nowruz, which her family celebrates.

 

Krissy Shields (11:29)

My household celebrates the Persian New which is called Nowruz. My husband is Persian. And so we have for years leaned into the equinoxes and the solstice and just as like, like it's the holidays. It's not necessarily a statement of like seasonal or even thinking about it in those terms 22 years ago when I first started dating him and then learning more about it. 

But the more I learned, the more I was like, this is amazing. So for this holiday, Persians and it's a Zoroastrian holiday. So it predates Christ by about 500 to 1,000 years. We don't know for certain, but you create an altar. And there's festivals all around it. So the way that we celebrate our new year on the Gregorian calendar, and like starting things new in January seasonally doesn't really make sense because we should be wintering. 

And when you think about the Persian New Year and things on the altar or the table, it's called a Haft-sin, on the table is eggs for fertility and spices for like spice in your life and vinegar for wisdom with age, a mirror for self-reflection, a candle for like lightness and always knowing, an apple for health and then I have lentils on my window sill, so that the light gets them and they sprout and they turn into grass and that's saps. This Haft-sin is seven, the seven S's, the seven pieces of the altar which is like garlic and spices and candy for sweetness. Like it's just the symbolism of the Haft-sin is, it just so for the past 20 years to you know, over 20 years I've been celebrating this, and then over the past I would say for three to five years I've been diving more into my own personal heritage which is Celtic.

So I've always embraced culture and you know now I'm getting into having a couple of New Year's, you know, we get get lots of different startovers but for this in particular I embrace the Persian calendar and the New Year like who doesn't want five or six or ten different times of the year where you get to like let's just start over, let's clean the house.

 

Rachel Anzalone (14:15)

Yeah.

 

Rachel Anzalone (14:19)

What I love about tradition is how it honors the natural cycles and creates intentional space for reflection and renewal.

In the business world, we often default to the Gregorian calendar, setting goals in January when we're deep in winter energy. But what if we aligned our planning and visioning with these natural transition points instead? How might that change our relationship with growth and productivity?

In previous episodes, we've talked about the satisfaction strategy, the framework that I've developed around creating alignment between impact, profit, and pleasure in our businesses. A key component of this approach is recognizing the cyclical nature of sustainable growth. When we try to operate at peak productivity all year round, it is inevitable that we will burn out.

Just as the earth moves through seasons of planting, growth, harvest, and rest, our businesses benefit from similar rhythms. Winter is the time of reflection, of planning and building strong foundations. Spring invites us to plant seeds and try new approaches to allow our creativity to flourish. Summer brings the energy for full expression and implementation while autumn calls us to harvest what we've created and begin to let go of what's complete.

What's fascinating about this particular equinox is how it embodies both the fiery forward momentum of Aries season and the reflective release energy of the eclipse cycle. This mirrors what many of us are experiencing in our businesses right now, a pull to leap forward into new possibilities while simultaneously needing to release old patterns and ways of operating that no longer serve us as individuals or as a collective. Krissy shared a beautiful perspective on listening to what each season is telling us.

 

Krissy Shields (15:58)

And so I feel like spring, know, nature just shows us it doesn't force its way here. Just like leaves don't force their way off a tree in the fall. They just release. It's the greatest lesson. And so in this season, I’m starting something new. And so I put a lot of thought and intention around that, like it happening around the equinox and the birth of spring. 

In Celtic culture, the rebirth is Samhain. And that in their culture, my culture, things are born in darkness. And so also think about the cycle of things. you know, birth happens. in that darkness.

So there's great wisdom all around in that.

 

Rachel Anzalone (16:53)

Yeah, I think we have a tendency in our culture to want for things to be linear, and often binary. It's either this or it's that, is it the beginning or is it the end? Is it the birth or is it the death? And in reality, what we're talking about is that there's so much overlap and intermingling of these things that there isn't a moment where one thing ends and the next begins. There's sort of this weaving together in some way or things are breaking down, but while they're breaking down, other things are coming to life. And this idea that it's sort of all happening concurrently, in all ways, in nature, in our lives and our personal growth and development and our businesses so that there's nothing linear happening.

