Inside Passage Wellness

It’s a funny thing when there is a disconnect from what the world around us “should” look like and what the reality is. Just like any “shoulds” I suppose, they don’t serve us. 

So it’s the month of Spring Equinox, the time to “Spring Forward”, and Spring Break. And yet, there is snow on my deck and the forecast is filled with cute little snowflakes. 

This irony is not new to us here in Southeast Alaska but for some reason, every year when the world tells us Spring is almost here but yet my windshield wipers are on the fastest speed and the winter clothes are still heavily in use, I feel insulted. 

And yet that is “living” yoga. When we take our practice off the mat and remember that our direct experience is the experience we need to check in with, not what social media is pushing or the aisles at Walmart filled with Easter decorations when we’re over a month away. 

Our culture and capitalism keeps us pulling forward, looking ahead, distracted by preparation for what’s to come. But life is lived in this breath, and this one, and this one. 

My truth in this moment….my direct experience is that my dogs are playing in the snow, that I need to find my ice scraper for my car so that I can go teach class. And as badly as I want Spring to be here right now, the suffering comes when I don’t accept the reality that I’m living in.

The work is staying present. Sitting in the discomfort of this moment when we so badly crave the light. I wonder if this is how the little seeds feel under the soil, aching for the warmth and the call to grow. They trust that Spring will come. It does every year. But I imagine some of them are antsy-er than others, quick to pop at the slightest rise in temperature. While others are more patient. I suppose we’re just the same.

So here I am, waiting with the seeds. Staying with my breath and what is true in this moment. Acknowledging that, yes, it has been a long Winter and, yes, Spring will come. Feeling comforted that if the little seeds can trust, so can I.

I’ll be so delighted to see those antsy Crocus greet the sun.