liberate!

There’s a sort of rebellious energy in the air this week - new starts as we thaw out from the very chilly last few weeks (at least in the UK!). A bit of momentum building deep underground as things start to germinate and sprout, still out of sight but very much there.

I recently learned from a friend that an old Japanese calendar - known as koyomi - splits the year into 72 microseasons, or ‘kō’. At the moment we’re in the “ 大寒/Daikan” (Greatest Cold) season, with this week spanning the kō of “ 第七十候　款冬華/ Fuki no hana saku” (Butterbur Flowers Bud) - named after the emergence of the apparently much-loved and delicious yellow-green shoots of the fuki plant. Bears seemingly come out of hibernation specifically to seek out their nutrient-packed buds, tied in with beautiful ancient Japanese mythology casting the bears as visiting gods to our world. Then at the weekend we move into the microseason of “ 水沢腹堅さわみずこおりつめる/ Sawamizu kōri tsumeru” (River Ice Thickens) - water becoming visible, tangible and thicker as it freezes further in the deep cold. It’s described as forming its most beautiful patterns - delicate icy structures, crystals and spirals creating their own moving magic - solid but dancing, literally frozen in time. This is the final kō of the Koyomi calendar and is deeply symbolic of the edge of spring - the survival of life against all odds through the winter, ready to burst through into spring. To be liberated!

Having eagerly researched, I’m struck by the fact that the kō are so beatifully named after natural happenings, and how this speaks to a closer watching of the changes that happen in nature over smaller periods of time. This is something I’ve noticed on walks with Badger (our greyhound) this year - the more I get out into nature regularly, wind, rain or shine, the more I notice how it changes day-to-day, rather than season-to-season.

It’s also something I noticed after recovering from a period of being really poorly when I was a teenager. Describing it to friends, it was really easy to say I’d had “months” of being really unwell - this was technically true. But it’s also true that day-to-day, hour-to-hour, minute-to-minute, my sense of wellness had massively varied. Sometimes I was actually pretty ok, or well supported, or working through stuff. To categorise it all with one fell swoop was a bit of a disservice to the different experiences I had actually lived through across those months.

This week in my practice I’m considering that sense of liberation, rebellion, new and fresh starts - I think there’s a huge freedom to be found in noticing the changing details around us, and the rate and volume of those changes. As humans, we naturally categorise things and our experiences are no exception - we consider our work to be “boring”, or January to be “miserable”, or a week to be “a bad week”. But within those broad categorisations, can we find the exceptions to the rule? The little sparks of rebellion that refuse to fit with the wider narrative we’ve assigned? The work day that’s actually hilarious? The January moment that’s full of joy and light? The point in a “bad week” that felt supportive and wonderful?

And in noticing these rebellious moments, can we consider how we might break out of our own narratives, or the narratives others place on us? Like the butterbur flowers defiantly bursting from the ground in their bright yellow-green glory despite the freeze - what can we liberate from the norm, from what is expected? In a world where the narratives we hear loudly can often be the most harmful, it feels more important than ever to free ourselves from what doesn’t sit right, what doesn’t align, and what we no longer want to be a part of.

an asana for liberation

This weekly blog is part of my yoga practice (Svadyaya = self-study, and having a theme to come back to is one of the ways I like to guide my own introspection otherwise I get LOST in my overthinky brain). So I like to link it to an Asana - a ‘seat/pose/posture’ - and ground my thinking and reflection in a physical movement.

Liberation to me feels like Camatkarasana (Wild Thing).

It’s one of my absolute favourite poses, given the option I will ALWAYS flip myself over from my Ado Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog) - chest towards the sky, head dropping back and hand reaching behind you towards the distant horizon. This pose says freedom and joy to me. As always, look after yourself and if you're at all unsure, ask a yoga teacher to help you!

Here’s the prompts:

• From all fours (shoulders above wrists, knees above hips), tuck the toes and lift the hips up and back to your Ado Mukha Svanasana

• Lift the right leg up and behind you towards the sky

• Bend the right (lifted!) leg and open at the hip - chest will start to turn to the right-hand side.

• Lift the right hand and open the chest towards the sky

• Allow the right foot to drop down towards (or to) the ground, left leg straightens

• Right arm extends behind you and towards the ground

• Gaze is to the sky and slightly backwards

• To reverse the posture, lift the right foot and flip the chest towards the ground, landing the right foot and hand back in your Ado Mukha Svanasana

• Repeat on the left side!

You can also play with this Camatkarasana variation from a chair:

• Open the right leg out to the side and move it backwards in space, towards the back right leg of the chair

• Face the torso slightly towards the right

• Lean back and reach back overhead with the right arm

• Repeat on the left side!

a little look at the skies:

As always I’ve taken lots of inspiration from the skies in thinking about this weekly theme! There’s plenty going on this week and I’m not going to mention the detail like I did in my last couple of posts. There’s lots of cool places to get more in-depth information - some of my favourites are Lunar Lover, Chani and Kirsty Gallagher.

What I will give you is a summary of my take on the astrological movements this week and the vibe I got from reading about them! To me it’s feeling seriously innovative - which makes sense as we’re moving into Aquarius season, symbolising that brilliant strike of genius that cuts through all the other bullshit. Here’s my day-by-day take:

• Monday’s energy feels like new imaginitive clarity - a sense of fog on the horizon clearing and an ability to see and shout into the distance.

• Tuesday has SO much going on, this feels like a ‘great uncovering’ to me. Ideas flying around, new thoughts and things you have to say, plans emerging that are free from previous limitations that seem to disappear as if they were never important anyway.

• On my notes on Wednesday I’ve just written LIBERATORY INSIGHT in capital letters. I’ll let you take what you will from that!

• To me, Thursday feels like a continuation: an unfolding and clarification process.

• Friday’s vibe feels like standing at the top of a mountain at the beginning of a journey. Actually writing this I’ve just thought.. it’s a bit like the image of “The Fool” if you’re into your tarot! But this feels clearer, more decisive - the way is clear and the first step is imminent.

• At the weekend there’s relative quiet - and blimey we might need it. A bit of time to integrate, pause, and rest up before the adventures begin...