The year moves forward and those of us in the northern hemisphere find ourselves finally leaving the cold and snow behind us for the Spring’s embrace of warmth and growth. I invite you to consider with me how the energy of this season, the returning warmth of the sun, the leaves sprouting on the tress and the newly returned birds singing, chattering and building their nests might support your in the work you are doing to embrace your body divine. How can this shift in season support your body positivity journey? As I continue my own journey of reclaiming my body sovereignty I am gaining a greater appreciation of how being more in tune with the world around me and being aware of things like the turning of the seasons of the year can help me in my quest. With spring in full force and almost getting ready to launch into summer it is a good time to pause and bring some renewed spring energy into our body sovereignty work.
Where to start? A good place might be to look at what things you are currently doing to take care for yourself and your body to reclaim your body sovereignty. Is there anything in your self-care routine that is getting stale or not as much fun or engaging as it once was? Spring is a good time to shake things up a bit. Perhaps it’s time to try something you’ve never done before…find a friend to hit some tennis balls with at an outdoor court, or explore some new walking paths or hiking trails. You might also like to spend some time at a local park or outdoor space that resonates with you…to sit and simply breathe while enjoying the sun on your face and the breeze on your skin. I know I look forward to the opportunity the warmer weather provides to be outside more when I exercise instead of relying on my elliptical machine down in the basement.
What can the spring offer you to take of your body and yourself?
Now let’s look outward a bit. I invite you to take some time to pay attention to the world around you. Have you noticed when the buds form on the trees? Or how long the days are getting? I believe becoming mindful of the natural world around us can support us in our work of being mindful to our own cycles and changes, which allows us to better respond to what our body needs. I confess, this attention to the world around me isn’t a natural skill for me, as I have an Aries tendency to not pays attention to details, but I am working at it because I know this awareness supports the work I am doing of being mindful of my own body and it’s signals and wisdom. Fortunately, I have a nature loving Taurean partner and I benefit from listening his observations of the cycle of growing things outside. See what you can start to take notice of. What birds are in your neighbourhood? What creatures inhabit your back garden? What phase is the moon in? Find something in the natural world that interests you and simply start paying attention.
Let’s now bring that mindfulness inward and make the link to our work with our body. Take some time in stillness and ask yourself what your body telling you in relation to the change of season. One thing I’ve notice my body tells me this time of year is that it is time to ‘smoothie’ it up. Where I live it gets quite cold in the winter and chilly mornings for me, don’t lend themselves to a cool, refreshing smoothie. I tend to gravitate to a warm, satisfying oatmeal (these days loving a savoury oatmeal with poached egg) in the winter months. But now, the sun’s warmth is gaining strength and I feel my body asking for a lovely cool, fruity flavoured smoothie. You might also take some time to sit and connect with your body and consider if there are any changes or shifts that you might want to be aware of and keep in mind as you take on self care activities. Maybe you are feeling a new ache or pain, or maybe some increased flexibility from some body work you have been doing. Does the warmer weather make you feel more energized, or a little sluggish? Do you need to pay more attention to keeping hydrated? Personally I’ve noticed an increase in tenderness in my hips, so I am looking for more opportunities this Spring to take care of, stretch and generally send love and appreciate to my hips.
Finally, take some time to consider what it is about the Spring that can support you in the three elements of body sovereignty. How can the warmer weather and the energy of the season help you to show yourself more compassion? Think of the warmth and compassion you feel when you see new life.. the pictures of the little chicks and bunnies, and consider what it might be like if you found a way to direct those warm and protective feelings toward yourself? Next, what are ways you can be more mindful? As you notice the changes and shifts in the environment around you, how can you be reminded to pay attention to the changes and shifts in your own body? And finally, discernment…contemplate how the birds decide where to build their new homes…or how you decide what clothes you might wear in what can be a quickly changing climate. Discernment is about processing the information you have and deciding how you will take action. It is balancing knowledge gained from the news, books, teacher with your own inner knowledge and wisdom. Tapping into the rebirth and renewal energy of Spring can support all of these areas of our work.
I hope you found this exploration of tapping into Spring energy in reclaiming body sovereignty helpful. This is emergent territory for me as well, so I welcome your thoughts and feedback and any stories you would like to share about how the seasons and the turning of the year shape your journey to body positivity.
Sydney
P.S. If you are interested in exploring further how we can reclaim our body sovereignty through mindfulness, compassion and discernment check out my Reclaiming Body Sovereignty Workbook. Or perhaps you might like to do some one to one work with me to kick start your journey to body positivity – give me a shout and we can meet up for a free consultation.