Each year, as winter melts into spring, an ancient rhythm begins to stir. The light returns, the birdsong grows louder, and the world seems to lean forward, pressing us toward movement, change, renewal. And yet, for many of us—myself included—this time of re-entry is the hardest part of the cycle. Spring insists we wake up. It asks us to emerge before we’re quite ready, like a fragile seed cracking open beneath cold soil. This transition from stillness to motion, from containment to expansion, can be disorienting. The old rhythms no longer fit, but the new ones haven’t yet taken hold. It’s messy. It’s loud. It’s vulnerable and it’s also necessary.
In many ancient traditions—from the medicine wheel to the alchemical texts, from the Hero’s Journey to yogic philosophy—transformation is described not as a straight line but as a spiral. A return, again and again, to the same core truths with a heightened perspective. In these frameworks, spring is a stage of initiation. A crossing. It is the moment the butterfly emerges from its cocoon, the moment Persephone rises from the underworld, the moment the Fool takes the first step into the unknown. So how do we move through it? We move our bodies. We breathe with the earth. We reflect. We listen. We grow.
Here are a few simple practices that can support this seasonal threshold:
- Morning breathwork: Stand facing the rising sun. Inhale slowly through the nose, pause, then exhale through the mouth. Let your breath inhale the light and exhale what no longer serves us.
- Fire ritual for release: Write down the qualities or habits winter helped you uncover, especially the ones that feel heavy or rooted in fear. Burn them safely as a way to say thank you—and goodbye.
- Walk barefoot, if you can. Touch the Earth. Let her remind you how to remain grounded while moving forward.
These transitional moments are invitations to evolve. To move from uncertainty to insight, from fragmentation to wholeness. That’s the heart of the work I offer—in weekly classes and the seasonal retreats I lead. This fall, I’ll be returning to Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center for a weekend immersion: The Path of Transformation, a weekend rooted in ritual yoga practices, eco-therapy, and the sacred frameworks of alchemy and myth. This retreat is designed to support people walking through the spiraling journey of transitions. It’s for anyone feeling the call to grow beyond what they’ve known, and to do so with reverence, courage and community.
Because we’re all carrying questions we can’t yet answer.
And the only way out is through.
—Shawn Westbrook, retreat facilitator
We invite you to join Shawn for the The Path of Transformation: A Weekend of Reflection, Renewal & Connection Retreat Sept. 5–7. Together we will step beyond what we know and grow into something greater through yoga, meditation, eco-therapy practices, ritual and self-inquiry. Learn more or register here.
images of Spirea by Andi Lewis and fire by Rev. Dr. Catherine Quehl-Engel