What spring teaches us about yoga

Spring is short and it comes with plenty of inconveniences.

It brings rain, mud, allergies and temperature swings that make dressing for the weather tricky.

But what if we changed the way we think about this season?

“I don’t think spring needs a total rebranding,” says Jamie Falkowksi, a New York-based marketer, in a recent article about how the magic of spring often gets overlooked. “I just think it needs a wake-up call. Spring is our wake-up call as people. To go out there and live life again.”

He says if he were to create a campaign for spring he’d focus on the brevity of the season. Spring is short, take advantage, play hooky on one of those perfectly warm days.

That sounds a lot like being present in the moment, a core principle of our yoga practice.

“These blooms are only going to be there a short time,” says Christopher Miller, a City University of New York professor. “You can see spring as a transitional threshold period, where its changes are so visible — and so ephemeral.”

The fleetingness is part of the allure, another invitation to be in the moment. The vibrant hues we see now will soon give way to summer’s shades of green. If we don’t take the time to appreciate the now, we’ll miss it entirely.

But if you just can’t see the beauty through the rain or the fog of allergies, spring’s brief visit reminds us that everything passes —from the moments we cherish to the most challenging circumstances.

Whether we use these lessons to get into something or through it, depends on the season we find ourselves in.