Reflection: Aligning With Spring

Spring has sprung in Pennsylvania! I love looking out my window and seeing the first signs of spring. It all started with a haze on the once bare branches. The crisp lines of winter were blurring with new buds! Who doesn’t love a baby leaf? That “new leaf” shade of light green that will darken as summer approaches? Okay, okay- maybe not everyone is as enthusiastic as I am, but maybe they are! Highly sensitive people and nature lovers like myself resonate with the changing of the seasons. There is a fresh energy to invigorate us after the long winter. There’s also this little buzz of change that doesn’t always feel so great. It doesn’t come as a surprise that seasonal changes are relevant to mental health. Many eastern and western traditions teach about being connected to the cycles of nature as a way to relate to our own mental and physical wellbeing.

Spring is certainly joyous for many. It feels miraculous. I admire each tiny shoot peeking up from the still-cold ground. New green leaves and buds on the trees make me feel hopeful and excited about what is to come. Longer days and more sun exposure can lift our moods without effort. Fresh new colors and warmer temperatures are uplifting to the heart, body and mind. Aligning with the beauty of spring could look like getting out in nature, taking a hike or a picnic lunch in your local park. The not-too-hot-yet temperatures are begging for plans to be made.

It may feel natural to practice gratitude in spring. Being with pleasant emotions like joy, gratitude, awe and love (to name a few) comes easy to some and can pose a challenge to others. We might feel it for a moment and then our anxious mind draws us to the next to-do item. All seasonal changes can be an invitation to slow down and savor the present moment. Because it’s new and fresh, seize the moment and draw it out as long as you can. Often we can become so focused on being with difficulty or healing from suffering that we accidentally gloss over the beautiful moments that are already happening. Take this as a loving nudge from spring to be present. 

While spring is beautiful, it’s fleeting. This can bring up strong emotions. It often seems that I’m watching the leaves fill in right before my eyes. There’s a pang of sadness and a desire to freeze time. Seeing this unfolding reminds me how my life is one continuous unfolding. There’s no going back to exactly what was before. We go through familiar cycles but none are identical. There’s a flux and uncertainty to life that gets highlighted in springtime. So often and especially in winter, we might feel stuck on a loop: each day is more or less the same. It can feel jarring and bring up anxiety when spring comes along and nudges us out of our usual patterns.

Aligning with spring can also mean making space to feel the complexity of change. While beautiful, Spring is also a time of tumultuous weather, rain for days on end, hot for a few days then back to freezing temps. Unexpected things happen and it rarely unfolds the way we would prefer. I know I’m not alone in feeling irritable with the yo-yo forecasting. If you feel sad or unsteady in spring, this makes perfect sense. There’s a tendency to judge and want to distance ourselves from “difficult” emotions instead of letting them be there. Try being with fleeting uncomfortable emotions as a way to align with Spring. 

For many people, Spring marks a change in routine and activity. I know I often have mixed feelings and some trepidation about the increase of social events, gatherings and busy outdoor spaces. Positive change is still change, and change is uncomfortable. I’ve been trying to take a page out of spring’s book, by trying, imperfectly, to accept the uncomfortable parts. The parts of myself that are sad, growing and uncertain. I'm encouraged to accept that shedding parts of my identity can bring grief even though I’ve been eagerly awaiting the new parts and chapters of my life. Spring doesn’t seem to mind that things are up one day and down the next. It just gently presses on. It endures the rainy days and later uses the water to bring forth something new.

So what else can spring teach us? Each passing season marks a transition and reminds us that change is normal and natural. That there is difficulty in change but also beauty. In spring, we witness a rebirth. Plants and animals that have been lying dormant for months with quiet anticipation start blooming and bursting forth with beautiful displays. In doing so, spring invites us to ask ourselves, “what is longing to be born?” 

Wishing you an aligned and meaningful spring season.

-Julia

PS. I enjoy thinking about what each season asks. Here are some for the other three seasons:

In its fullest expression, summer- with its abundance of delicious foods and swaths of green, asks, “what do we celebrate?” 

During fall, we watch the trees shedding leaves, drawing in nutrients to survive the cold months to come. Fall asks, “what can I let go?” 

Winter asks, in a time of stillness and quiet, “what needs my attention?”