 

Krissy Shields (17:38)

Absolutely. And if we continue to move in this idea of the masculine and not listen to the great mother, she's showing us so exquisitely most places that you go. On the Northern Hemisphere, let's say, that things are blossoming. And so embrace that idea. And then in the summer, like, it's too hot, so you know, drink, drink hibiscus tea and maybe rest a little bit, you know, a little bit more. But like, now's the time to go. Now's the time to like, you know, I almost said capitalize. Oof. So that's like, capitalize on what's happening, you know, that's a old thinking, but yeah, like listen, listen to the land. I just, loved being on my land this past weekend and like the squish of every step, you know, it's the same as like the leaves when you like crunch the leaves. It's like, yeah, that sound. It's like the crunch of the little bits of snow that's leftover. You know?

 

Rachel Anzalone (18:52)

Yeah. And that softening as it's like the ground is thawing and it's wet, that sort of, yeah.

 

Krissy Shields (19:03)

It's so porous, it's so porous, it's so ripe for ideas, you know? And let it spring forward. It's gonna take a little time to germinate. And every plant has their own season right? Like their time to flourish. So right now it's the crocus and the daffies and the tulips, you know?

 

Rachel Anzalone (19:12)

Yeah, remembering in the Northeast. And it's usually in March, this sort of fall spring that happens where like flowers will start to bloom, but you know it's gonna snow again. It's not done. And so there isn't a defining moment where suddenly it's spring. There's this transition where it warms and things start to blossom and then it gets cold and it snows again. And, you know, I've, I've definitely shoveled snow in April in my life. and back to you talking about the ground and the earth and the softening of it and all these references to, to birthing and the, and birthing in the darkness is that it's also really fucking messy. Like the spring is messy.

Yeah, that transition, it's messy. And our culture likes for things to be clean and organized and neat. And birthing is messy and transition is messy and femininity is messy. And so this season of transition from winter into spring, in nature, but also collectively it might be messy.

 

Krissy Shields (20:39)

Yeah. And then what do you do? It's like, I hurry up and clean up or just keep listening, right? I think shying away from force effort is really where it's at. Makes me think of Octavia Rahim's book, Rest, Pause, Be. And it's like, just, do we need to really lean into what capitalism and the patriarchy frankly have instilled in us as the feminine within us is not on that cycle? 

And I see a lot of burnout with people in that cog of the wheel and how do we, how do we really stop and listen? I mean, that's one big learning that I got from the Celtic wisdom is the land was always the keeper. The king was the land. Like there was never a king. There was never a leader. It was the land. And I know from Persian culture, there's such a, a reverence of feminine. They lean into poetry and mosaic art. And so there's always that feminine quality that I just respect. So listening to the land, and what is the land saying? You know, and even in a city where I don't have a lot softness under my feet have to put a little effort into getting into the land and go to Central Park or Prospect Park and allow myself to really listen to like, what is the land saying? But take that time to see what's happening and pause, rest, be, and listen to what like that is that messy transition. Every transition is messy. Death, birth, it's messy. There's no clean way of coming in or leaving this place. 

And so, and we get to see it on a regular basis. If we go like a one day at a time or the moon cycle, right? So the full moon to the dark moon, to the new moon, and being able to listen in, this listening to the equinox, it's just once a year. So it's like, there's something really special about it.

 

Rachel Anzalone (23:14)

This idea of listening to the land can be applied to our businesses as well. What if instead of forcing growth at all costs, we tuned into the natural ebbs and flows of our energy and creativity? What if we made decisions based on what felt aligned for this particular season, rather than trying to do everything all at once?

The transition from winter to spring isn't instantaneous, and it definitely isn't neat. It's messy, with warm days followed by cold snaps, with mud and melting and uncertainty.

Our business transformations often follow similar patterns. There's rarely a clean break between one phase and the next. Instead, there's overlap, experimentation, and sometimes confusion in the middle of all that. 

In our conversation, Krissy and I discussed how there isn't a clear delineation between seasons. It's not like winter ends one day and spring begins the next. There's a push-pull, a dance between endings and beginnings that can feel chaotic sometimes, but it actually is perfectly natural. Embracing this messiness is part of allowing authentic growth to happen, both in nature and in our work.

