This time of year, I start to look around my house and think it feels cluttered. Nothing has changed over the winter months per se but, nevertheless, I feel this yearning to purge and clean. Spring cleaning takes many forms and is as primal an act as migration or the end of hibernation for other creatures. We all feel it. It’s why we clear out our closets and our flower beds. This shift in the path of the sun affects us all on a cellular and psychological level. Our physiology craves a fresh start. Our bodies and minds are ready to lighten things up, we are eager to cleanse ourselves of any accumulated imbalances and rejuvenate our deepest tissues.
I’ve been asking myself these questions lately: what type of cleaning do you need to do this spring? What part of your life is imbalanced and needs your attention and intention?
Last year around this time, I was emerging from one of the darkest winters I’d ever experienced. Our family’s devastating loss coincided with the darkest days of the year, and the winter felt especially difficult. When spring arrived and the light returned, it felt like coming home, like medicine for my soul. (see my post from last year: Learning to Breathe Again)
I can’t help but compare how I felt last year to now. Presently, I’m grateful for the time and space I’ve had for healing. I’m thankful that this winter did not feel as dark and as difficult.
This year, my intention is RECONNECTION—with myself, my practice, my dreams, my health, my partner, and my deepest truths. After 3 years that included birth and loss, career changes and moves, I finally feel myself able to take a deep breath and appreciate this moment, and everything that has lead me here.
According to Lori Dechar, author of Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing: “...All transformational processes begin and end in the underworld with the mythical dark mother who is the origin and ground of being. Transformation happens in places hidden from the light, deep in the belly, under the sea or in labyrinth caves far below the surface of the earth...It is only in matter, in the body, in the soil or beneath dark waters, where things die and come to life, that the mystery of transformation can occur."
Spring is the season of TRANSFORMATION— of birth, growth, and renewal. After the necessary darkness, we celebrate the return of the light. We shed our winter armor and grow lighter so that we may BLOOM.
Happy Spring, all….
xx
Cait