Spring has arrived – and hasn’t the weather turned it on?

It felt as though someone flicked a switch and turned up the heat the instant the first of September came around. With that warmth, I have noticed a shift within myself too: more energy, more moments of presence, and a deeper awareness of the sounds of spring unfolding all around me.

Prana Estate is always filled with birdsong from dawn until dusk, but lately, new voices have joined the familiar chorus.

A pair of plovers have made their home here and created a nest on the property. We hear them squawking throughout the day – and sometimes well into the night. But so they should. They are protecting their nest, their future family and the fragile new life entrusted to them.

That is what parents do. We protect our children, guide them and do the very best we can with what we know and what we have.

There is something about this time of year that feels revitalising and invigorating. Everywhere I look, life is beginning again. New growth is appearing, the landscape is changing and the natural world seems to be stretching itself towards the sun.

I feel that same renewed sense of life within me.

There is a calmness. A clarity. And, perhaps most noticeably, a feeling of sheer excitement.

Excitement for the warmer days ahead. For the guests I will have the privilege of welcoming to Prana Cottage. For the women who will gather here for the Sisterhood Retreat in November. And for all the moments, connections and possibilities that have not yet revealed themselves.

The Wisdom of Winter

With every change of season comes an invitation to reflect.

Winter was a quiet and restorative season – a time to slow down, turn inward and attend to the inner work that could no longer remain dormant.

Some things had been hidden within the shadows, waiting to rise to the surface. They needed to be noticed, explored and understood before they could finally be released.

At times, winter felt heavy. It asked me to pause when part of me wanted to keep pushing forward. Yet I can now see how necessary that slowing down truly was.

Nature does not bloom throughout every season, and neither do we.

There are times for growth and expansion, but there are also times for retreat, rest and replenishment. Times when the body and mind need space to soften. Times when we must sit with ourselves, listen more closely and honour what is asking to be felt.

I am grateful for that season now because it has brought me here – with more energy, greater clarity and a renewed zest for life.

It has given me the push I needed to move beyond the limits I had placed around myself and venture towards my own outer edges. To imagine what else may be possible. To trust what is unfolding and step forward with an open heart.

A Season of Celebration

Spring also brings a beautiful season of celebration for our family.

I will enter my 46th year earthside. Our eldest daughter will celebrate her 14th birthday – which leaves me wondering, as I am sure so many mothers do: where did the time go, and how do I already have a teenager?

We will also celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary – a milestone that carries within it so many seasons of its own. Seasons of love, growth, challenge, change, family and the continued choosing of a life built together.

Perhaps that is what spring reminds us: life is constantly renewing itself.

We are not required to remain who we were in the season before. We can emerge with new understanding. We can choose again. We can plant different seeds and gently nurture the parts of ourselves, and our lives, that we wish to see flourish.

My Wish for Spring

My wish for this spring is to welcome more people to Prana Estate, to invite them to experience the serenity, nature, peace and calm that this land so generously offers.

I hope our guests find space here to pause, breathe and reconnect with themselves. I hope they wake to the birdsong, feel the warmth of the sun, notice the wildlife moving through the landscape and remember, even briefly, what it feels like to simply be.

For my family, I wish for each of us to flourish.

May we shine brightly, while remaining grounded in who we are. May we welcome new beginnings, new people and new possibilities. May we have the courage to release what belongs to an earlier season and make room for whatever is ready to emerge.

Spring reminds us that even after the quietest winter, life returns.

The light changes. The earth warms. New growth appears.

And perhaps, if we have allowed ourselves to rest deeply enough, something within us begins to bloom again too.