One of the most powerful practices at this time of year is seed planting, both literal and metaphorical. In our conversation, Krissy shared about her own relationship with planting.

 

Krissy Shields (24:35)

It's a lot of hard equity work, right? Of clearing the beds. And the mental labor and the physical labor combined with the spiritual, like the hope. It's like the prayer, the wish, the intention set into these seeds that you're planting. And I think that that's a really important piece. It's not just about clearing the path. It's about, if it's about this reciprocity in the work, then it is, then it is a higher calling. 

And that's how I look at the work that we do. It's of service, being of service. And so it's a higher calling of what we're bringing into the world so that we can help someone. You know, what is the, what is the question that you're answering or what is the problem that you're solving is so key.

 

Rachel Anzalone (25:33)

Yeah, so many great lessons before you can even plant the seeds, you have to prepare the soil. You have to build the foundation. So I think of that in terms of business, of like, what is the foundation that you need to build before you can then plant the seeds, and then you need to cultivate the seeds so that over time you are able to reap the harvest, and that all of that needs to be in a relationship of reciprocity, that you're not extracting from the land when you're planting plants and you're not extracting from society, you're not extracting from people, you're not extracting from your community, but that you're creating something and cultivating something that's really about nourishing each other and being in reciprocity with everything that we do.

Some of the challenges, some of the issues that I see in the entrepreneurial landscape lately. And I'm sure that it's always been there, but I feel like it's come up a lot more in the last handful of years, we were talking about the soil needing to be rich and the soil needing to be nourished and like what are the layers and the richness of the soil where you can plant the seeds and produce the flower or the vegetable or whatever it is, there has been for a long time an energy of extraction, of the belief that you don't need to create a real substantial foundation, that it's really about what can I sell and what can I get out of this versus what have I nourished and nurtured and cultivated in myself that now can foster the growth and the nourishment and the support of someone else. and that energy exchange that is about reciprocity versus how quickly can I sell something and make money without having to invest too much of myself or my time or my effort into it.

 

Krissy Shields (27:30)

Yeah. I mean, we're a commodity society. So we're just like, looking for fast and easy. Listen, I've tried it. It did not work. In terms of, in terms of gardening, I've tried it in all the areas, in business, but also in, in, terms of gardening, like you know, it might work, quickly. It could, but it's short-sighted one way or the other.

 

Rachel Anzalone (27:57)

Right, it could, yeah.

 

Krissy Shields (28:04)

You know, I was kind of thrown in the fire of buying a house with 50 raised garden beds and I thought I could do it. So there were some, there were some short cuts that I thought I could make. And now I'm like five seasons in, five years in, right? Many seasons in, of going through and really deeply listening and like learning what these plants want. And so in five years, some things are really working and flourishing and exciting and some things are just slogging along.

 

Rachel Anzalone (28:39)

You've mentioned planting seeds a few times. And so in the context that you're talking about, you're talking about planting literal seeds for, flowers, vegetables, herbs, if we shift to a metaphorical planting of seeds, how do you see the connection between planting of seeds in this time and what that leads to in harvest in terms of our intentions for us personally, for our businesses? And how would you bring that energy of actual seed planting in the spring into planting metaphorical seeds or intentional seeds or energetic seeds?

 

Krissy Shields (29:17)

Yeah, there is a dream period, right? There's that space where you're visualizing what it is that you're looking to create. For me, because I work in flowers as pollinators and food to serve my community and herbs for olive and ivy apothecary and creating products and tinctures and salves, so there is a time of envisioning and meditating, which is why wintering is so important because it really is the time of like dreaming what it is you wish to bring in. And then as we come to these literal and metaphorical seeds, it's like, well, okay, some of the seeds are going to take. Some of the seeds aren't going to take. And so that's okay. 

I can't tell you how many times I have tried new things, in my business, whether it's different workshops or different retreats and gatherings and ways to bring in community. And some things really took off and some things didn't for whatever reason. And some things just needed to be tweaked. A little bit of extra water, a little less sun, a little more sun. You know, there's adjustments that we have to make and to really listen in. And then it's about what does this seed stand for? So there's the intention that we put into the seed, maybe it's this product stands for a way to serve community, a way to honor my lineage, a way to honor my community's lineage, right?

