How To Nurture Your Soul This Spring (And Slow Down)

Are you feeling blah, blurry, overwhelmed, tired of the in-between waiting season? Here are simple things I am doing to live lighter now.

Hi friend…

How are you?

I really want to know.

Because I think of you often and wonder if the same things rolling around in my brain, the things I am wrestling with are the same things you are playing tug of war with too.

Are you feeling a teeny bit overwhelmed, stressed or stretched with all the things piling up on your plate right now in this soon to be warmer season of Spring?

Or perhaps just a little blah while we restlessly wait on the green of Spring to show up?

If I’m being honest?

I am a little of both.

While I love this time of year when the Earth begins to quietly stir and wake up…

And when the light hangs on a little later at night…

This time of year also comes with a widened lens of what feels like prolonged waiting while also staring out at all the things demanding my attention and energy.

The fact is.

I can’t do it all.

I can’t do it all and really?

I can’t even think about it all.

Which is why I tend to only take our family schedule one day at a time. Anyone feel me on this? 🙂

Maybe you are wrestling with this in between season of waiting on Spring while also keeping your chinny chin chin above water of these dizzying days too?

I am finding that I am leaning onto a handful of practices that are helping me to relax a little, let off the trigger to do, focus more clearly on what is TRUE and worthy of my time and energy and remember to not only enjoy, but to savor this time of year.

Because?

There are so many good things just getting warming up…

I don’t want to be too stressed or rushed to miss them.

And maybe now is a good time to encourage you that nurturing your soul while we wait on Spring, does not need to be one more thing on the list.

It can be baked right into the breath and beat of your busy day.

I am finding that nurturing your soul is a frame of mind.

If you remember this post from early January, then you might recall that “nurture” is my word of the year.

This focus on nurturing may be why I felt compelled to write this post.

This post about the importance of tending to the soil of your heart, while in the midst of these busy days.

Sound like anything you’re after right now?

Me too.

Today on the blog I am sharing a few small and practical ways I am nurturing my soul in this season of speeding up.

Because, these small but mighty nuggets are helping me to accomplish what I need to and still enjoy the process of putting these crazy days together, one after the other.

In other words?

I am allowing the deep freeze of Winter to thaw in my mind and I am slowly finding my way back to center with a few simple practices set to repeat on my personal soul soundtrack of Spring.

So, if you’re in the mood for a slice of encouragement and reminder that you’re not the only one who might be feeling a little blurry and blah, a little uprooted, or a little overwhelmed…

This post is for you.

This is what I am thinking about and doing that is helping me right now, maybe it will help you too.

Are you ready?

Follow me friend.

How To Nurture Your Soul This Spring (And Slow Down)

First things first.

I am going to share something simple and practical I started doing this Winter, not because I am looking for a pat on the back or praise, but because if you don’t have time in the morning to have a traditional “quiet time,” this little thing might be something helpful and super easy for you to start doing, in order to help you start your day off in a positive frame of mind.

I have held space and protected morning time for a short “quiet time” for over a decade now, a time I truly treasure and look forward to each day.

But lately I have been doing something else.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love my quiet time and practice it for so many reasons.

A.) I sip my coffee

and

B.) I get filled up with this good stuff of prayer and devotional wisdom before the potentially yucky stuff has a chance to butt in line.

Side note – I shared the below picture a long time ago HERE in this post, where I shared how I strategically place the You Version Bible app in between my social apps on my phone, so I make sure that I go to my daily devotional app, BEFORE I go to social apps in the morning.

Lately, I have started doing something super small before my quiet time.

Before I do anything at all.

You might remember me sharing a small practice that I shared last January, “The One Little Thing I Do Every Day That Is Helping Right Now,” here in this post.

If you haven’t read that post, I recommend reading it.

Because, this new thing I am doing is a bit of an extension of the one little thing, I started doing last January.

And friend, I am sharing this because if your morning routine doesn’t allow for a “quiet time”…

This right here might be the game changer for you that you DO have time for.

In the morning, once awake but still in bed for a slice of a second…

After I roll the one little thought of gratitude, over and over in my head, willing myself to wakefulness and thankfulness, and slumber however reluctantly, hands off the baton to blurry sight…

I get out of bed.

But, instead of standing up…

I kneel down.

I get down and get low, right there at the very top of the day, I go to the bottom of my bedside.

What’s the saying in the fighting world?

“When they swing high, you go low.”

Or something like that?

This is the same thing.

“They” is the world and the way of the world’s time clock, swinging high and loud with all of it’s mixed messages.

Already informing you that you should jump out of bed, kickstart and throttle your engine to full speed, smell the high octane fuel of faster, harder, hustle and grind and all the “information” waiting for you on your phone.

