Spring, Fear, and the Practice of Not Losing Yourself 

Spring arrives every year, but what it brings up in you has far more to do with your internal state than the season itself. There are times when it feels energizing and expansive, and there are times when it seems like extra stimulation for an already frazzled nervous system. For many of us right now, we fall into the second category.

Recent circumstances have provoked a constant pull toward reaction—in the way people take in information, in the way conversations escalate, and in the speed at which the certainty of opinions hardens. This intensity can be quite an activator for fear, and boy, do we feel it! The body tightens, the breath shortens, and the mind locks into conclusions that feel convincing but are rarely clear. From that state, everything starts to look like something to fight, fix, or defend. This is where our yoga practice reveals its limits and its capacities.

Now, some of you may not know this, but yoga was never intended to be used as a shelter to keep you comfortable or help you avoid what is difficult. For starters, yoga was designed to steady the mind so that you can see clearly, especially when times are charged. In the Yoga Sutras,  Patanjali defines yoga as the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind. This is not accomplished by eliminating thought or bypassing discomfort, but by reducing the internal turbulence that keeps you pulled in multiple directions.

When fear is present, even when it does not appear dramatic, this becomes essential. Fear can show up as urgency, a tight conviction, and a narrowing of perspective that makes everything feel immediate and absolute, convincing you that your reaction is clarity. Unfortunately, many people in spiritual circles try to manage that by reaching for positivity or familiar spiritual language; while that can look grounded, it often functions as avoidance. Spiritual bypassing rarely appears obvious. It sounds composed while skipping over what is actually being felt. However, you cannot move through fear if you refuse to feel it!!

Spring offers something useful here, but not in the way it is usually framed. It is not about becoming a new person or adding more to an overstuffed mind. It is an opportunity to clear what has accumulated—mental clutter, emotional residue, habitual reactions that have gone unchecked. Just as you would open the windows, move stagnant air, and clear physical space, this season invites you to do the same internally.

For example, when something triggers you, the body responds before the mind builds a story. The jaw tightens, the shoulders lift, the breath shortens, and the system prepares to react. Most people move past that moment and into mental interpretation, but that initial response is where practice lives! If you can stay there, even briefly, you begin to clear instead of accumulate.

The teachings of Pema Chödrön point to remaining present with discomfort rather than discharging it, while Jack Kornfield emphasizes that clarity comes from training the mind rather than from the intensity of your opinions.

A lot of what gets labeled as awareness is simply reactivity expressed in more refined language. The words sound thoughtful, but beneath the surface, there is still tension driving the response. It shows up as “certainty” without openness, “boundaries” that shut down rather than stay engaged, and “honesty” that carries an edge rather than clarity. If your system is activated, your response will reflect that, no matter how polished your words are. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika refers to the breath to clarify this relationship: when the breath is disturbed, the mind follows; when the breath steadies, the mind begins to settle.

Clearing the clutter starts with training your attention. Dharana, the sixth limb of yoga, is sustained focus. Try to keep your attention anchored to your breath and bring it back each time it drifts. Each return is a way to clear mental noise rather than feed it.

Next, stay with sensation when discomfort arises. Notice where it lives in your body and give it a few moments before reacting. This is abhyasa, consistent practice, paired with vairagya, the ability to observe without immediately grasping or rejecting. In this short pause, old patterns lose some of their grip.

Use your physical practice to support this process. In postures, notice where you brace unnecessarily and where you can soften without collapsing. Sutra II.46 describes this balance as steadiness and ease. When you learn to hold both in a pose, you begin to hold both in your everyday life.

Work with your breath. Lengthening and smoothing the exhale steadies the nervous system and clears some of the internal noise that drives reactivity.

Remember, you are human!  Emotions are not clutter to be thrown out; rather, they are part of the experience of being alive. Fear, anger, grief, and uncertainty are not signs that something has gone wrong. In fact, when you can meet them directly, they become catalysts for growth rather than obstacles in need of removal.

The clutter is not the emotion itself. It is the buildup of unexamined reactions, avoided feelings, and habitual patterns that keep repeating. Spring gives us a chance to clear that.

With consistent attention and practice, your energy level increases, and your outlook on life becomes more accepting. You can engage in difficult conversations without becoming rigid or driven by the initial surge of reaction, and your responses become calmer and clearer. That is the work, and this season delivers you the best conditions to do it, with more light, more movement, and more space for attention and breath.

Use it!

Jai Bhagwan, Kristine