On March 20th, 2022 we acknowledged the Spring Equinox - a time when the turning of the earth shifts in its relationship to the sun - signifying the start of Spring. During this time, new life is supported in making its way in the northern Hemisphere as Mother Earth and all of her adornments open once again as expressions of becoming. As human beings, we are one with these expressions. Like the trees, flowers, bears and birds - our life is sustained in interrelationship with this miraculous planet. As such, this special season invites us to make time to refresh, renew & be. Engage these practices to support you:
Get outside, get to a stream. Allow the eyes to witness the water in dance with the grasses, underlying plants and stones. Witness the water level of soon to be swelling streams. Allow your ears to receive the sounds, natures music notes. Allow your skin to feel fluctuations, changing currents of air and wind. Take note in these practices: is your energy seeking out your surrounds, eager not to miss anything - strong in the desire to to take it all in? Does your energy open to being, simply resting back, allowing all that is ready to make its way to you? Take a few moments to notice, you got this, give it a try!
Star Bathing. Stay up a little later, bring your blanket, and make time to gaze at the stars. Connect with the earth beneath you and the energy of the cosmos above. Observe, mindfully. Make note of the energy you are connecting with and how it feels in the body. Do you feel energized? Relaxed? Do you notice thoughts or emotions moving through. Open, allow, engage with the stars - be.
Mediative Journaling. Wake up early, gather pen and paper. Take some breaths, then allow the focus to shift within. When you wake each morning, choose to cultivate awareness of self in the present moment. Take note how you are feeling in your bodymind, what is arriving through each of your five sense doors (see, hear, smell, taste, touch). Take pen to paper, capture your experience just as it is, embrace these few irreplaceable moments as fully as the moment will allow. Pause, acknowledge, breathe.
Spring is the perfect time to clean house, to take stock. We may ask ourselves, what is here that the stillness of winter has allowed me more clearly to see...
What no longer serves me that I am ready to be let-go of, turn away from or release? What nourishes, serves and fuels my days, that with intention, I choose to keep? How are my relationships? How are my perspectives? What habits, friendships, behaviors that I have accessed in the past or have access to now, serve the life that is becoming through me?
Spring is the time to reflect & review, inviting the self, through intention and awareness to clean, shed and rearrange. Making way for this newly evolved version of self to step up into the driver's seat, directing our personal energy flow. You may be thinking, "But I don't know yet who this newly evolved version of self is, or what it will need…" - and I assure you, it is like that in all of nature. At the beginning of spring, if we checked in with the growing flowers and budding trees, and if they had words and consciousness that could self-reflect, the sentiments expressed would be just the same. We don't know what we don't know, and living amidst the unknown is part of our interrelationship with nature. The question is, can we be with the unknown, knowing that even this is okay? It is during these times that we must call on the tool of the breath, allowing it to support our capacity to pause for a moment - resting in the steadiness of its reliability. Grounding into our felt sense of its movements in the body; just this moment. When we lean in on our supports, it is likely we will find that there is more knowing present than we often allow ourselves to see.
May we be like the cherry blossoms blooming from the trees, simply following the gentle coaxing of a little more time in relationship with the earth, the air, the sun, each drawing out our authenticity, our capacity to speak - overtime revealing to us our beauty and our needs. May the support we allow, like the relationships between the blossoms, sun, rain and bees, show us the way to becoming - from buds on branches, to stunning scented flowers, to edible cherries seeded with new life hanging humbly from the steady wisdom of trees. May we allow our natural surroundings to teach us about trust, surrender, and knowing as we make our way through each Spring day. We would love to hear from you. Tell us, what are your favorite activities for supporting the cycles of new beginning in your life this Spring?