But there is a better way.

A softer way.

The way of thanks that holds space to receive the gift of grace that is soaked in the soul soil of slow starts.

There, just as I swing my legs to the side of my bed, I softly send and bend my knees low, until they touch the floor.

(If you can’t kneel, just stay on the side of your bed, and do this before you raise and rise up out of bed.)

With my knees bent now, I prop my forehead on the floor, my hands outstretched a little bit with palms up and I surrender.

Surrender my life and this day and all it has packing over to God.

It’s not complicated.

It’s silent

It’s short.

It’s simple.

And yet?

It’s so very stilling.

It’s so very soothing.

It’s so very day-centering.

It’s so very game-changing when we hand the “game” and all the pieces over, from the very start.

It doesn’t come naturally to pursue a slow start.

What is natural?

The desire to be seen, to be held, to be known.

This friend.

This is a first in line chance to be seen, held and known by the One who knows, sees and holds every single day.

I once heard it explained that…

“A baby, when born, comes into the world looking for someone looking for them.“

Friend, this innate desire doesn’t go away when you are age 5, 42, 18, 36, 13 or 76.

We are hardwired to want to connect with those looking for us and those who know us.

The choice is ours to make a conscious connection with the One who not only knows us, but knitted us.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

psalm 139:13-14 NIV

This morning, literal roll out of bed prayer of surrender is a practical way that I am able to express my dependence on God.

It is my acknowledgement that I cannot supply what I need for this day, on my own, including my next breath.

And so?

This purposeful pursuit before plowing forward.

This receiving of the invitation to trust low and slow versus rapid fire shotgun.

This slide out of bed surrender to the One who holds all time and every detail in His hands…is nurturing my soul right now.

I pray that my sharing this might help you to invite a softening of your own heart’s soil, right at the top of your day, without taking time away from the real life people and things that need and are calling for you.

Because I get it friend.

I really do.

These days can be a doozy, which is why we have to stick together and also why I am committed to sharing what is helping me in this right now minute…in hopes it will help you too.

Here are 5 more tiny ways I am nurturing my Soul while I wait on Spring.

1. Choose to be a “noticer of nature” waking up around you.

Noticing small things, awakens your senses to see God’s “big things,” that we sometimes, would otherwise miss.

The simple transformation of changes outside are unspoken testimonies to the power of our Creator and the lengths He will go to, to remind us that He is still God…and He is still on the throne.

This post from last year about Little Lessons of Perspective led me to noticing this little wood frog while others walked right on by, without noticing this promise that Spring really is coming.

2. Call a time-out and take a minute to RE-SET

When I feel especially scattered and scrambled, it’s usually because I am trying to juggle two different types of needs, work and family or writing and decorating at the same time.

Sometimes we need to call a time out and walk away for a beat.

Take a walk around the block or simply step outside the front door or stand outside of your office or on your porch for 2 minutes.

It might seem like you aren’t doing anything, when you take a break to re-set…

But, you are doing something.

You are nurturing your soul and growing mindfulness to what you need in that moment.

Just as the roots of the trees and shrubs outside are being nurtured silently underground awaiting their transformation…

We are too in need of silent underground work.

Transformation is not always done with busy and full hands.

And so?

Leave the phone inside and give your brain a chance to breathe and reset.

This might be the most important work you do all day.

Then?

Go back inside and do the next thing within your reach that is right for you, right now.

3. Snap some green branches while on your walk or while you step outside.

Bring the branches inside and let the branches be an encouragement to you…that Spring is near.

4. Drink a glass of cold water as soon as you wake up in the morning.

I have started drinking a glass of water before my cup of coffee and it is amazing.

It turns out we wake up dehydrated and if you sip that cup of coffee first, before water, we are not doing ourselves any favors.

In fact?

There is a scientific research proving a connection between dehydration and anxiety.

Fun fact – Drinking just 4 ounces of water has been scientifically proven to reduce our level of anxiety.

And finally?

5. Try to catch that sky showing off whenever you can.

If you know me, then you know I love a pink sky.

I happened to catch this pretty sunrise earlier this week…and it’s just one of those reminders that God wants to connect with us.

So open the window to your home and the door to your heart, even if it’s raining literally or emotionally

Take a deep breath…let that sky speak to your heart friend.

Because there is work happening up there.

And remember, our job is to be obedient….God’s job is everything else.

P.S. He does good work so you can rest now. 🙂

Living on a prayer,

Heather

You might also enjoy these posts:

How To Battle The Bully In Your Brain – Soul Breathing

7 Little Ways To Lift Your Mood In Spring & Decorate Your Home (for free)