And perhaps, my intention was to clear the way. It's a healing in our business, maybe whatever the product is or whatever the service is, is a chance for us to heal ourselves.

 

Rachel Anzalone (31:13)

Ooh. Yeah. 

 

Krissy Shields (31:14)

Right? And heal others, serve others, whatever line we're healing, whatever part of us that we're healing, whatever pattern we're disrupting, because pattern disruption is really a way to self-discovery and to self-understanding and everything is shifting around us. We're in like seismic shifts right now. And it's like all bets are off. Like we don't know why something will take off, you know, and maybe until hindsight, you know?

 

Rachel Anzalone (31:35)

Yeah. I love this perspective on the intentionality behind planting. It's not just about putting seeds in the ground. It's about the prayer, the wish, the higher calling that infuses the work.

This reminds me of an experience I had while living in Cleveland, Ohio, where I had a garden around my house. Every morning I would get my coffee and go outside still in my pajamas. And I would water and I would weed and just spend time with those plants, nurturing them and letting them nurture me every single day.

And at the end of the summer, there was always this abundant harvest, like tomato plants full, monstrous basil plants that I would cut down and turn into pesto would last the entire winter long. I loved that garden and I loved nurturing it and taking care of it. And I felt nourished back by it from the harvest that we would collect.

And then one year something really surprising happened. That Halloween, I had left a pumpkin sitting on the edge of the garden and as happened sometimes in the Northeast, it snowed probably while the grass was still green and the pumpkin was still out there. And so the pumpkin just got left. And over the course of the winter and into the spring, the pumpkin decayed and rotted into the earth.

And as spring came along, there was no visible trace of it left. It was completely gone. And then suddenly these little sprouts started to shoot up. And I didn't know what they were because I hadn't planted them. And the next thing I knew, there were pumpkin vines growing across my entire front yard, which could not have been more than maybe 20 feet by 20 feet. These huge vines started to grow and they grew so quickly, they started to spread across the entire yard and all the neighborhood kids were just completely fascinated. I was fascinated. I didn't expect them. I didn't plant them on purpose. They planted themselves from the compost. And we grew pumpkins that year in our small city front yard.

It was sort of a happy accident and they just sort of came to life by magic. The soil there was so rich and nourishing and well taken care of that even just accidentally having seeds on the ground resulted in a spectacular harvest.

What strikes me about this is how different growth conditions in the soil and different growth conditions in our businesses affect the harvest that we get. In Florida, where I lived next, you could practically just drop seeds on the ground and in no time you would have plants growing, you'd be able to harvest.

But living in Texas where I am now, the soil is so different and the heat and the sun and the air temperature is so extreme that growing anything requires far more intention, more knowledge, and more care of the soil, more nurturing. 

Similarly, when we look around at other entrepreneurs and we wonder why someone else seems to be achieving greater results with less effort, we often are not seeing the full picture. We're not seeing the foundation that they started with, the timing of their entry into the market, or the behind-the-scenes work that they're doing. So just as growing conditions vary dramatically from one climate to another, our business contexts shape what's possible and what's required for success.

Another beautiful practice for this Equinox season is making offerings to honor the elements and the directions. This practice connects us to the balance of forces that sustain all life and can help us create more balance in our approach to business as well. Krissy shared some accessible ways to work with the elements in our conversation.

 

Rachel Anzalone (35:20)

You mentioned the Persian celebration, the creating of an altar and some of the rituals. So would you share some suggestions for how we might honor this transition, honoring the elements, the directions, creating an altar through ritual, how can we really honor this transition for ourselves?

 

Krissy Shields (35:42)

Yeah, I mean, there's so many ways that you can really embrace it. For me, I plan to plant seeds, literal seeds on my window sill and I almost said altar. I have many altars in my house. So working with all of the elements, so I think about, you know, in the north, that's the element of earth. And so, planting seeds is a great way, but also grounding. So taking your socks off and walking on the grass or the ground or the dirt or the sand, whatever.

Rachel Anzalone (36:24)

The mud, the spring mud.

