I am and I’m sure you are too! Spring is the hardest season for me. One would think it would be Winter in Chicago but no, it’s Spring.I am impatient by nature and Spring is sooo slow here.We have teasers of beautiful days (fake Spring) and then right back to bitter cold, wind and snow.Sure, we have signs of buds and sprouts and daffodils but when those winds come off Lake Michigan, it can still be winter in May.
I feel we are in a Chicago Spring in regards to the Pandemic. We are so close! Rates are coming down but these new variants are like the unpredicted bursts of winter that could prolong the pandemic. I believe the patience that is required when you live in Chicago is also required at this time as the pandemic ship is slowly turning course as more and more people get vaccinated adding to the millions who have already gotten COVID to create the herd immunity we need in order to gather with our loved ones.
We look forward to getting our lives back to normal. But, will our lives get back to normal? What is normal now after our world has been turned upside down? Do we want to get back to what was normal? Was normal healthy? This time of waiting is a good time to reflect.
What COVID habits do you want to keep? Maybe you’ve been spending more time outdoors for example. What do you need to release and focus on in order to create the life you desire moving forward?
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost. Martha Graham
Renew “ Release “ Re-Align
If you observe nature and animals, we see that Spring is a slow process of emerging from the inactivity of Winter as new growth is unfolding. More light helps to energize us and gives us optimism and a desire to clean out closets, clean out the garden and make room for something new.
Spring starts with the Equinox on March 21st, the day when day/night, light/dark are equal. This is the balance between Yin and Yang or masculine and feminine energies although these energies are not gender dependent. Yin or feminine is the receptive, intuitive, inward facing energy dominant in Winter; Yang is masculine and is more action oriented, logic and outward facing.
We become out of balance when we don’t honor the natural flow of these energies throughout the year and in ourselves. We can get stuck in dominant or destructive patterns of both of those energies and can experience the following imbalances:
- Anxiety, Burnout or Adrenal Fatigue = too much Yang or masculine doing/pushing energy.
- Sloth or inability to motivate and take action, depression, fatigue, confusion = destructive Yin energy.
- Both of these are stress responses to fear.
The Spring Session of the Garden Series will be focused on retraining the nervous system so you don’t react out of fear. We will balance the Yin/Yang energies and plant the seeds of what you want to create. We will work with the body, mind and heart to renew, release and align to your Higher Self; the Self that is in tuned with your natural ability to create.
Here are some ways to balance your Mind-Body-Spirit this Spring as we emerge from what seems like the longest winter of our lives!
Body
- After a winter of comfort foods, Spring is a time to shift to foods that support a natural detox that are in season such as asparagus, arugula, artichokes, beets, carrots, chard, dandelion greens, garlic scapes, grapefruit, kale, leeks, lettuce, peas, parsley, radishes, spinach, spring onions, strawberries and turnips.
- Soups and salads are a perfect combination of warm/cold that are in keeping with the Yin/Yang balance of energy now.
- Walking and yoga are good activities that energize without depleting.
Mind
- Clear your mind of distractions to make room for what you want to focus on and grow. Try this short Awareness Meditation.
- Declutter your desk, a closet, your garden.
Spirit
- Heart centered meditation as a way of meeting the difficult emotions of 2020 and this past winter so you can open your heart to the energy of what wants to be created. Try the linked Self-Compassion meditation as a way to renew yourself and let go of emotions that can block your ability to feel positive emotions.
