March 20, 2021 marked this year’s vernal equinox. This year, in addition to the traditional images of renewal and rebirth, the impending end to a pandemic that made many of us unwilling recluses, Spring also brings new hope of the world getting back to normal.
The dawn of Spring has been celebrated for centuries by nearly every culture from the Mayans to the Druids, Pagans and Wiccans. The Persian New Year called Nowruz begins on the vernal equinox and is celebrated by millions today around the world in a 13-day celebration. In Japan, spring is welcomed by a national holiday called Shunbun no Hi where many tend to the graves of their ancestors.
According to the teachings of the Ayurveda, Spring is a time to capitalize on creative energy projects. Tris Thorpe on chopra.com recommends, “This is a good time to design your action plan for what it is you want to create and begin to take the steps toward it. The most important thing to do when you’re riding the energetic high of the spring season is to take action. Energy rises and subsides—it ebbs and flows. It’s alive and moving. Your job is to tune into the energy and harness it to create what you want in your life. Where your attention goes, your energy flows so make sure you jump on it and maximize the season.”
Spiritually, the energy of Spring brings power for refocusing our own lives and building new paths, just as the sun and rain refresh what was dormant in the wintertime. Yoga practitioners recommend beginning your day by meditating facing east – the direction of the sunrise. Reflect on the aspects of your life that haven’t been working for you and imagine new growth in their place.
Turkish playwright and novelist Mehmet Ildan wrote, ““When you smell a spring flower, it’s as if the soul of that flower settles inside you! And then you become that flower for a short time!”
As you meditate, envision your new career, a family goal or overall happiness growing and blooming around you just a if it was a field of flowers transforming from dead, brown grass and leaves into bright green, golds and luminous color. Set your intention for this daily to tap into this energy at the height of the season.
It is also important to honor that which you are leaving behind. Remember that everything – good or bad – that you have endured has a lesson tied to it. Thank these lessons for what they have taught you. Imagine planting them in the rich soil so they can be used as the seeds that manifest as new directions built on the trials of the past. This is how we turn our heartache, losses, and sorrows into roots instead of thorns.
