13 Ways to Celebrate the Spring Equinox
The Spring Equinox is a time of new light and new beginnings, a time to plant the seeds we want to nurture and grow. As we emerge from the winter months, the illumination of longer days brings brings new possibilities, creations, potential and hope.
We will be having our own in-person and virtual Spring Equinox Celebration if you would like to join us, head over here.
If you are unable to join us for our celebration here are a few ways you can celebrate:
1. Get Outside & Connect With Nature
Getting outside to spend some time in nature is one of the best ways to celebrate the spring equinox. Nature has been proven to improve your mental wellness and overall health, so there’s definitely no downside to getting outside to enjoy the sunshine. Some activities to try, are hiking, biking, picnicking, taking a nature walk or a walk on the beach.
2. Plant New Life
The Spring Equinox is a great time to start planting your flowers and vegetables, depending where you live. Too early to start planting outdoors where you live? Start some windowsill herbs, or seedlings for your garden indoors and get a jump on the season. No green thumb? Buy a low-care houseplant and place it where you can enjoy it.
3. Visit a Site of Ancestral Importance
Old places connect us to our ancestors and our ancestors connect us to old places, giving us a sense of belonging and identity. Whether our ancestors came through Ellis Island, crossed the country via the Oregon Trail in search of a better life, lived here all along in wigwams, wetus and villages throughout America, or arrived on the Mayflower, the old places where our ancestors lived tell us about ourselves. Visiting these places can give us a sense of connection.
4. Prepare a Family Feast
Prepare traditional Easter type food and spring favorites such as deviled eggs, quiche and more. You can burn sage prior, to cleanse our space and insist that everyone unplug while dining.
5. Have a Bonfire
There’s something primitive about fire that can help us feel connected to the spirit of our ancestors. Sit around one during the spring equinox with family or friends.
6. Make a Nature Craft
I have always wanted to make a wreath from scratch and that is what we will be doing during our Spring Equinox Celebration! I am so excited! I hope you can join us!
7. Decorate Eggs
Another popular way to celebrate the equinox is to decorate eggs. Eggs are one of the popular symbols of Easter which takes its name after the Germanic goddess, Eostre/Ostara, who was traditionally honoured in the month of April with festivals to celebrate fertility, renewal and re-birth.
8. Bring Spring Inside
Tulips blooming? Bring some inside to brighten up your space. Take a walk around your neighborhood or woods nearby and collect signs of spring to bring indoors.
9. Set Your Intentions
Since spring is a time of renewal, rebirth and new beginnings, the spring equinox is the perfect time to reflect on the past year and to sen new intentions with goals to reach for in the coming weeks and months. Practice some meditation or yoga and try to be more mindful and present in the moment.
10. Read About Spring
With the promise of warmer weather and the optimism that winter is finally ending, now is a great time to read some spring stories to your children if you have them, or pour over some gardening or nature books. I like to start planning my gardens as well as my nice-weather hiking trips.
11. Do Some Spring Cleaning
The spring equinox is a time for spring cleaning and cleansing. Spend some time physically + intentionally cleaning your space, especially those areas that have been neglected over the long winter months. Dust the shelves, sweep the floor, wipe down the surfaces. If possible, open a window and allow fresh air to flow in. Cleanse your space energetically with smoke cleansing or using a cleansing essential oil mist.
12. Start Something New
With spring symbolizing new beginnings, now is the time to take up something new. Always wanted to try photography, or some other hobby? Now is the time to make a commitment to yourself to try something new. Take some time for yourself to explore something that you’ve always wanted to try…think about taking a class or starting a new hobby.
13. Establish a Routine For Daily Nature Connection
To me, this is one of the most fulfilling ways to celebrate Ostara. Start establishing a new routine for yourself that includes spending time in nature daily in some way. Commit to spending at least 15 minutes a day outside, or start a nature journal that you write your reflections or observations of nature in. The ways you commit can be as small or as grand as you’d like, but I promise you won’t regret the time spent, and your mental wellbeing will thank you.