5 Simple Living Shifts For Spring

Spring is the season that brings promise. More than any other it feels pregnant with opportunity and promise both in life and work, and for me, it’s the time where I feel that my energy and that of the world around me are most in sync. If you are emerging blinking from your hibernation cave of blankets and stews, you may also be thinking about how best to capitalise on this energy and promise. Maybe the new year slipped between your fingers in the first place, or perhaps real life has got in the way of your well-placed intentions (hello, this is me). Either way, a new season, and Spring in particular, is the perfect time to reset and move forward.

Here are six things that I’m focusing on around this turn of the season to give you some inspiration for your own simple living shifts.

Start your new year again

I saw on Twitter that the Persian calendar traditionally celebrates new year around the Spring equinox, and that seems a wholly sensible thing to do. I know that many of you didn’t really do new year with its resolutions and goals and busyness in January; winter felt heavy and unproductive and not aligned with energy needed for those mindset shifts.If that was you, perhaps you can revisit that kind of activity now. Set new year resolutions and intentions to check in with next spring, or start goal setting for your business. Even if you were feeling on it in January, check back on those goals and intentions and see whether they’re still serving you, and tweak them if not.

Outdoor mindfulness

On my dog walks this week I have lingered longer. No longer burying my chin in a scarf and turning back before the end of the path, we’ve been wandering a little further each day and taking our time. One morning I was serenaded by a particularly vocal song thrush and paused to seek him with my eyes as well as my ears. I’ve been turning my face to the sun and examining the burgeoning buds on every branch.

Now we have (hopefully) sunshine, take time to be mindfully outdoors. I never listen to music or podcasts when I’m out and about, but if you do remove your earbuds for a while and listen to the wind, leaves and birds. Let your thoughts come and go but, if like me, you struggle to focus on breath, perhaps focus on the world instead.

Embrace seasonal nourishment

For me, winter is the time that I fill my face with everything that’s bad for me, relishing in the comfort of saturated fat and the knitwear that hides it. As this has been my first self-employed winter, my unhealthiness got even worse – with so much else to do I stopped cooking and survived mostly on bread and crisps.

While British produce is going to be a little late due to the snow, now is a good time to get out the cookbooks and be inspired by food again. Now we have more than root veg to look forward to, plan out some nourishing meals and a trip to a market to buy the ingredients. Try Eat The Seasons for a quick view of what's in season each month.

Reflection, ideas and planning

Similarly to starting the new year again, now is the time to reflect on what’s passed, use the new seasonal energy to come up with new ideas, and plan for the rest of the year. I always find that once the sun starts shining I somehow remember what I did in spring summer last year much more vividly than I can in January, so think back to how those seasons were for you last year, and how you’d like that to change this year. For example, last year I desperately tried to exclude greens from my photography because they weren’t ‘my' colours, and felt stifled as a result. So now I’m thinking of new ways I can incorporate the natural world and all its colour into my brand and photography.

You’ll also no doubt be starting to get more and more ideas coming to you the more you get outside and tap into the new season. Making sure you jot them all down, decide what goes on the ‘not yet’ pile and what goes into action now, is crucial for making sure that you make the most of them. Plan in when you’re going to use them, and whether you need support to make them a reality.

Utilise your extra hour

I’ve always hated the clocks going forward, lamenting my lost hour in bed (you know, not being a morning person and all). But it does bring longer days and more light, which I know for those working full time is a complete godsend. So this spring, use your extra hour to do something that feeds your soul. Take photographs, go for a walk, sit by the window and read or craft. Don’t let it fade into normality, claim it as your own.