Early Spring Impatience

We have had a remarkably soft winter in the Netherlands. Temperatures above zero the whole time. Not even a hint of snow. Now, in the first week of February, the sun is shining from a clear light blue sky, birds are singing, the first spring bulbs are flowering. Wonderful, you might think – no dark and cold winter, give me all that spring energy, the more the better…

Me? Not so thrilled. It started about two weeks ago. Out of the blue my body started to feel a bit stiff. Suddenly, my muscles became tired faster than before, my tendons inflexible, small injuries popped up after the same exercise routine that had caused no problems at all during the past three months.

My mind is filled with plans and ideas, which seems like a great thing. Still, somehow I am unable to get anything done. The list of things that need to be done is growing by the hour, yet I am unable to cross anything over. It is almost as if the universe is conspiring to make sure that no task can be completed – either because I cannot seem to focus or because I am dependent on an impulse from somewhere or someone else, which just does not seem to arrive. I am feeling overwhelmed by all the things (I think) I need to do to the point where I become paralyzed and just sit and stare at my list of things to do – or start surfing aimlessly on social forums to have at least some sense of being busy with something.  

I am sorry to say that all these things do not exactly enhance my mood either. I have been doing quite a lot of anger work during the past few months. All the pillows in my practice room are now all 100% dust free, from the severe beatings they have taken. Things were calming down again. Not so anymore – these days I am afraid that my stick will break in half if the current trend continues. Big time frustration going on. I feel what I imagine a pressure cooker must be feeling – the steam building up inside, more and more… until the inevitable explosion…

And from what I hear, I am not the only one…

What is going on? One of my hypotheses…

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According to Chinese Philosophy the world can be divided into five elements: Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. It is intuitively easy to understand that they also feed each other (Water feeds Wood, which feeds Fire etc). In addition Water corresponds to winter and Wood to spring. The transition from winter (Water) to spring (Wood) is the most extreme energetic transition, since we go from maximum Yin (winter, quiet, cold, hard) into the explosive and growing Yang energy of spring (think about a tiny weed determined to grow through the asphalt). This abrupt change is why many people also suffer from so-called spring tiredness. 

So, what do we have here? We have had an extremely short and warm winter, which means that our Water element has had limited time to ‘recharge’ itself. Suddenly, and way too early, the growing energy of Wood is introduced into our systems. The transition is difficult at best, never mind this time. Is it any wonder that there may be some growing pains in the form of stiffness and inflexible tendons (tissue of the Wood element), bouts of creativity and planning (tasks of the Liver, Wood organ), explosive, frustrated feelings and anger (emotions of Wood)? 

What can you do, if you are not sailing smoothly through this transition? 

• Take enough rest, go easy on yourself, get a nice massage, perhaps some shiatsu or acupuncture… These are all good ways to feed the Water element. 
  
• If you are having trouble with excessive frustration or anger, I can really recommend 5-10 minutes of anger work a day. If done properly, you will feel exhausted and way calmer afterwards. 
  
• Enjoy the creativity as much as you can, find new outlets and if it is all too much, break it down into small, manageable tasks… Like me, right now… No need to finish every writing and marketing task I can imagine doing this year in one week. One blog is enough…for now.

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