Simple Practice to Feel More Uplifted This Spring

In a recent session, one of my clients expressed being in a place in her life where she is experiencing a lot of joy. Yet, right next to those feelings of joy, she’s anticipating that it could be over at any minute, that she may soon experience a mixture of anxiety, sadness, and grief.

She was also carrying with her a feeling of “Who am I to feel this much joy? Especially when there are so many challenges in our world?”

Can you relate?

There is a natural cycle in life of joy into sadness/grief, and again comes an experience of joy, and once again later there is an experience of sadness/grief. This is human.

The thing is, you may not see the pattern yourself when you are moving through the moment in your life. It can be hard to trust and know that in time there will be a shift. In a world that has become accustomed to instant gratification, it is easy to lose sight that life is a wave with ups and downs. If you can acknowledge that life is a wave, it is far easier to let yourself appreciate the moment you are in, or feel less like you are going to be crushed by your current experience.

When you have patience on your side you can move through life experiences with grace and strength. It doesn’t mean you’ll achieve a positive result and stay there. It’s not negative if you get there and it wavers. You haven’t failed. You're not broken.

I suggested to my client a simple practice that I find helpful to embody joy, and feel uplifted, which I’d love to share with you here. 

It has to do with watching the sunrise and sunset in a new way.

I see joy in the cycle of the sun at the moment where you get to see the sun rise. When you can see and feel the transition from the darkness of night to the illumination of the sky at dawn. It reminds me of spring energy, the freshness of a new day and growth that is possible. When I take a moment to appreciate this shift in light it helps me feel my heart full, and let it fully blossom. 

I also find joy and pleasure in the ending of the day, in the sunset. The moment of acknowledging the cycle of the sun has come to its fullness during the day and then as the world rotates the sun light goes away and passes on to illuminate another part of the world.  

It can be comforting to remember that the sunrise and sunset happen every single day, whether or not you get to see it. It’s a special moment when you get to see a super colorful one, and of course there’s nothing wrong if you don’t get to see it.

When I shared that, my client felt a huge internal shift. She experienced that when a sense of joy comes, she can make a choice to let herself feel it and take it fully in. She also felt it could be a helpful tool for her, when she feels sadness to remember “this too shall pass” - let herself take in the joy when she feels it, and know that the sadness is not her permanent state for always.

As we shift into spring, this time of the year is when we have had equal darkness and light on the spring equinox. It is a time in nature where there is an expanding and contracting as snow melts, soil thaws, and plants begin to bud. 

I share this practice with you so that you can see how you can let yourself more fully embody your experience and be present in your life cycle.