What Begins to Rise

Early spring reflection

The asparagus has started to appear.

Not in abundance, not yet. But enough to mark a change. The bundles are smaller. The stems are tight and upright, held close together as though they are still gathering themselves.

After months of roots and stored foods, the kitchen changes first.

There is less need for weight. Less need for long cooking. Heat softens. Meals become simpler. The body adjusts before there is any decision to do so.

Asparagus arrives at this point in the season.

It does not store. It rises.

Each stem pushes upward from the ground, drawing from what has been building beneath the surface. What was held through winter begins to move. Not all at once, but steadily.

In practice, the shift is similar.

The body is no longer entirely inward. Movement returns in small ways. Walking feels easier. Standing requires less effort. Energy gathers, but is not yet fully available.

It is easy to move too quickly here.

To match the lengthening light with increased activity. To assume that more movement is now required. But the body is still adjusting. What is rising is not yet stable.

The stems hold their structure without spreading. Light, but contained. Simple, but not empty. When prepared, they require very little. A brief cooking, a small amount of warmth, and they are ready.

The body responds to this.

Not because it needs less, but because it needs differently.

What held through winter begins to release. The system reorganises around movement, around light.

Nothing needs to be imposed.

When attention is steady, the change is clear.

Food changes.
Movement changes.
Energy begins to move upward.

And the body follows.

Susanna Syassen writes on yoga, Ayurveda, and embodied living. She is the author of The Enlightened Earth forthcoming.