We are moving through the transition from winter to spring with each day becoming a bit longer and each night a bit shorter. Stores are beginning to carry spring plants. Garden seeds are appearing. Catalogs contain flower seeds to shorts to swings. Spring and fall tend to be major transition time with shifts in temperature, wind, sun and rain. Usually I talk about things to do to make these transitions easier but I have to point out also that these apply to all the shifts particularly in temperature, we have had through the past few months and particularly the past few weeks.
The most important thing to remember when dealing with shifting of any kind around you, physical, emotional, or spiritual is that each of us has a core vital force that supports us to be and feel stable. This is your vital essence: who you are.
Check in with yourself from time to time as all the wisdom you need to stay healthy is within you. The things that help us feel grounded are the same things that help us roll with the punches. For me it’s getting outside every day no matter what the weather. I dress in layers, always with wool socks through the winter and this time of the year, and a hat, with mittens rather than gloves. I have a scarf around my neck and a coat that goes down and covers my butt. I can always take a layer off or loosen some buttons but I also know to dress one day in a t-shirt and the next day in a winter coat does not allow for health transitions for my body or my psyche. I drink warm fluids and eat cooked food this time of the year.
I do not change this routine until the air has a feel of softness that comes in the spring and the temperatures are not so wildly fluctuating.
The spring and the fall for me are times to gently transition and can teach us if we just pay attention. Plants do not all of a sudden disappear. Leaves do not all of a sudden disappear. Slow and steady changes/transitions are good examples from nature for us.
Spring greens, wild ones especially are magnificent to waken the juices but keep us grounded also. Fall root crops do the same for that time of the year. Greens tend to be the last of the harvest in the fall and the first in the spring. Little by little they appear in the spring, and in the fall we have less and less to harvest. Think about what this means in terms of amounts we should be eating.
Balance and grounding with the examples of nature as our guide should be practiced in every aspect of our lives and we will stay happy and health, joyous and at peace.
Nature provides us with herbs whose focus is to help keep us balanced. The early spring greens fit here especially nettle greens, dandelion greens, violet greens, and mallow. These are full of vitamins and minerals, but also help us do a gentle detox and get the spirit moving to assist in maintaining health and cleaning out any dust that has gathered in the corners, before winter and in the spring to get us moving.
Think of the rhythm in your life that keeps you balanced every day: yoga, tai chi, lemon and water, sleeping with your dog, taking a bath, singing, praying, sitting naked in the sun. Keep these alive. Nourish yourself so you may be full of health and may in this way keep yourself and your community healthy and balanced.