Spring Cleaning

Written by: Nina Davey, LCPC, ATR-BC, PMH-C

Reawakening

To emerge again. 

The season of Spring draws attention to the natural shift in energy and produces momentum in our day-to-day life. Emerging from the winter hibernation, our bodies are eager to stretch and move and breathe in the fresh air. The days are longer, the weather gets warmer - The potential for change expands. 

Taking care of our mental health as the spring equinox approaches is a key element to embracing all this season has to offer and aligning with the momentum of springing forward. 

Here are a few considerations for this year's spring cleaning.

1. Connect with friends and loved ones - After being pent up through the winter months, the change in the weather warming up encourages more opportunity and desire to connect and socialize. 

2. Be mindful of the time change - When the days get longer, our boundaries with time can often expand. This is a reminder to set limits with your available time and protect your sleep hygiene with consistent routine. 

3. Start slow - Moving our bodies out of winter hibernation, it is important to listen to your body and fight the urge to sprint out of the gate. Gentle stretching and walking is a great place to start.

4. Have a plan - Spring cleaning is a great way to shed the external baggage collected over the colder months, however, without a plan, this task can often feel overwhelming. Create a plan of action and take it bit by bit. 

5. Reassess personal goals - At the start of the new year, we often set personal goals. Now is a good time to reassess those goals and make any adjustments or simply just establish new ones. 

Mandalas

Written by Becky Riley Olin, LCPC, MT-BC

I have been drawn towards mandalas lately, seeking them out in nature and in my everyday environments alongside creating them as time and space allows. Mandala is the Sanskrit word for circle; it encompasses circumference, perimeter, and center. Mandala has become a word that is synonymous with sacred space. Their very presence in the world reminds me of the sacred and divine in the universe and in oneself. The circle with no beginning and no end is a symbol for the eternal whole which contains time and space. Jung stated that the mandala is the archetype of wholeness, relating it to the Self. The mandala is one of the image archetypes that often emerges spontaneously when people are in the healing process, either in artwork or in dreams. Jung used mandalas as a tool to explore the unconscious. Jung would present his patients with a white sheet of paper with a pencil-drawn circle on it and a box of oil pastels. The directions were, “Surprise yourself.” Creating mandalas promotes the use of intuition and sensing. We can see our strengths and challenges/difficulties within the context of life’s cyclical nature. We know or sense things at a deeper level than before. I like to use Jung’s original directions when I work with mandalas. If you prefer a bit more structure to this process, here are a few step-by-step directions to get started on creating your own mandala:

It is recommended to quiet the mind and focus on your breath for a few minutes before getting started.

 Take a piece of paper or whatever size feels right to you.

 Draw a circle in the middle of it – you can use a large dinner plate as a template if you don’t have a compass.

 Take a set of colors, sit in front of the circle, and relax.

 Let yourself be drawn to a color and start with that.

 Follow whatever imagery comes up, in color, line, form, or image.

 Trust your intuition to tell you when you are finished.

"Do Less" and Other Helpful Reminders

By: Denise Migliorini, LCSW-C

 ‘Tis the season to get busy buying gifts, making family plans, or managing increased symptoms as the days shorten and the weather chills. If your responsibilities are increasing in any area of your life, it may be time to decrease pressure in other areas.

If your calendar is full of parties and obligations, let go of the house being spotless or the laundry being put away. If you can afford to outsource chores, now is the time to use your resources. If resources are scarce, forgive yourself for what isn’t happening. Eat off paper plates, let the kids wear pajamas all day or have a movie night to rest and recharge.

If your depressive or anxiety symptoms are increasing because you thrive in sunlight and warmth, give yourself space to enjoy something new inside. Find a new book at the library, some fresh markers and a coloring book, or a good show to watch. Clear out or fill up your calendar-whatever your body needs for this season. Do less of what’s “expected” and more of what fuels your soul.

Taking care of yourself during busy or challenging seasons gets to look like whatever works for you.

Why I Wake Early

By Becky Riley Olin, LCPC, MT-BC

Throughout these winter months I continued with my early morning runs each day, noticing and naming the moon phases, connecting with the fox and deer that always seem to pop up out of nowhere, and remaining in awe of the sunrise and the beautiful colors it brings to the morning sky. As I transition into March early morning running, I am especially grateful for the opportunities to witness and notice the emergence of spring alongside the completion of winter. The daffodils are blooming and the magnolia buds are swelling – I experience wonder at the risk they take in blooming despite the frost that awaits. I hear the sounds of the geese coming home, and it reminds me that we are all on our way home to a beautiful somewhere, on our way home to our beautiful selves. David Whyte writes, “If you only suddenly notice that everything has bloomed around you, you have already missed the essence of spring.” Spring is the emergence of what has been growing inside us alongside what has been growing in the outer world. We get to see this in full effect, all around us in the blooming and light of spring. Let us slow down to be present with the sensory experience and energy of spring alongside the completion of winter. Let us slow down to be present with what has been growing inside us this winter, ready to emerge and be born this spring. I leave you with Mary Oliver’s poem, Why I Wake Early, a reminder of the joy that can arise from noticing, witnessing, and taking in the beauty of spring.

Why I Wake Early
by Mary Oliver

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and crotchety–

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light–
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.

Enough

At this midpoint of winter I start to consider what it’s like to be in process of being halfway or part way through something. This “something” can be the day, the month, the year, the season of life we are leaving and entering all at the same time. These midpoint spaces in our lives are necessary and vital to our growth, development, and healing. This time of year invites us to slow down and notice where we are in the midpoints of our own lives. It’s ok to BE exactly where we are. As I start to sense the shift towards the emergence of spring in this midpoint of winter, I have been drawn towards Andru Defeye’s poem, Enough. May we all come to know and embrace our goodness and enoughness in this world.

Enough

By Andru Defeye

You are enough

Divinity flows in your fingertips

        with light so radiant

        every beat of your heart

a victory march

made of whole universes

        stitched by the hands of creation

        with flawless design

a prophecy You fulfill perfectly with every breath

        You

The sun wouldn’t shine the same without it

Creation is only waiting for You

                to smile back at it

Do you see it yet?

You are enough

        For the birds to sing about

        For the seeds to sprout about

        For the stars to shoot about

        Do you see it yet?

        Gardens in your speech

Fields of wildflowers in your prayers

        Lighthouses in your eyes

    No one else can see it for you

You have always been enough

You will always be enough

Your simple act of being is enough

            Do you see it yet?

Written by Becky Riley Olin, LCPC, MT-BC