Trees budding, birds singing, and the onset of longer days are all welcome signs that spring is officially here.

This time of year means transitioning from the most Yin season (winter) into one that is more Yang: creative, energizing, and outwardly expressive.

Below, England-based studio BE faculty member Janine Tandy offers four practical ways to prepare for this seasonal transition:

1. Tidy up. Spring is an ideal time for decluttering both our internal and external spaces. It’s a wonderful opportunity to sort through closets, clothes, toys, and more, letting go of what we no longer need. Internally, we can also think about lightening our load. Shifting the way we eat to incorporate more dark leafy greens and herbs and reducing our intake of caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and processed foods can help naturally energize and lighten our minds and bodies.

2.  Wake up a bit earlier. Take advantage of the added daylight to breathe life into your mornings. Integrate some energizing movement as you start your day. Maybe that means flowing through a few sun salutations, taking a brisk 10-minute walk, doing a short chair yoga class, or embracing anything that circulates the blood just a bit more.

3. Decide how you want to grow. Spring is a time of renewal and creation, an opportunity for projects to grow from seed to sprout. If you’re feeling stuck or not quite ready to move forward, ask yourself: how might I lay the foundations for growth? What do I need to thrive? Maybe this means more time to pause as you cultivate and envision just what you'd like to see come into being as we shift into the new season.

4. Stay flexible. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Spring is associated with the wood element. The season is perhaps best embodied by the qualities of a tree: emphasizing staying rooted in order to rise, practicing being at once fluid and adaptable and yet also remaining centered and grounded. When we feel flexible, our Qi (or life force) flows more freely, our minds feel spacious, and our emotional lives feel fluid as well, rather than stuck into any one particular feeling or emotion.

Guest post by studio BE Facilitator Janine Tandy.

Practice with Janine via her custom-designed grounding yin class for lockdown on the studio BE platform.

Janine holds a Master of Public Health and is a RYT vinyasa and yin yoga teacher. She is a certified Wellness Coach with the Institutes for Integrative Nutrition, and is currently enrolled in the 500 Hr Insight Yoga Institute. You can learn more about Janine on her website or @janinetandyyoga.

Feature photo via Prostock-studio/Adobe Stock