Transition Rituals: Winter to Spring
This month brings the welcoming of spring with the equinox on March 20th. As we begin to move out of our wintering and into our blossoming it is important to honor this time of great transition. I love to use this time to declutter and nourish on a physical, mental and emotional level. I invite you to join me in the practices I will be doing, to do just that, in the coming weeks. Enjoy!
Physically
Spring cleaning makes so much sense to me and I believe it should be done at each seasonal change. As the season ends, clearing out the junk that no longer serves you as you move into a new beginning creates a fresh flow of energy. So I invite you to clear the clutter as we move from winter to spring.
This past season in our home, with all our health struggles and lack of energy, organization has become our last priority. Which is very much to our detriment. It becomes a ripple of clutter in every other area. I love to come back to the idea messy home, messy mind. I am ready to purge and let go of the mess. Over the course of the coming weeks we will be clearing the clutter. Letting go of objects that no longer serve us and begin to makeway for new energy to flow into our home and minds. In an effort to reduce overwhelm I am breaking it into small bite size projects. One room, and even one section of the room at a time. I believe this will make it more doable than to overhaul the whole house at once.
Mentally
I am sure after cleaning and organizing your space you will already feel clearer mentally. I invite you to continue clearing the clutter of your mind. Recently, I’ve begun adding in short seated meditations throughout my day and it is so powerful. Between writing emails, making meals or whenever I see my mind becoming overly busy, I sit down and let it all go. I return to my breath, and as the thoughts keep arising, I keep letting them go with my breath. I just take 5 to 10 mins and return to my breath, relaxe and let my thoughts pass. Once I return to the present moment I feel more relaxed and at ease.
Emotionally
Now let us explore those emotions. Clearing all the clutter can bring up a lot of emotions. Both in the physical and mental clutter, so it is very important to listen and validate those emotions. I believe that our emotions arise from the many different parts of ourselves that have been made up from our past experiences, as far back as from our childhoods. When the emotions arise, may it be sadness, fear, anger, or joy …I invite you to look at all of it. Where is the emotion coming from? Is it coming from the belief I've picked up from a childhood experience? How can I validate this experience for little me? How can I give that version of myself what I need?
Example: I was feeling angry with Kyle just last night because he would not come hold me when I was in deep pain from an ovarian cyst. When I look inside and ask where that emotion is coming from, it was coming from not feeling held, seen and loved by my parents when I was suffering as a child. Kyle is not my parent, nor am I a child. So adult me could tell little Rachel, I’ve got you! You are loved, held and seen by me.
This also looks like saying, “Kyle I would really love to feel held right now. I am struggling and I feel alone.” Instead, in this situation I assumed Kyle could read my mind. Which, spoiler alert, no one can read our minds! So we have to listen to the emotions and honor them.
This time of transition is beautiful, messy, challenging, easy, frustrating, and joyus. Allow yourself to experience it all and honor where you are. Soon spring will arrive with a lot of fresh warm energy and invite you into another part of yourself that may have been hiding for the past few months. Take it easy, be gentle and enjoy the process. That is where all the juicy abundant energy lies.
