Spring, Inside & Out

Happy Spring Equinox!

Welcome spring!

Today, you might already know, is the vernal, or spring, equinox in the northern hemisphere. I wanted to put together a little something to honor the inner and outer spring and the ways in which we can care for ourselves during both. The inner being the time after menstruation and before ovulation. The outer being from today, March 20, to June 21.

Unintentionally, I started writing this whilst in my inner spring. A happy accident.

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For both the inner and outer spring, this is a time of activity.

The inner spring comes directly after menstruation, the inner winter. Once your bleed is done, there’s often a “upward” shift that can be felt. In a biological sense, this is when estrogen starts to rise again, as does follicle stimulate hormone. An egg is starting to matured in one of the ovaries. Lots going on. Cervical mucus is potentially dry or just stating to make its appearance (which is likely watery or thin at this stage). Mostly likely, this is an infertile time. This is sometimes called the follicular or pre-ovulatory phase.

Inner winter is a time of tucking in, turning inward. So inner spring is a time of opening up again, going back out into the world. They say this is a better time to do those things that take more social energy or gumption, like hosting a party, going out, asking for a raise, or having that hard conversation.

Of course, in the outer world we know what’s happening. Today specifically, the equinox, is a moment when the Sun crosses Earth’s equator and is directly above it—not north or south. This makes day and night the same length everywhere, all over the globe, whether today is the first day of spring or autumn.

I’m in the northern hemisphere, so I’ll be speaking about spring. Here, after today, the days will start to be longer than the nights.

Elementally, depending on the tradition, spring is associate with wood and air elements. I find the energy to be the same. Think of trees sprouting and growing, branches rising and swaying in the wind. Lots of cultures also have celebrations in this season that are centered around eggs, flowers, fertility (in all its forms), and bright colors.