Spring has sprung

.. Happy Vernal Equinox to you all
 
The word 'equinox' means equal and refers to the day and night being of equal length in both the Southern and the Northern Hemisphere. Up here in the North, the Vernal equinox in March signals the official beginning of spring. 'Vernal' meaning fresh or new. You probably didn't need me to tell you that it is finally Spring as these last few days have been gloriously warm and sunny. The increase in heat and light has prompted me to tidy up our outdoor spaces - sweep decks, set up the patio furniture and clean the windows getting ready to spend many hours outside in the coming months. A yoga student once commented on the fact that I write about the weather a lot in these newsletters and that it was 'so very English' of me. While I do love an opportunity to pull out 'it's raining cats and dogs' or 'the sun's cracking the flags', my talk of the weather is because our direct experience of the natural world usually starts there...with the weather. My yoga teachings are heavily influenced by the Ayurvedic concept that we are nature and that what is happening around us in the natural world has an effect on us and there are tools that we can employ to bring ourselves towards balance therefore feeling healthy, inspired and alive. I weave this wisdom into my weekly yoga classes and this concept forms the basis of my sequencing and themes in both implicit and explicit  ways. I speak more directly to these concepts in the Thursday morning 8.30am Intermediate Vinyasa class and even work with a sequence and intentions that we practice for the duration of the season to offer an opportunity to fully explore the effect on your mind, body and spirit. 
Our One Day Seasonal Retreats explore seasonally appropriate tools, such as Asana, Meditation, Pranayama, Mantra, diet and writing designed to bring ourselves into balance as we move through the wheel of the year. These longer sessions offer a chance to explore the basic concepts of seasonal wisdom that you can implement and experiment with throughout the current season. 
Each season has gifts and challenges. As we enter into spring you are probably feeling an increase in energy and creativity and feel inspired to clean up, start projects and get moving. These are Springs gifts to us. When this upsurge in creativity and inspiration goes out of balance we find ourselves doing too much and feeling overwhelmed, these are the challenges. This is what we are looking to balance. By paying attention to nature, starting with the weather, we begin to hone our skills of observation and notice how we are effected by the ever changing world around us. 
We have many upcoming opportunities to explore these concepts. I hope you will join us. Check out the details of the One Day seasonal Retreat here. Check out the details of the New Moon Yang Yin Practice & Tea Ceremony here.