3 mindful ways I'm taking care of myself this spring
Spring is most definitely here in the northern hemisphere and I am feeling it. What I find fascinating from year to year, is just how different my experience is with my environment as each season returns. Even though I can see the same shifts happening outside of me and feel them in my body, I never experience the same season in the same way as I did in the past. Each winter, spring, fall and summer feels different in very subtle ways.
Yes…each season has its own markings of change - spring delivers us with an undeniable burst of energy, a freshness of things and a forward encouraging motion. It feels much like a call to gently flutter your sleepy eyes open and emerge from the stillness, peace and solitude of winter. As a transitional season (similar to fall) we can look around us and see change happening everywhere.
Spring is a time of new. We hear new life as baby birds hatch from their little eggs and bring their morning songs. We see new bright green buds emerging from tree branch tips as the sun comes out more and lingers longer in the sky. And many of us tend to want to change something up for ourselves - a new place to live, a new haircut or plan a new trip to a place we haven’t been yet.
New is everywhere.
While Spring is an exciting time, it can also be challenging.
Sometimes I think when we see and feel new happening all around us, but we feel like we haven’t changed or we don’t have something new to experience, we can get stuck in limbo inside of our minds. We can feel like we aren’t in the right place and question where we are going and where we belong.
If we do feel the change, we might not feel safe enough just yet in ourselves to articulate it to the outside world. This is a vulnerability I am familiar with when it comes to facing visibility as an online business owner. I was reminded of this feeling when our temperatures hit 80 degrees for a couple of days last week. I pulled my sandals out for the first time since the fading away of last summer. When I stepped outside to take my morning walk, I instantly felt that my feet were too exposed. Even though the weather was appropriate for it, my mind questioned my choice in footwear. I knew I would be less comfortable in tennis shoes given the heat, but there was still a mental hesitancy there. I was feeling sensitive. Although I felt exposed and vulnerable, it didn’t take long for my mind to feel reassured by my physical experience. I had adapted. By the end of my 10 minute walk, my feet and my mind were very happy about the glow and warmth I experienced all over my body on what felt like a warm summer’s day.
During spring, we enter an in-between state, a liminal right of passage. We experience the moving on from winter and the not quite yet blooming that summer brings us. Sometimes it is so subtle that we don’t even notice it. Much like the extreme weather patterns that have shifted here the past few years, I blink and ask myself, “what happened to spring?”.
This spring, after the recent New Moon Eclipse, I felt a change coming on.
I was changing on the inside. I was coming off a premature launch of a Substack I intended to run that no longer felt right after I announced it. I felt disconnected to my writing and its purpose. At first I thought it was fear, “would anyone really want to read my Substack?”, but I knew people would. Just like I knew people would read this post. I felt confused, disconnected and overwhelmed. A day after the Eclipse, it dawned on me that I needed to take a break from writing on a schedule. I was surprised by this but felt a release as I thought about what I could let go of.
So, I decided to take a break from emailing the Collective Inner Garden Community. This was hard news to deliver for me. I’ve been emailing weekly over the past year, but it was an instinct I couldn’t ignore. I needed a break because I felt like I was shifting inside, but my weekly emails aren’t reflecting it back to me and I wasn’t sure how to move forward with the shift just quite yet. My writing and my desire for it was shifting and my relationship to was is too.
So, I decided to take a month off from emailing and stick to taking care of myself in the ways I know best, so I can return in mid - May, feeling more refreshed, integrated and aligned. One week into my break, I discovered 3 things that are really helping me. So I thought I’d write about my experiences and share them with you, in the hopes they might help you during this time of transition too. Below are 3 mindful ways I’m taking care of myself this spring.
