We are well into April now and I find myself reflecting over the past few days.

They were delightful and insightful.

On the 3rd of April I turned another year older and I like to think of this as the start of my 37th year.

We also spent the Easter long weekend camping at my Mother-in-law's beach house a few towns south of where we live.

The Beach House, as we call it, is a place we like to escape to. It is quiet and we are forced to slow down.

Here in Costa Rica, Easter, The Holy Week or Semana Santa is a busy one for the country. People flock to the beach for extra time with friends and family. There are parades in the streets honoring the Catholic holiday and fairs set up in the parks.

It is common for us to get rain during this time of year and feels like a sign that the dry season is ending and the rains will start to fall again.

Somehow I connect this subtle change in weather to the bigger shift that Canadians may feel when spring has sprung in Canada and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

It feels refreshing and offers a sense of renewal.

I love all the seasons and miss them dearly, but I think Spring might be my favorite.

It could be because my sun is in Aries and my Birthday lines up with all the spring time festivities.

I can't help but be inspired by new beginnings. A fresh start. An aliveness.

For the past 6 years now I have lived far away from the seasons I know and love.

I find myself seeking for similarities in seasonal rhythms here in Costa Rica and sometimes there are subtle connections that I'm starting to notice.

Or maybe I am recognizing them in myself?

When I first moved here it was hard for me to feel connected to traditions when my external world didn't match what I knew in my bones.

Making old traditions new has been a challenge for my heart but necessary for my growth.

Over the years I have adapted the way we celebrate but I continue to honor rituals, practices and traditions that my body and heart crave. I'm so glad I stuck with it, there is so much to gain through change and discomfort.

So this year from the beach, accompanied by evening rain, the tradition of coloring eggs and eating chocolate bunnies for breakfast I felt home in my body and a sense of spring in my being.

This year my longing for a true Canadian spring is a little bit less.

This year I feel renewed and can access my own inner feelings of spring.

I feel inspired and ready to explore what my 37th year will bring.

I know that the seasons around me and inside of me can and will support my body and being in a way that is true to me.

This feels like another leap forward that I am embarking on and I can't help but feel extremely grateful for growing older.

I am grateful for tools and practices that have taught me to listen to my body, to hang on tight and to dig a little deeper.

I am just so grateful as I spring into another year of my life and that I let discomfort soften me rather than harden me.

Where ever you are may you celebrate in ways that bring you home to your body, that remind you of your connection to self, others and the earth.

Happy Spring Everyone!

From my heart to yours,

Jes