Finding Balance
Spring dazzles us from above with endless blossoms to gaze into and allow our imagination to float on.
While underfoot the young Grecian maiden, Persephone emerges from the earth after her long winter's rest in the underworld. She wears green and carries flowers for all of us to enjoy. Living in a pastel paradise highlighted by the sun's warm rays easily gets us to abandon our schedules a bit by spending more time outside. Doing so means you've caught spring fever as well as probably triggered your allergies.
Spring being a transition season means cold air lurks around along with plenty of rainy grey days to moisten the earth and prompt more growth to come. Feeling cold one day and warm the next makes us feel balancing opposite energies more clearly than we did a month ago. Lately I 'm sure you find yourself asking questions like..."Do I wear water resistant shoes today or peep toe shoes? Will it be an indoor or outdoor lunch date? Did I really buy that muffin mix back in the fall?"
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| Shades www.forever21.com scarf www.gap.com |
As we bring spring clothes, shoes and lighter food into the forefront of our closets and cupboards we instinctively act as the birds do and nest. We know that a new life is coming soon.
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| Vintage tunic from India, tights & combat boots www.forever21.com |
For the past few weeks I've been wanting to wear pink and look like the powder puff cherry blossom trees. The reality is I need to wait until things warm up a little later in April because in New York City spring mornings and evenings are still pretty chilly while the days can either be nippy or feel warm with golden sunlight caressing your face.
The weather's flip flopping nature makes wearing black and white perfect for this time of year. Besides you can't go wrong putting this classic combo together.
To refresh your closet with plenty of spring proof style be sure to take out and clean the furry (faux of course) and heavy woolly items like shoes, sweaters and coats. Pack them away until we enter the dark and cold season again next fall. Keep lightweight sweaters and coats in black, white and light grey within hands reach as well as pull out your patent leather shoes and wear them on rainy days to offset that clunky, unless you're strolling in the mud, unflattering rain boot look.
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| Dream catcher necklace www.lailarowe.com |
While you're spring cleaning be sure recycle what you don't wear anymore. If you're keeping an item you never wear for sentimental reasons and it is taking up space sitting in your already tight closet, put it on, look at it as you stand before a mirror and say "Farewell you served me well now you're off to comfort and adorn another."
My suggestion is to go to your local church/temple and ask where you can leave your donated items. You can also find donation drop off boxes in the corners of most supermarket parking lots. Finally if packing your clothes up and bringing them to a donation spot is not aligning with your schedule then call the Salvation Army and they'll come by for a free pick up.
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| King Dancer's pose, thigh high socks www.lailarowe.com |
When it comes to my posture practice it is all about doing balancing postures. I over dose on them this time of year because they heat me up, challenge me to equally push down, up and out towards the right and left of me which conditions me off the yoga mat to juggle life's mundane demands with what I feel is sacred.
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| Heron pose, purse www.zara.com trench www.forever21.com |
Also practicing balancing postures which makes us hop around are similar to opening windows on a gorgeous spring day and airing the room out because when we're shaking in a balancing pose we're replacing what's stagnant within us with what's new. While balancing the air element runs through our body and clears the congestion within our joints as well as between our thoughts. This is particularly balancing to our system since Ayurveda, the sister science to yoga and natural medicinal practice from southern India states that spring is the Kapha season. Whose qualities are chilly, damp and heavy. Yes, spring can have beautiful days yet the earth is moist and heavy which is perfect for growing however these conditions means we produce more mucous than usual and feel extra sluggish. Since Ayurveda and yoga teaches like increases like it is vital that at this time of the year we get moving, heat ourselves up and feel our steps lighten. Regularly practicing repetitive rhythmic movement and balancing exercises during spring achieves decreasing our ever increasing Kapha lethargy during this season's damp, heavy and snotty period.
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| Tunic from Monsoon, London, beads www.anniesez.com |
Balancing poses are not limited to standing on one leg. As you lift one leg upwards like I am here in heron pose, the extended leg's hip lifts off the ground. Although I try to root this leg's sitting bone down to balance with the opposite sitting bone, I teeter totter a touch here and try to balance between inhaling as I lengthen up, then exhaling my hips down into the earth and expanding my side body from right to left.
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Balancing requires rest. Something we can easily forget to do as we anticipate all our efforts of making room for what's new to finally come into fruition.
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| 1/2 moon pose, vintage Soho Compagnie skirt with the flower of life pattern, patent leather boots www.aerosoles.com belt www.forever21.com |
With rest in mind the next time you practice standing balancing postures consider practicing with a little kindness/ahimsa towards yourself. Find a wall and use it as a tool to gently support yourself in a pose. Doing so you will be able to hold the posture a little longer and examine by way of feeling where to activate or release your energy to find an even state of being.
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| 1/2 moon variation, top www.zara.com, earrings www.lailarowe.com |
In no time you'll catch some fresh air, feel light and fly free like a bird.
