Where is your growth taking you?
Hello friend!
Let’s talk about a seasonal dance—the ways our movements, senses, and listening shift with the turning of the Earth’s great wheel. This is a kind of inquiry where we feel into the textures of time itself.
Each season has its own Qi, its own pulse, its own way of asking us to engage. Spring is a time of awakening stretch—a sprout breaking through soil.🌱 Spring is the season of renewal, expansion, and the gentle yet persistent force of life unfurling itself. In Daoism, this season is associated with the Wood element and the Liver organ system in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), symbolizing growth, flexibility, and vision.
Here are suggested practices to pulse with Spring:
- Move Like a Sprout: Gentle, Expansive Movement. Spring energy is about stretching outward, just as plants push up through the soil toward the sun. Engage in Qigong - simple stretching exercises that emphasize upward and outward movements. Here is an example: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Take a deep breath, imagining roots growing from your feet into the earth. As you exhale, extend your arms outward and upward like branches reaching for the sky.
- Eat With the Season: Fresh, Bitter, and Green. In TCM, supporting the Liver means eating light, fresh, and cleansing foods. Try bitter greens like dandelion, mustard greens, and arugula. Eat sprouts and young shoots (mung bean sprouts, pea shoots). Make fermented foods (kimchi, sauerkraut) to aid digestion and clear stagnation. Reduce heavy, greasy foods to keep energy moving.
- Tune Into the Wind. Spring is governed by the wind, which can bring change but also disrupt balance. Daoist wisdom advises practicing Wind Listening: Find a place outdoors and close your eyes. Feel the breeze 💨 on your skin. Observe how the wind moves through trees, grass, or water. Notice how your breath responds—can you synchronize with the rhythm of the wind?
- Walk With Intention: The Wanderer's Dao. Daoism encourages aimless wandering (游, yóu), a practice of harmonizing with nature’s flow. Take a walk 🚶🏻♀️ without a destination. Follow what draws your attention—a bird’s flight, a meandering path, the sway of a willow. Walk as if you were being led, rather than leading.
- Wake With the Dawn. The Liver is most active in the early morning ☀️, and spring’s rising energy matches the sunrise. Practice waking just before dawn, step outside as the sun rises, breathe deeply, stretching your arms open to "drink in" the morning Qi. Express gratitude for the renewal of the day.
- Release Stagnation: Spring Cleaning for Body and Mind. Declutter your living space—open windows, let fresh air move through. Write out frustrations or stagnant emotions and burn or bury them as a symbolic release. Practice shouting as the Liver is connected to the voice! In a safe space, let out a deep, guttural "HA!" to release stuck energy.
- Honor the Balance of Flexibility and Strength. Like young bamboo, spring calls for both resilience and adaptability. Consider practicing Yin-Yang balancing activities (combine gentle movement with stillness). Engage in creative pursuits (paint, dance, sing) to move your Qi freely. Reflect on where you need to be more flexible in life, and where you need to stand firm.
- Sit With a Tree. Trees embody the Wood element’s wisdom—rooted yet flexible, reaching yet grounded. Find a tree 🌳 that resonates with you: Sit with your back against its trunk. Breathe deeply, feeling into its steady, expansive energy. Imagine your worries sinking down through its roots, while fresh energy flows into you.
Spring is an invitation to grow, release, and expand—not in a frantic rush, but in a steady, organic unfolding.
Spring isn’t stillness like winter, nor is it the burning passion of summer. It’s movement with direction—the first push outward, but not fully open yet. Like a sapling bending toward the sun, it is both fragile and unstoppable.
Spring asks:
Where is your growth taking you?
How can you move with ease and curiosity?
I hope you find joyful inspiration in these Spring Pulsing suggestions.
with Love,
Judit