Spring: Meeting our growth edges and expand beyond

Spring is in full bloom here in Seattle. The birds are singing, the flowers are showing off to the sun, the trees are in their most radiant form. Today on my walk in nature, I found myself drawn to the trees. In awe of them in their full element. In East Asian Medicine, Spring is associated with wood element. Trees in the spring are flexible, growing up and out, extending as much as the can before they meet their growth edge.

Just as the trees and plants push through the soil toward the light, we too are being asked to grow, being asked to extend past the familiar.

Asking ourselves, where in my life can I extend further, where can I grow more. Is the container I am currently in feeling good, or have I outgrown it?

Growth is rarely comfortable, there is even a literal medical term “Growing pains”, a physical condition where fast growth can cause aching, throbbing, pain. In East Asian Medicine emotions are given the same weight as physical symptoms. Spiritual growth, outgrowing the current version of yourself, can bring emotional pain to the surface. Restlessness for the new version of yourself to set in, sadness or fear of leaving the old version of yourself.

The energy of spring is designed to move you through, to support your growth, to help you find your growth edges and flirt with the idea of expanding past those edges.

My biggest suggestion to guide you during this season of the wood, the season whose organ is the liver, is to walk in nature and contemplate your growth. Walking massages the liver. Get lost in nature, preferably around trees. Touch trees and ask them to take and alchemize anything you wish to no longer carry into your next version of yourself. Ask them where you can expand in your life.