Spring - Clearing what Winter left behind #3

Movement Practice for Spring: Let It Ripen, Don’t Force It

When I check into my body in spring, I often notice a kind of lethargy.
A density. A lack of immediate interest in movement.

The instinct can be to override that feeling — to do more, to move harder, to cleanse out winter as quickly as possible.

But every time I’ve followed that instinct, it creates tension against resistance.
It pulls me out of my centre.

A Different Image

I return to a simple image:

Ripened fruit.

You don’t pull fruit from the tree before it’s ready.
You wait. You watch. And when it ripens… it falls.

Movement in spring can be like this.

We are not trying to force change.
We are creating the conditions where change can happen.

The Real Tools: Kindness, Noticing, Slowing Down

To support this shift, I come back to three anchors:

• Kindness – reducing internal resistance rather than pushing through it
• Noticing – developing the ability to feel what is actually happening
• Slowing down – allowing space for the system to reorganize

These are not soft options.
They are what keep me in my centre while still moving toward change.

Many people struggle with noticing.
They move quickly, or try to “get it right,” and in doing so they skip over the very signals that would guide them.

But noticing is the doorway to kindness.

And kindness is what allows the body to shift without bracing.

We are not trying to fix a wrong body.
We are adjusting to a change in seasonal qualities.

Where I Begin

I begin with breath.

Not controlling it.
Not shaping it.

Just following it as it moves in and out — letting it take whatever rhythm it wants.

Fast, slow, uneven, quiet… all of it is information.

Then I bring in an image that helps me locate myself:

I imagine myself between time.

The back body holds the past.
The front body holds the future.

And I place myself right in between —
sandwiched in the present moment.

It’s a simple orientation, but it changes everything.

From There, Movement Emerges

From this place, movement begins.

Not imposed — but invited.

I work with:

• Repetition — small, rhythmic patterns that allow learning
• Ease of movement — staying within ranges that feel accessible
• Breath awareness — letting breath and movement inform each other

And just as important:

I pause. Often.

These pauses are not breaks.
They are resets.

They give me a chance to:

• notice what just happened
• feel where I may have overdone or compensated
• re-enter the next movement with more clarity

This is where patterns begin to change.

Changing Patterns Without Forcing Them

In those pauses and slower repetitions, I can start to sense:

Where am I bracing?
Where am I skipping over something?
Where is effort coming from habit rather than need?

Instead of correcting from the outside,
I begin to connect with the joints and structures higher up the chain of command.

When those organize, the rest of the movement doesn’t need to be forced.

And something important happens:

My Spontaneous CORE has a chance to come online —
not through effort, but through coordination.

Not through bracing, but through responsiveness.

Spring Movement as Reconnection

Spring is not about pushing the body into lightness.

It’s about allowing lightness to emerge from within a body that has been in winter mode.

So rather than:

• pushing through heaviness
• or trying to eliminate it quickly

We:

• meet it
• listen to it
• move with it

And gradually, something shifts.

The body becomes more responsive.
Movement becomes more fluid.
Energy begins to rise — without strain.

A Simple Way In

If you’re unsure where to begin:

• Start with your breath — don’t change it, just follow it
• Place yourself “between time” — back body past, front body future
• Choose one small, simple movement
• Repeat it slowly, with pauses
• Stay curious rather than corrective

Wait for the moment when movement feels like it wants to grow.

That’s the shift.

That’s the fruit ripening.