Spring Clean Your Psyche

To me, March feels a lot like one whole month of PMS. (Sorry, gentleman for the gender specific analogy, but surely you have had some indirect experience of this female phenomenon that can help you relate.)

I mean, sure, there are other troublesome times of year. Some folks can’t stand August’s heat. Or December’s dark days. For me, the mud, the up-and-then-down temperatures, and the phenomenon of it being colder in the house than it is outside are all real buggers! It’s enough to make me downright irritable sometimes.

The good news is that, just as with PMS, there’s a big release heading your way. You may not know exactly when it’s coming, but you know that it is imminent. Soon enough, all this “Isn’t it spring yet?!” angst will be relieved.

But that doesn’t mean you have to just suck it up and endure until sundress weather arrives for real.  Here are a few things you can do to make the waiting more tolerable and less emotionally volatile. 

• Train yourself to notice the good parts of spring. The shoots pushing up through the ground, the buds starting to form on the branches, the warm days that enable you to roll down the windows on the way home. Why? Because what you focus on grows. If you live somewhere where spring is in full force and your coats are already packed away, post pictures on Facebook and Instagram for those of us who don’t. It will benefit all of us, so long as there’s no “nanny nanny boo boo” tone in your comments. =)

• Think about what you want to release. Part of why this time of year is rocky is that it’s a transition. And sometimes we humans just don’t roll with the transitions all that well. Embrace the fact that every transition represents and ending and a beginning. Honor the ending by deciding what you don’t want to do or think anymore, and the beginning will show up much more gracefully. What habits did you cultivate over the winter that were very appropriate to that dark, inward time but not so great for the lighter days of almost spring? (Think binge watching House of Cards, or eating heavy meals.) Thank them for seeing you through, then brainstorm the things you want to replace them with. Maybe it’s purging one drawer a night instead of hitting the couch, eating more green vegetables, what have you.

• Retreat yourself. Step away from your life for as long as you can manage so you can get some perspective on where you are and where you want to go. Kate’s Yoga Playhouse is a perfect place to do this. =) I specifically chose a March date, because now is the perfect time of year to pause, sweep out any stale energy that’s accumulated during the winter, wash the windows of your mind, and tap into the revitalization that’s happening all around you (even if it is still buried under a layer of gray snow). It’s happening one week from Friday—a one-day mini retreat dedicated to getting you into that magic space where you can hear how you really feel about whatever’s going on in your life. So you can leave feeling relaxed, clear, and empowered to make some decisions.

What are your tips for staying sunny through the transition from winter to spring? I’d love to hear about ‘em below!