The In-Between: Spring to Summer Transition

It’s the beginning of June, late spring, as we prepare to meet the mother of Summer. While spring lingers with its flowers and shoots, many of us are seeing the first fruits of summer - juicy, ripe strawberries have taken over a corner of our garden, deep fuchsia raspberries dot the canes along our fence, and the evenings are beginning to warm up amidst that glorious late-spring scent of plant sex hanging in the air. That liminal space between spring and summer is where, if we pay attention, we can perceive that sultry shift from the fertile, dark soil of conception to the expansive, full bloom of abundance.

Remember near the end of winter when the earth was humming with life beneath the surface?

Now, on the threshold of summer, we tune into the nurturing, transformative power of the Great Mother at her peak.

We’re still in the airy, refreshing realms of spring but we’ll soon slip into the element of Fire. Soon the blueberries will be ripe for the picking, garlic will be ready to harvest, and fruit trees will be heavy with their abundant cherries, peaches, and plums.

It’s a busy time in the garden as well as broadly in nature. There is abundant medicine to harvest, tincture, dry, and preserve, and of course the more work we do in the summer, the more food and medicine we have for the rest of the year. While it can be tempting to jump right into the expansive, creative, “doing” energy of summer, it’s wise to go slowly, lingering in and savoring the cooler days and nights of spring for just a little longer even as we prepare for the coming of summer.

How can we embody this transitional time between Spring and summer?

This is where nature’s brilliance shines.

Because seasonal energetics shift along a spectrum. While we have solstices and equinoxes that mark specific astrological moments of change, the energetics inherent in nature don’t suddenly “become” summer. There’s a gradual, almost imperceptible shift day by day that invites us into deep presence with ourselves as we exist in this web of life.

So, to move gracefully from spring to summer is simply an invitation to observe and be present with nature. We follow nature’s signals. As life blooms and ripens in the summer, so do we.

We step into the phase of the Mother nourished, grounded, and refreshed.

Here are some of my favorite ways to attune to this transitional time:

• Get outside first thing to get morning light exposure. This helps align your circadian rhythm with the sun and earth.

• Tend to your liver. Spring, as we’ve talked about, is the season associated with the liver organ and meridian in TCM, but the liver plays a crucial role in nourishing blood and the heart, which is the organ we’ll explore over the summer. In the last couple weeks of spring, supporting your liver can help move gracefully through the seasonal transition. Try things like:

  • Walking after meals (the liver loves movement).

  • Consuming liver-supportive herbs like burdock root, dandelion root & greens, nettle infusions, schizandra, and milk thistle.

  • Castor oil packs over the liver.

  • And, my personal favorite, laughing! When we laugh, it releases dopamine and helps reduce stress.

• Acupressure. Massage and gently press acupuncture points Liver 3 and Large Intestine 4. (shown below)

• Devote yourself to a current project. In spring, there’s a lot of “beginning” creative energy that leads many of us to take on many projects, hobbies, or interests. Everything feels exciting and we say “yes” to a lot of different things. This isn’t bad, it’s the natural rhythm for many people. As we enter the summer portal though, it’s helpful to focus our energy, our resources on fewer things so that we don’t burn out. Choose the things that feel most aligned, that truly light you up, that feel like a bone-deep “yes” in your body and focus on those through the ripening season and see what comes to fruition by harvest time.

The Magic in the Liminal

Summer is a time for devotion. For growing the things that truly nourish you that you want to see carried through the remainder of the annual cycle. For allowing those things to transform you into even more of who you are. These liminal spaces between seasons are their own mini-initiations of sorts. They’re a moment when we reflect back while also look forward. They’re a doorway.

The energy of the in-between can be uncomfortable because, by its very nature, itis uncertain. Unknown. Between to “regular” things that we know and are used to. But the way we respond to this uncertainty is an opportunity to be with ourselves, to nurture ourselves, in a way that perhaps we aren’t used to. It invites us to show up for those parts of us that feel uncomfortable with the in-between. That either long to go back or yearn to just “get there already.” And being able to sit with our own discomfort, our own reactivity, is truly life-altering.

The end of spring and beginning of summer is a time of culling. We weed and prune. We decide which of the tomatoes we started from seed are the strongest and most likely to bare healthy fruit, and which ones failed to thrive. We make room for the things we want to invest in and let the rest go.

The liminal space between spring and summer asks us what are we taking forward with us and what are we leaving behind? What are we allowing the air of spring to gently blow away? And what are we taking with us to the cauldron, the fire of summer to be transmuted into a gift from our very soul?

Prompt

After completing one of the Embodiment Practices, set a timer for 10 minutes and free write around the questions above.