Way One…
Make space
Spring is a time for clearing out the old to make space for the new. And most of us know that it’s hard to welcome in something new if we don’t yet have a place for it. When we value things, we create space for it - so we can be present with it, enjoy it and let it do its job with us. This is the one reason making space during spring is perfect self-care. Letting go of what we no longer need by clearing it out, allows the new to find you - instead of you chasing after it. I learned this from a friend who once told me that I should clean out my closet after I disclosed to her I’d been feeling stuck and didn’t know why. It made sense to me, after all, like energy, finds like energy. So I took her advice and now every year it’s my go-to spring stagnancy remedy.
If you are struggling with how you can make space in your life, start with what’s easy - start with the tangible like my friend suggested.
Many of us that live in places that have all four seasons will soon be swapping out our winter cozies for our summer clothes. We might find an item or two that no longer has a place or brings us joy and we might chose to let it go and donate it for it to find a better home with more use. Doing an annual cleaning and clearing no matter where you live is always a great way to make space.
Remember, you don’t need to do a complete overhaul if you don’t want to. This season, I focused on re-organizing my books and changed up the personal items I have styled on my nightstand and dresser in my bedroom. I even changed out the pictures in my frames and the art on my wall. You can use your intuition to decide what to put out - pick things you’re drawn to and enjoy. Changing a few things at a time will feel refreshing and shift the energy in your space to new.
Sometimes making space means clearing out your mind.
If the tangible doesn’t fully cut it, then it’s time to go inward. Take some time to reflect on what your current values, desires and needs are. This a beautiful way to honor spring (and Taurus season energy). Doing so will help you discern what to clear. I highly recommend taking some time to take care of your mind through learning how to meditate. Starting a daily breathwork meditation practice changed my relationship to my body and my mind.
To clear out old thought patterns, notice what limiting beliefs are currently coming up for you. When I decided to scrap my Substack, my inner critic started harping on me for starting something and not following through to finish it - a common wound I have for being a highly feminine being.
So, I proved it to myself that I could stick with things and I made a very lengthy list of all the things I stuck with in my life and saw through till the end. Among them, was graduating from high school, college and a master’s program. All big things that at one point I wanted to quit and almost did several times. I listed all the books I could think of that I’ve read all the way through and saw all the journals on my shelf that are exploding from cover to cover of pages filled with words. I even thought about some of the things I stuck with that I probably shouldn’t have - the times I couldn’t get up from my desk after hours of sitting because I just wanted to finish something I was working on, (skipping lunch, water breaks and walking breaks). I thought about the relationships that were unhealthy for me that I wanted to stay committed to and even the shows I’ve night binged on Netflix when I should have been sleeping. All facts that I can and do stick to things and follow through and can actually be quite stubborn about it!
You can work to clear old thought patterns, behaviors or your physical space. Whatever you chose to do in order to make space, remember to take thoughtful and practical action. Doing so, will help you towards clearing and paving the way for integration and embodiment
- also known as the season of summer.
Way Two…
Embrace beginnings
As a season of change, Spring can bring about a theme of rebirth for many of us internally and externally. We might feel a new identity or fresh perspective wanting to sprout inside of us and take shape. In Astrology, the Sun represents the self. In the natal birth chart, it’s glyph is even a circle with a dot in the center. You are the center. You are the Sun. And, as the Sun rebirths itself high in the sky out of the cloudy, dark, dead of winer, it makes sense that your sense of self and identity would too.
It can feel scary when we feel these internal changes coming on. We don’t know what’s on the other side. We don’t know how changing will impact our lives - especially our work, our dreams and goals and our relationships.
Fear will always need us to hold its hand and shaming it away tends to never work for me. So, instead of fearing change, adapt with a beginner's mindset. Think of when you were a kid and you were learning something new for the first time. Maybe it was playing in instrument, a sport or making art.
