Happy spring everyone! Today is the spring equinox, the first day of spring, when plants grow and spirits soar as we shed the cool temperatures of winter and thaw out for some fun in the sun! Okay, so we're expecting multiple inches of snow on Friday. Today, we start to trend towards warmth and regrowth.
Since we started waiting for a baby to find us, we've gotten consistent advice from new parents to sleep while we can, get all the rest we can store up, and be prepared for sleepless nights. But there sure is a lot to think about when you're expecting a new person to enter your lives. In reality, if any of those new parents remember the phase of being pregnant, or waiting for their delivery, they might acknowledge that it's hard to simply "get rest" on demand.
We've extended our days by countless hours with the lights and technologies of our time. It's not just in the U.S. that we stay up later, ignoring the obvious hints from the sun to wind down. At work I review electricity development projects all over the world which have the sole intention of extending the daylight so that students can study into the evening or to improve safety in the darkness of their remote town.
However, one thing we loved about living in rural Niger was the way our bodies became accustomed to functioning after dark. We could see in the dusk by letting our eyes adjust to the shadows of the evening and, as the sun set, the sounds in the village were calming when life began to wind down. If you've ever been camping in the back country of our forested mountains, you know the feeling of the waning day. Contrast this with the sounds and sights of your late night news programs or prime time television dramas.
These days, it's go! go! go! until the split second when we shut off the light. It isn't transitional, but abrupt. It's hard for a mind like mine to just shut off like a light switch. I have been known to lie in bed and continue to process the day aloud as a way to slowly arrive at sleepiness. I think Josh's bedtime stories are a means for him to quiet me down and get my brain to slowly settle into stillness.
In the morning, it all starts again with the sound of the alarm clock. In our case, our alarm clock is a recorded rooster followed by the Muslim prayer call to remind us of waking up slowly with our neighbors in Niger. But, it still startles us awake from a shortened deep sleep rather than letting us ease into the day. Lights come on, showers start, and we hit the floor running, albeit groggily.
Inspired by multiple friends who periodically follow a "cleansing diet" or attend spiritual retreats and by our own constant feeling of dragging ourselves through the days with eyes half-open, we dreamed up a new tradition in our home and we're calling it ELO Week - Equinox Lights Out. Since Saturday, and until next Saturday, we're living from sun up to sun down without turning on the lights. We have been able to wake up slowly as the sun creeps in and we go to bed when it sets, spending a few additional minutes recapping the day and falling asleep by about 8:00 pm.
Unfortunately, we can't store it up and we're likely to go back to a later bed time when this is over. But for now, we feel refreshed and rested. It would be a great time to be placed with our children and, from this restful place, begin the slow decline to evening naps between feedings. We're now ready to be up all night!
Sure, we picked the easiest time to try this out. After all, we can't get all of our work done in the shortest days of winter and we might end up with even fewer sleep hours if we tried it in the height of summer. But there are other reasons to focus on rejuvenating our bodies and souls at this time of year. Here's a nice description of the significance that springtime holds for some:
Spring Equinox Blessings to
you!
A Spring Kiss by Moonrabbit
The earth awakens... new life emerges, sap rises, buds shoot and spring flowers are celebrated as gifts from nature. Spring returns and rejuvenates our own life force.
Spring is a time of the Earth's renewal, a rousing of nature after the cold sleep of winter, a time to celebrate the renewal and rebirth of Nature herself, and the coming lushness of summer.
At this time we think of renewing ourselves. We renew our thoughts, our dreams, and our aspirations. We think of renewing our relationships. This is an excellent time of year to begin anything new or to completely revitalize something. This is also an excellent month for prosperity rituals or rituals that have anything to do with growth. It is an ideal time to clean your home to welcome the new season. Spring cleaning is more than physical work. Some cultures see it as a concentrated effort on their part to rid themselves of problems and negativity of the past months and prepare themselves for new things.
This equinox is also known as Ostara or Eostre - and is celebrated as a festival of new growth, renewal, a re-balancing of energies and the return of longer days. It is also known as the day of equilibrium. Now is a good time to consider the balance of our lives - work, play and relationships.
It is now time to lay the seeds of new projects and new directions that you have meditated on throughout the cold months. Now is the time to start taking action. Decorate your home with spring flowers and sprouting greens. Begin a new project. Key actions to keep in mind during this time in the Wheel of the Year include openings and new beginnings. Start working towards physically manifesting your plans now.
Yep, that all sounds like as good a reason as any to hit the reset button on our overly active minds and bodies and take a break before beginning the fun times of spring and summer outside. Or, we're just lazy and wanted a lofty-sounding excuse to sleep more.
