Our special thank you to Pary for this month’s blog article, sharing the renewed energy and blooms we see in the spring.
When the vernal equinox arrived in March, the moment when the sun shifts to warm our northern hemisphere and bring spring to Michigan, I begin to search…
As day and night are nearly equal, there are important days and seasonal firsts. some are marked on the calendar, Persian new year, my daughter, Darya‘s birthday, and that of my deceased brother, but some are more fluid. As the days lengthen, I am on the move, looking in the woods, by vernal ponds, and the edgelands between fields, parks, even around ditches( and sometimes into other people‘s gardens…) so many firsts!
For me the most important spring sightings are always the spring ephemerals . some have been poking through for weeks, others yet to come. by early April I spot the first mottled and splotched leaves of the trout lily , soon ,the winter aconites and snow drops everywhere are giving way to the shy first hepatica blooms. In gardens and along the edges and transitional spots and landscapes the Virginia blue bells will appear, soon the trillium and may apples will be clamoring for my attention.
Which brings me back to the other side of spring renewals, and that I find at IMAGINE, the space where movement begets more movement and new strength and renewed balance and even the occasional dance move. To me it’s spring more than January 1st,that changes and challenge us. It’s spring and renewal to garden (planks , squats, bends, and stretches). With the longer days come longer hikes and the backpack (weights and cardio!). There are rocky trails and woodland paths with roots and stumps to maneuver (bosu ball and Vinyasa).
In a new season, I need renewed strength, renewed roots, and connections, and (OK, I can’t resist it) a spring in my steps… And I can’t think of a better place, even when some of us are hobbling, to find that than the space and community at Imagine. In the yoga studio, I’ve looked up from a down dog to see an Oriole, and balanced, however, briefly, to lift my eyes just in time to catch a rose, breasted gross beak at a bird feeder.
Just as important is to feel the warmth of all of the people I am so lucky to know there, and the encouragement, and at least in my case, the eternal patience of the instructors. So this spring, even if I am limping and gimping I am especially grateful for two things: spring ephemerals, and the solidity of Imagine.
