Spring is the season we bring forth seeds of the self that have been gestating during the winter. It is a time when your dreams push to come out and blossom — whether in ways that refresh old visions, or are new inspirations. Although many people associate Spring with light-hearted images of young love and butterflies, Spring is also a time of “emergenc-y,” where your life force pushes forward unexpectedly and in potent ways…If you imagine a young tree as a pale seedling pushing through the winter-hardened earth, reaching for the warmth and light of the sun, you have an image for how insistent your own life force becomes during this point in your cycle. Way of Joy
Although I recorded this vlog almost 1 year ago, I think it is worth sharing again as we move towards Spring Equinox, which is considered to be the peak (as opposed to onset) of this season in the Chinese calendar.
One of my favorite qigong forms, Blossom in the Spring, has continued to inform me in ever-deeper ways over the years. This seated form takes the practitioner through a cycle of life, death and rebirth, the cycle that connects us to all living beings. In the practice, there is a moment where a budding blossom appears to close before opening into full blossom. I love musing on the ramifications of this moment of expansion and contraction, how resistance can be just like pulling back an arrow in a bow before releasing to move towards a new level of accomplishment or spiritual opening.
Want to know more about this powerful practice? I am so excited to announce that I have gathered some of my very best information and tools for a virtual program, The Seed to Blossom Starter Pack will give you a quick shot of energetic fuel to make this Spring the best one yet. Or better yet, come to a VIP Sunday Morning retreat on May 22.
“Renegade-Woo” Vicki Dello Joio, founder of The Way of Joy: A Spiritual Fitness Program, brings together East Coast Attitude and West Coast energy consciousness as a master teacher, transformative speaker and performing artist. Integrating over 40 years of Chi Kung practice with other martial arts as well as her work in Yoga, Feldenkreis, physical fitness and theater, Vicki has developed a dynamic set of tools to transform obstacles into opportunities and enhance creative potential. Book: The Way of Joy, CD: Short Meditations for a Busy Life