Born and reborn: what every birthday reveals about your cycles
Today, 20 October, is my birthday. And every year, on this date, I come back to the same question: what does it really mean to arrive in the world, and what does it mean to be reborn with each new cycle?
When a child is born, they do not arrive empty. They arrive with everything the “Creador” placed in them from conception: abilities, sensitivities, a rhythm of their own, a unique way of perceiving the world. The Neuroon Method was born from exactly this way of seeing, when I needed to understand and care for my own son, respecting the natural way of each being.
A child’s birth: the arrival of an original configuration
Birth is the first great meeting between a person’s original design and the world that will receive them. Pregnancy, birth and the early years leave deep marks, because that is when the body, the emotions and perception begin to organise themselves.
At the start, a child needs little and a great deal at the same time: presence, bonding, rhythm, sleep, play and an environment that lets them be who they are. It is no accident that so many traditions celebrate birth as something sacred. Every child who arrives on Earth brings something that did not yet exist here.
Every birthday is a rebirth
Birth happens once. Rebirth happens every year.
In the Neuroon Method, a birthday marks the turn of a new personal year. Everything that has been in you since birth is still there, but each cycle asks for a fresh look at your abilities, your challenges and your choices. What worked last year may no longer serve you. What seemed far away may be ready to happen.
That is why a birthday is more than a party. It is a turning point, an invitation to ask: what is this new cycle asking of me?
The seven-year cycles: life in periods of seven years
Anthroposophy, the school of thought founded by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner in the early 20th century, describes human development in cycles of seven years. Later, the Dutch psychiatrist Bernard Lievegoed explored these phases of adult life in greater depth. Each cycle has a theme, a task and its own way for body and soul to relate to the world.
0 to 7: the body takes shape. The child learns by imitating and needs to feel that the world is good. This stage asks for rhythm, free play, nature, sleep and plenty of presence.
7 to 14: feelings and imagination are born. The world needs to be beautiful. This stage asks for art, stories, routine and adults who are role models.
14 to 21: critical thinking and the search for truth awaken. This stage asks for movement, ideals, belonging and room to question.
21 to 28: the self begins to take charge of its own life. It is a time to experiment, choose and make mistakes. This stage asks for freedom with responsibility.
28 to 35: life asks for structure: career, family, roots. This stage asks for organisation and the courage to consolidate what is yours.
35 to 42: questions of meaning arise. Is what I have built enough? This stage asks for authenticity and a change of course where needed.
42 to 49: the body begins to ask for less excess and more listening, and life makes room for wisdom and purpose. This stage asks for pause, depth and coherence between how you live and who you are.
49 to 56: experience turns into vision. This stage asks for generosity and the wish to leave something for others.
56 to 63: attention turns to the essence. This stage asks for simplicity and truth.
After 63: the years considered free, of gratitude and harvest. They ask for presence and sharing.
The seven-year cycles are not a rigid rule. They are a map: they help us understand why certain crises appear at certain ages, and why what made sense at 25 can feel heavy at 40.
The body changes, and your lifestyle needs to change with it
One of the most common mistakes I see is trying to live at 45 the way you lived at 25. The body at each stage has different needs, and your lifestyle needs to follow those changes: the way you rest, eat, move, work and relate to others.
Neuroscience shows that the brain keeps changing throughout life, creating new connections from what we live and repeat. This means it is never too late to adjust your course, and also that insisting on a rhythm that no longer suits your stage comes at a price.
When the body asks for something else and we do not listen, the tiredness that never goes away appears, along with irritability and the feeling of living on autopilot. In the Neuroon Method, we put it this way: if it feels heavy, it’s wrong. The weight is a sign that your life has drifted away from your original design and from the stage you are living.
How to live your next rebirth
On your next birthday, try pausing and calmly answering four questions:
Which seven-year cycle am I in, and what is the task of this stage?
What in my daily life still belongs to a stage that has already passed?
What is my body asking for that I keep putting off?
If this new year were a fresh start, what would I choose to take with me and what would I leave behind?
Write the answers down. They tend to reveal more than any New Year’s resolution.
We are born once. We are reborn always.
A child’s birth reminds us that every person arrives in the world whole, with a design of their own. A birthday reminds us that this design is still alive and asks to be found again, year after year, stage after stage.
In 19 years of research and more than 32,000 lives accompanied, I have learnt that nobody needs to become someone else. The work is to reveal who you have always been and to live it at the right pace for this moment.
If you feel it is time to look at your cycle in more depth, discover ORIGIN NEUROON. And if today is your birthday, receive my warmest wishes: happy rebirth.
Dr Carlos Eduardo de Souza
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