 

Krissy Shields (36:30)

Yeah, in the mud, yeah. And take a moment and like really allow yourself to connect with your feet to the soil, the sand, the ground, mother earth, right? Grounding, planting seeds. And then to the east is air. And so burning some incense or burning a plant, Mugwort is great for dreams and Sage can bring up some, some wisdom, make sure it's harvested mindfully. And I burn sometimes Tulsi to bring in spirit or just lighting a candle, which brings us to the South and fire. And in easy ways to write down your intentions and burn them and then use the ashes in a house plant or place them literally in the soil. And then going into the West is water. And so another way of making a wish, singing a song that can be air, but then also singing it to the water or taking a piece of paper, biodegradable, ideally, right, for the fishies, and then taking it and like writing down your wishes and then setting it off into a river and seeing it, flow away and things you want to release or intentions you want to start to cultivate and grow with.

 

Rachel Anzalone (38:03)

I love that, that's beautiful.

What I really appreciate about these practices is they are super simple and I think really powerful. They don't require a lot of elaborate special knowledge or tools or anything like that. Just your intention to connect with the natural world that surrounds you. As entrepreneurs, we can think about how these elemental energies show up in our businesses as well.

The Earth represents our foundations, our resources, and our staying power. Air governs communication, ideas, and vision. Fire brings transformation, passion, and the courage to take action. Water connects to our emotions, our intuition, and our capacity to flow. When we consciously work with these elements, we create more balanced, sustainable businesses.

Think about this, where might your business benefit from more groundedness? Where could it use more flow or more passion? How might honoring these different energies bring more alignment into your work?

A theme that feels especially resonant in this particular moment in time is the shift from individualism to community-centered approaches. In our conversation, I asked Krissy about the Three Sisters, the Native American agricultural practice of planting corn, beans, and squash together that I first learned about from Robin Wall Kimmerer's book, Braiding Sweetgrass.

 

Rachel Anzalone (39:30)

Something you and I talk about often that I know we're both really passionate about is this shift from individualism to collectivism. As we're talking about the planting of seeds and the lessons that we can learn from gardening to apply to all these other areas, I'm thinking about the three sisters. You know what I'm referring to. And so would you share a little bit about the three sisters?

 

Krissy Shields (39:51)

Yeah, of course.

Well, I'm moved because last night I had a gathering around a book, There There by Tommy Orange. He wrote this book about, urban indigenous culture and a group of people gathering for a powwow. And so for the gathering, I made the three sisters and I made Indian tacos, which is what he calls it in the book. So the three sisters, way that you would plant them is the corn goes in first and, depending on how many you want to structure, you would make a cross. So you put them in four corners. And then the beans come next and the beans go around those planted four corners. And then now I need to admit that it wasn't very successful last year because then my timing was off.

 

Rachel Anzalone (40:43)

You tried to do this last year. Yeah.

 

Krissy Shields (40:45)

Yes, I tried to plant it for the first time and my timing was off. So it didn't, they didn't catch, but that's okay because there's always next time. So I'm going to do it with valiant effort this next year. But I grew some corn and that was like really exciting for me. And I grew some beans and I grew some squash. They just didn't catch the way they're supposed to, but I'm learning.

But it's about the stalks, you know, being the firm roots of the corn where the beans we're able to grow around them. And then the vines of the squash grow along and with them. So it's this like symbiotic, conversation of plants. And I have something that I, I've talked about wanting to do. And it's like, it's not the time. I've had a couple of things where I've had people that listen to the land, look at me and say, it's just not the time.

Rachel Anzalone (41:44)

Yeah. Yeah.

 

Krissy Shields (41:47)

The timing opens up. So these three sisters are indigenous plants. They were grown on the top of Manhattan, Manahatta, what's now called Inwood. The Lenape Munsee understood the three sisters and how they grew together, but right on this island. It's a symbiosis, like this goes first and then this comes.

 

Rachel Anzalone (42:11)

This agricultural practice offers such rich metaphors for business and particularly for women entrepreneurs who are focused on feminine leadership as the way that they want to operate in the world. Instead of competing for resources, these plants support each other's growth. The corn provides structure for the beans to climb. The beans add nitrogen to the soil and the squash leaves create ground cover that retains moisture and prevents weeds.

