Springing Forward

I read a post this morning from the blog The Bishop in The Grove about the upcoming vernal equinox, known to pagans as Ostara. Traditionally, with the coming of spring and thus with Ostara, we look towards new beginnings, both for mother earth and ourselves. The thought of new beginnings brings to mind all sorts of fun things like perhaps a new relationship, new home, new job, a new place to visit. What intrigued me about Teo Bishop's article was his idea of focusing on the balance aspect of Ostara. As I ran my errands this morning, I couldn't help but reflect on where and how we could restore balance into our lives.

Our Nutrition: Many of us are looking to bring our weight or health back into balance and naturally look towards ways we can be achieve this. Perhaps instead of focusing on diets that eliminate whole food groups (vegetarian,paleo, Atkinson, gluten free etc) we should instead look into how are eating habits are unbalanced and how we can bring things back around. For example, instead of going vegetarian, we instead pick a few days a week where we don't eat meat, focusing on more vegetable based meals. Or, if as in my case, carbohydrate foods such as bread, potatoes and such are dominating meals, why not look to cut back on intake by eliminating these foods for two meals a day and exchanging carb snacks such as chips and pretzels, with nuts or fruits? If it's a sweet tooth that is the problem, why not cut all sugar treats in favor of fruits? eliminate sugar or honey in tea or coffee or cut back as far as possible? There are instances when a special diet is needed in order to address some serious diseases such as diabetes. However, for most healthy people, a balanced diet would bring us closer to the weight and health goals we have. A daily doe of vitamins also helps to bring our needs in balance

Our Exercise: All of us know the benefits of keeping the body active whether that be through dancing, walking, swimming or whatever it is that appeals to a person. In bringing our lives in balance with body movement, it is important that we not become a slave to exercise routines, but instead, be mindful of keeping our bodies in motion throughout the day.

Our Work: In order to keep ourselves in balance with work, it is important to be dedicated and reliable with our work and to not allow our work to override our lives by leaving room for little else at the end of our day.

Our relationships: Keeping in balance in relationships means honoring each other by being mindful of the give and take nature of relationship. To do all of the giving, getting nothing in return, may seem benevolent, but it is not in balance with honoring oneself.

Our Spirit: A balance between the ego and soul is integral for continued growth. Balance is brought about by taking time to be still in meditation or a shamanic journey, or through chant, chakra balance or best yet, a combination of all. Having quiet time alone brings balance to us as well. Balancing out our karma by righting any wrongs we may have done, goes a long way towards balancing our spiritual selves because it elevates our sense of joy that comes out of doing good. When we can balance past hurts with good deeds done for us by others,we find how much our hearts can open and be allowed to love.

As Ostara approaches, I will be focusing on the areas of my life that I need to balance, with the goal that these new beginnings be started at Ostara. I am lucky enough to be able to contemplate these goals and have some new experiences over the next two weeks as I once again wing my way to the quirky, beloved city of Portland where their anthem is to "Keep Portland Weird". As a fellow weirdo, I love the anthem, of this artsy little town. I am already anticipating doing my tarot readings from a table in the coffee shop of Powell Books, a pile of books on one side, a steaming cup of tea in hand, while watching the hipster world of Portland pass by the window.