......magnificent march

Yogis,
Ok, so maybe the word magnificent isn’t the first word that comes to mind when asked to describe the month of March. More often I hear terms like unpredictable, long, muddy or miserable. I for one have what I would describe as a love/hate relationship with March.

I love the anticipation of spring that March brings! Those small glances into what’s in store for the not too distant future. On the other hand, after a few warm sunny days I develop the false hope that spring is indeed here, only to be deeply disappointed when the gray forty degree days return, and the heavy coat is once again pulled from the closet. It can be a frustrating month.

These last two weeks I have been watching to see how I know it is March. What makes March unique? Without having to turn the page on the calendar, how does March announce herself. Here’s what I noticed.

·        Monday morning the thermometer read 25 degrees for my early morning walk. Full winter gear and still chilled by the time I got home. Three days later I am in short sleeves, actually saying the words ‘I am hot’, as the mercury rises to 79. What other month can do that with such ease!

·        The daylight…… Since December 21 the sun has been rising earlier and setting later day after day, but somehow in January and February it feels imperceptible. Suddenly March arrives and you can’t help but notice expansion in the day. Throw in March’s daylight savings clock change and suddenly it is as if we have been given the gift of time!

·        And the sun…… It feels like she takes two giant steps up in the sky each time she rises. My medicine wheel garden, which gets zero sun all winter, acts like a giant sundial throughout the month, as a larger slice is touched by the sun’s rays each day until the entire garden is bathed in dazzling light by month end. With no filter from the leaves yet, the sun in March is brilliant.

·        March is a month of firsts. I see my first bugs, first green, first tree buds and first flowers, as the natural world wakes from its slumber. As the bugs begin stirring the distinctive drumming of the woodpeckers picks up in earnest. Wrens begin to scout out the birdhouses. The raccoons become feistier, this year deciding they like to steal my yogurt containers from the recycle bin to take to the woods and lick clean. Luckily it is organic! And every time you pull away a pile of leaves, something alive looks up at you with thanks.

·       And I once again find nights where I can open my window a few inches while I sleep. I love that.

Yet don’t be fooled. March will continue to test us. She is a great teacher that way.

Two weeks ago if the forecast was for 50 we would be exclaiming how awesome it was that it was going ‘up’ to 50. But here we are, already moaning that it will go ‘down’ to 50 this weekend. How quickly we attach…..and cause our own suffering.

Here’s the lesson plan for March. To wake each day, look out window and be grateful for what lies at our feet. Letting go of resistance and frustration (since all they do is make us frustrated) and not expect her to be April or May. Let her be exactly what she is. Messy….. and Magnificent.

Om to March,
SARAH