What would our business ecosystem look like if we approached it with this mindset? Instead of seeing other entrepreneurs as competition, what if we recognized how we might support each other's growth? What if we valued interdependence rather than independence? This also speaks to the importance of timing in our businesses. Often we rush to implement ideas before they're fully developed or before conditions are right because of a fear of somebody else getting there first or of losing an opportunity. The three sisters teaches us that there's an order to things. First the corn, then the beans, then the squash. Each element has its moment and forcing the timeline doesn't lead to optimal results.

As we begin to integrate these Equinox themes into our businesses, here are a few simple practices that you might consider. First, take time for a seasonal assessment. What seeds did you plant during your winter reflective time? What foundations have you been building? What new growth is ready to emerge at this time? Honor where you are in your cycle rather than forcing yourself to be somewhere else.

Second, create a small altar or visual reminder of your intentions for the season. This might include objects from nature or symbols of what you're cultivating or just writing down your intentions. Place it somewhere visible to keep you connected with those energies. Third, identify one area where you could shift from an individualistic to a more collective approach. Is there a collaboration waiting to happen somewhere? A community that could support your growth? A way to make your work more accessible or impactful?

Fourth, embrace the threshold energy of this time. What needs to be released from your past ways of working to make space for what's emerging? What patterns are surfacing that you thought were long gone but needed one final examination before you let them go? What new direction is calling to you that feels energizing and aligned.

Remember that you're standing at a powerful transformational threshold. Trust the shift that's happening, even when it feels messy or uncertain. Let go of what's clearing and stay open to what's emerging. You're stepping into a new timeline. We all are. We're stepping into a new season and ultimately a new version of ourselves and of our businesses. During our conversation, Krissy shared what's emerging in her own work this spring.

 

Rachel Anzalone (44:59)

As we're wrapping up here, what's emerging for you in your own work in this spring season?

 

Krissy Shields (45:06)

There's a few things. I built a yurt on my land, so I plan to have gatherings. I teach Qoya but gatherings honoring the elements. So teaching herbalism and gardening and walking on the street and plans for survival, which is something that I believe we need and we're going to need, how to survive off of what we have, how to grow, how to grow our own food. And then the building in breathing techniques from 20 years of teaching yoga, chanting and movement exercises, and then play and pleasure. 

So all of this is going to happen on my land. So there's workshops and retreats that are happening. And also, I've been laying down uterus as a form of protest in various places and stages. And it came to me in a vision. I happened to be in at the steps of the Supreme Court in DC and had this vision and bought a bouquet of flowers and laid a uterus down on the day that they were deciding, Mifepristone, whether it should be on the shelves or not, which is the abortion pill. 

And I have a teenager who looked at me and said, what are you doing? Like, this isn't going to do anything. And in some ways, yeah, maybe not. But I have been, and many of us have been, raising our fist and yelling for a long time. And I did it as a form of prayer. And the whole time I was breathing on each flower, may all bodies be equal, be treated equally. And that was my prayer and my wish. And I've been laying the flowers all over the US as a form of prayer and as a form of protest.

Not just a form of protest and not just as a raising of the fist, but that we may all really understand the wisdom of what Mother Earth is giving us, that we don't bypass for greed and capitalism, that we remember, obviously not just body autonomy, but that we remember that we are getting all of the wisdom that we need and the lessons that we need right from where we are. And so take a moment on this beautiful spring day, this first day of spring, and call in some intentions that you wish and prayers that you wish or just wishes that you have in the world, you know, and for your business or for your personal life and allow yourself to take in and see what happens when you plant seeds like that.

 

Rachel Anzalone (48:14)

That’s beautiful. Thank you so much.

 

Rachel Anzalone (48:16)

If you'd like to connect with Krissy and learn more about her work, you can find her at mahamama.com or krissyshields.com and on Instagram @krissyshields. And all those links along with the resources we mentioned today will be included in the show notes. 

As we close today's episode, I invite you to step outside if you can, place your feet on the earth, even if it's muddy, and feel the energy of this transitional season. What seeds are ready to be planted in your business? What new growth is waiting to emerge?

Remember that this awakening doesn't happen all at once. It's a process, sometimes messy, sometimes slow, but always aligned with the natural rhythms of growth and transformation. Until next time, remember, your pleasure is your power. Take care.