Spring and kapha season
It has been over a year since I wrote my last blog post, it feels a bit funny that it’s at the same time last year when spring began to arrive. My hope is that this year I will be more persistent and have courage to continue sharing and create from the things I have learned about in recent years, to let it come forth through creativity and develop into something that I cannot yet see. I yearn for that change and at the same time I hope that it also speaks to someone else.
We are currently in the middle of kapha season according to the ayurvedic calendar. The last weeks of winter and throughout spring, kapha is the dosha which is most active in nature. This means that the qualities that kapha carries are currently acting the most in nature at the moment, out of all the different qualities that exist. Imagine that all qualities or characteristics that exist are energies and each energy has its own individual quality that we then can feel, see or experience in a certain way, together they build up and create this world both in the way it is and how we percieve it. I feel that this way of trying to understand things is on a very refined level that, at least for me, does not feel completely open yet. It feels like a very subtle and fine-grained level where you can feel how things work but requires that you do not just try to understand things with your head. In nature, you can certainly experience and feel these things much more clearly, it is quiet and peaceful there but above all it is a natural environment to be in.
The quality of kapha is partly cold, slow, sluggish and heavy. These qualities are needed more during this time of the year as they are in their energetic quality nourishing and supports that which is about to grow up from the earth after a long winter. Spring is after all the time that shows us all how colorful and beautiful it can be when things start to grow and bloom.
When certain energetic qualities are more active in nature, it affects us humans in such a way that the same qualities that exists in our own system begins to activate more. This shows us how much the external environment can influence us and bring out similar energies and qualities within ourselves. It also speaks of how much everything influences and is interconnected with each other.
The elements, doshas and qualities that exist in nature and our own body are not negative in themselves, but they can still affect us in a negative way, since the knowledge of ayurveda teaches us about maintaining balance, too much of certain qualities can create imbalance in our own system. We can feel this physically, mentally and emotionally. I think we all can recognize when our own balance is disturbed or when we may completely feel that we lack it. Then we need to start figuring out what it is that doesn’t “work” in our own life, what is it that upsets the balance?
For me, this season and its qualities open up thoughts and feelings that can have both negative and positive aspects. Since a heavier quality is more active now, it can make ones state of mind feel more sluggish and dull and you can sense the heavy quality in the body as if you need an extra push to get up and start doing something. It can be easy to get stuck here and feelings such as laziness, indifference or getting attached to things can be awakened more strongly by this quality. But if we bring in opposite qualities during this time of year such as warmth, lightness and movement, the quality that is now active in nature can give a feeling of stability and be nourishing for us. For me, being creative feels important right now, to get movement going but also to find lightness and joy in myself. You can think about what feels extra heavy, dull and cold in your own life right now and what could you do to bring more movement, lightness and warmth into your life?
