The spring equinox is coming this Saturday, March 20. The equinox is a time of balance between light and dark, day and night, and it can also be a point of recognizing and bringing clarity and balance to our own beings, within. 

We are moving into a time of green energy, awakening from slumber and hibernation in nature and our own bodies rhythms are incredibly receptive to this energy if we are able to tune in. To connect to our inner intuition and gain clarity about what will serve us going forward is like choosing seeds for our garden and planting them in little seed pods now so that they will be ready to plant in Mother Earth when she is ready to receive them in a few months, when the snow melts and the sun warms.

 What kind of seeds do you want to plant for your own inner being? How can you gain clarity? It is a fertile time and with 2020’s shadow still lingering over us there is a lot to integrate. We won’t go back to the same life we had before the virus/social unrest/ugly politics – you can’t step in the same river twice.  You can use this time during the equinox to both take stock of where you are now and lay the ground work to move forward consciously and with a sense of purpose.

 To tap into this fertile time you can prepare now for the equinox and spring which is on its way. Here are a few tools and exercises to help get you in the groove.

Take stock of where you are now by working on this simple inquiry:  

1.     Make a list of all the things you are happy about in your life. 

2.     Make a list of all the things that you are not happy about. 

3.     Now, make a list of things that you would like to do that you are not doing.  

Choose one item from the latter two lists and commit to working on it for 40 days.[1] It takes 40 days to really make a behavior change become a part of our daily habits and once it becomes habit it is then supported by the subconscious thought waves and emotions rather then fought against. Choose only one. After 40 days update your lists and choose another and continue. Do this self- exploration before the 20th and start your first 40-day personal challenge on this strong and potent day and really commit to it.

Speaking of commitment, your naval is your access point to your grit, determination, and your ability to follow through. It lies about three fingers below your belly button. Our courage comes from this center as does our true authentic voice. We have three centers in our bodies – mind, heart, and naval. The mind is the seat of our thinking, intellect, and our hearts rule our emotions. We are familiar with these two centers. What about the naval? We connect to the energies of life through our navals.  Life is flowing all around us, but without connection to our naval centers we are deprived of that flow. When we were in the womb our naval was our very life pulse. Each of our human bodies contains 72,000 life force energy channels called nadies that transport  our pranic energy through both subtle and physical body and they all begin at our naval points. 

As we have been raised in a culture that puts emphasis on the mind and hearts our ability to feel and connect with our naval centers has been lost. So as a simple and powerful equinox exercise I suggest you learn and practice breathing into your naval. Deep rhythmic  breaths. Draw your breath in so that your belly fills up and as you exhale sink your belly into your spine exhaling completely. Practice this by inhaling and once you feel like you can take no more breath in hold and then take one more sip of air in through the nose. Keep your hand on your naval center and feel it expand outward, as if you were filling a balloon with air. Likewise on the exhale, exhale completely and then pause and push one more time out of the nostrils again, as you are exhaling pull your naval into your spine gently and on that last second exhale really squeeze it in so that it is completely empty. Once you practice this as an exercise, commit to practicing breathing deeply throughout your day. You can breathe like this when walking, when cooking, when resting, before bed, while driving. This simple technique of deep belly breathing is a powerful and easy tool to help connect you to your source of power and the dormant energy that lies there ready to bloom.

Think of developing your naval as preparing the soil for your inner garden. There are many kundalini kriyas, such as Sat Kriya and Nahbi Kriya that focus on the naval center and many other meditation techniques out there that I work with and am happy to share with you. Without working with your naval center you cannot experience true determination, the courage and inner strength to act according to what is right for you. You can talk about it but the actual walk can only happen with naval center energy flowing – this is your life force center. 

 And finally, to know what is right for you – accessing your own inner wisdom or intuition – look IN TO IT – into you. Meditation is really the only tool that will allow you to go inward and listen to your own inner being. Listening with the arrow pointed inwards is a path created one small stepping stone at a time and there are no short cuts. There are hundreds of techniques and access points to meditation, the trick is to find one that works for you and stick to it. Active meditations, which allow the body to move first and then transition into stillness are super helpful. I have so many beautiful meditations and would be happy to help you find one that suits your inner groove and of course kundalini yoga is powerful and there are many breathwork, yoga kriyas, and meditations to help develop our intuitive selves that I would be happy to share with you. 

Equinox and spring are almost here. Let’s move into the green season with a sense of purpose and set ourselves up for a summer where our own inner gardens are in bloom – sun, air, light and good prepared soil are all we need.

[1] This exercise is attributed to his Holiness the Dalai Lama during a speaking engagement.