Life Cycle Wisdom: Spring

East Coasters understand the impact of the seasons. Summer brings relaxation and sunshine, outdoor activities and vacations. Fall brings beautiful colors, busyness and the harvest. Winter brings deep stillness and gestation, and spring brings rebirth.

 
West Coasters almost forget the seasonal changes. How often are their winter days halted by a snow-storm? When does the weather force them to slow down? Their climate doesn’t save them from adrenal burnout; it doesn’t allow for the gestation that brings new beginnings. West-coast weather is the stuff of which type-A personality dreams are made.

Our bodies follow natural cycles; they also follow unnatural ones. Lately, it’s not only West Coast bodies that are confused. What is happening with our seasons? In February, we had summer weather in California while the East Coast experienced record-breaking snowstorms. A few weeks later, the climates reversed. What is happening with our life cycles? How long ago did we stop following the natural rhythm of birth, growth, transition, transformation, death, and rebirth?

Remember back to the lunar eclipse on the winter solstice? This was supposed to be the longest and darkest night of the year. Paradoxically, the darkest night of the year wore a full moon. Normally, winter would be equivalent to slowing down, hibernation, stillness. But this winter has been anything but. The winter solstice propelled us fast-forward. We found ourselves bursting at the seams, exhausted by the end of January, the New Year barely begun. It sure felt like spring. Didn’t it? So it’s strange to be writing about spring, now. It feels like it’s already happened, that we should be heralding summer.

I find it fascinating that our weather is finally reflecting the disarray in our bodies. Our poor bodies have been confused for a long time, and now, so is our weather.

Where do we begin to right this wrong? Let’s start with normal, because we seem to have forgotten it. Then, let’s look at how our bodies can help us find normal again.

Normal.

Remember that? If you are a woman, you have an advantage: your body. If you’re not menopausal, consider your monthly cycle. What are the stages? There is growth (building up) and death (letting go). There is activity and production, and there is stillness and being. There is extroversion; there is introversion. There is considering the needs of the outside world, and there is considering the needs of the inner world. If you are following me, congratulations! You haven’t forgotten. If my words are leaving you dazed and confused, you have some remembering to do.

Everything we need to know about birth, growth, transition, transformation, death, reintegration and rebirth can be found in the human body and, specifically, in the menstrual cycle. Any imbalance can be seen here as well. Look at your own life and your own body. What is in or out of balance? If you desire synchronicity with spring, with new creation, if you want to sprout your wings and fly, you must return to the cycle. Where are you stuck? What is your next step? Is it growth or is it rest? Is it transition or is it reintegration? Is it birth or is it death? Is there something you need to hold onto or something you need to let go of? It’s all part of the energy of life, energy that must flow to move forward. You cannot have birth without appropriate gestation and rest. We must allow our fetus to mature before she can be birthed. We must let go of what no longer serves us in order to free up energy for the next phase of our cycle, or the next phase of our life.

Take a few moments and assess where you are here, right now. Where are you in the life cycle? Are you in production overdrive, like a cancer? Are you lost in gestation? Are you stuck, not able to access your energy? Are you in labor, preparing to give birth? Are you letting go, mourning a loss?

For those of you who have reached menopause, what does your spring look like? What new creations are in your near future? What have you released in order to re-birth? What parts of yourself have you welcomed home?

If we superimpose the seasons onto our life cycle, spring becomes birth and rebirth.

So what are the consequences of a premature spring, a lack of winter? Let us consider physical birth. What can go wrong? What must go right? When an early miscarriage occurs, we commonly assume the cause is an abnormality with the sperm or egg. Successful creations require the presence of complete functioning whole parts. They also require a normal nurturing supportive environment, and, of course, time.

What happens when we don’t complete a full gestation (when we skip over rest, relaxation, winter)? Premature labor leading to premature birth. We all know how difficult it is to care for a preemie, especially one born before her lungs or brain has matured. It is the same for all of our creations. We must allow the appropriate time for our new creation to grow, to mature, to be fully formed.

Many of us find ourselves in the space of preterm birth. Spring is not supposed to come in the dead of winter. This year, all of us became winter crocuses.

What about rebirth? While the capacity for birth resides within our menstrual cycles, I consider rebirth to be the primary state of menopause. So, let us ask, what is necessary to be reborn? Here’s where it gets even more interesting.

Step 1: First, we must die. All that is old, unnecessary, unneeded, needs to fall away. We need to let go.

Step 2: We reintegrate, re-compose ourselves. We bring all the pieces back together, all that we’ve put on hold, all the new parts that we have not yet fully expressed.

Step 3: The Divine enters in. A portal opens, through our bodies.

Step 4: We are reborn.

Take away any of these steps and rebirth is not possible.

So stop. Take a look at yourself and at your life. Where are you in the process of birth and rebirth? Are you miscarrying? Are you in preterm labor? Has your gestation reached full-term? Are you post-due?

Are you in the process of letting go? Are you resisting death and disintegration? Are you struggling with reintegration? Are you allowing the divine to enter in? Is your portal open or closed? Are you reborn?


This post is a part of Awakening: The spring wisdom series. See more wonderful posts on Amy Oscar's blog.