I remember picking up my clarinet for the first time. I was in the fifth grade and I was excited to be part of our school’s band. I didn’t know if I’d be any good but I knew I really loved the sound of my breath traveling through the woodwind body of my clarinet. I loved moving my fingers over the different finger holes and discovering with each exhale what notes sounded like. It was challenging and I made a lot of mistakes. But, I didn’t quit because I knew I was new at it and I wasn’t alone. I had a teacher to guide and support me - to help me keep tempo and learn to read the notes on the sheet. Every time I made a mistake, I took note of what I learned and tried it again. Eventually, I played in my first concert with my school. I stuck with it and practiced and practiced and continued to learn from my teacher. As time passed, I went on to continue to play my clarinet in the high school band. I played for 8 years, all through school. I participated in marching band, concert band, pep band and even competed at our state’s Solo Ensemble receiving high marks and medals. I even became second chair clarinet in our senior high concert band, I very high honor to receive.
Embracing a beginner’s mindset means recognizing when something is fun to learn and staying with it for a reason that lights you up inside. A beginner knows they are new at the skill they are crafting, which is why they don’t quit right away when it gets hard. They know they aren’t going to be perfect at it and that it takes time and repetition to work on their craft. A beginner knows the difference between growing confidence in their skillset and having confidence in themselves. They don’t let their small range of confidence in their new skillset affect how they see themselves as a person. A beginner remains humble because they know they don’t know everything right away and that the best way to learn is to take note of what has changed and return to the challenge. This is the true power of embracing new beginning’s because when you fully embrace a new beginning, you give yourself time to root into it. You give yourself time to grow and to change. And change is a process that might require you to start over and over again and again in order to build.
So, this spring embrace a beginner’s mindset. Trade thoughts and feelings of fear and worry for compassion and curiosity. Work to remain humble, open and practical. Affirm your inner knowing and trust yourself through the process. Trust that you are always aligned, even if you have to start over.
Way Three…
Get grounded
Seasonal shifts are felt in the body, mind and soul. For spring, the newness and freshness comes into our environment through the element of air. When spring comes, we open our windows to let the stagnant old air out of our homes and invite in the fresh invigorating breeze. Air is an element that stirs things up, just like the wind blowing through the branches of the trees, rustling up its leaves. Because air can be quite sweeping, it makes it all the more important to firm our stance in who we are and in our bodies.
To find a sense of stability within ourselves.
In the tradition of Tarot, air is an element that represents the nature of the mind. It represents our thoughts and beliefs. Air can be swift and quick moving in expression. It can also be cumbersome, wild, unpredictable and even overbearing and make us feel disoriented at times about who we are and where we’re going. Just like our racing thoughts and limiting beliefs. Getting into your body through practicing deep breathing, movement and mindfulness will help support inner stability during an air flavored season.
I wrote an entire article about what grounding is and why we should do it along with several examples of grounding practices to try. You can find it here if you’d like to read more.
One of the new practices I embraced this spring that I am finding to be so supportive in lifting my mood, calming my mind and staying grounded is Qigong meditation. Qigong (pronounced Chee-gong) is an ancient Chinese practice that combines relaxed and gentle movement of the body, deep controlled breathing and focus of the mind (meditation).
This YouTube video has been my go-to this week for kicking off my morning routine. I am really enjoying taking 20 minutes in the morning to just be present with my body, move it with intention and really feel into the energy generated from the mindful breathing and movement of this practice. In addition to grounding and with it being something I’ve never tried before, it’s been helping me to embrace a beginner’s mindset. It’s been a very fun, pleasant and easeful practice. I recommend giving it a go if you feel the call!
Grounding doesn’t need to be a chore. It doesn’t need to be a huge production either. You can take just 10 minutes daily for it to make a difference. Show up to the practice consistently again and again, little by little and you’ll notice a valuable shift in how your body, mind and spirit feel. Caring for your energy and body will help you stay clear minded, refreshed and connected to yourself. And, staying connected with yourself will help you with sensing your intuition. And when something is new, and you are shifting, changing and adapting, your intuition can be your greatest helper, protector and confidant.
I hope this article supports you in making meaning and embracing change during this new season. As always, keep breathing and keep planting.