Hello,
How are you doing? Can you believe it's already almost the end of April? Every year around this time I am reminded over and over again of the dichotomy of spring - how energizing it can be and how slow it is to really pop. The return of birdsong is beautiful and the continued snow we've had feels so “blech”! In March, I find my energy and excitement comes naturally with the seasonal shift, but then in April I find myself getting frustrated at how slowly it's all happening.
This push and pull of the shifting in seasons mirrors my internal experience, I'm inclined to say miraculously, but isn't that typically the case? What we experience on the outside serves as a gentle reminder to tend what's on the inside too. Last month I started writing about this through practices of mindfulness and connection to my energetic-body or prana, the Sanskrit word for breath or life force. Exploring the idea that the energy we bring into ourselves turns into the nourishment of our physical body.
The connection between energy and the mind can work in a dual process with mindfulness as the bridge much like March and April - in one way we can energetically slow down and in turn our minds settle, or vice versa, the presence of mindfulness invites a settling to our mental chatter which then allows our energy to feel more balanced. And lest we forget, April showers (even snow showers) bring May flowers!
An amazing tool here to keep us connected in mind and body is using a mantra or intention which influences our perspective. My two favorite intentions for movement practices are:
These two reminders anchor my mind, slow the chatter, and drop me into my body. If I am only in my mind when moving, I often continue to spiral or remain tense. Do you have a mantra you use in your movement practice or in your day to day?
Try using a mantra or setting an intention as a little home practice - the next time you are about to start a class, do a workout or go for a walk, set an intention - say it silently to yourself or write it down. Maybe it’ll repeat in your head throughout your movement, maybe you’ll remember it later or maybe it’ll only be that one time; regardless of how often you return to your intention, notice how it feels to take a moment to quiet the usual chatter in your mind and have a supportive phrase to drop in instead.
You can also use this perspective anchor in the current political and global climate we are in to feel grounded as you are bombarded by the next thing. This is less of a mantra, but a quote that grounds my perspective from Holocaust survivor and author of Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Let's all find a brief moment of space.
In the next newsletter, we’ll share a handout to keep this practice going and growing, as well as a short survey so the work I continue to offer is intentional and supportive.
Embracing the slow,
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What I'm Reading
Sarah here - Alchemy of a Blackbird by Claire McMillan - with a little radical transparency, I got this book as a holiday gift and amidst all of life, am just finishing it now.
It's a beautiful historical novel that intertwines the reality of artists' lives in Europe during WWII and the cosmic energy of Tarot cards.
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