5. April 2026

Spring

Inspiration

These pages are designed to compliment your yoga practice by providing inspiration to foster a deeper connection with the world around you. I'm hoping they will help you to feel more mindful, calm and at peace. You do not have to travel half way around the world to find beauty; you simply need to look out your window or stand on your doorstep. Make a Yogi's choice to embrace the good life on and off the yoga mat.

April

The beginning of April is mid-spring, from now until mid-May is the time known to the Celts as Beltane. A time of celebrating the returning light as days lengthen, to look forward to the growing abundance after the hungry gap as it signals the beginning of the farming year.

April is a time of arrivals, new life emerges and summer visitors return. The landscape changes from the greys and browns of winter to the zesty lime green of spring. Leaves begin to unfurl on Hazel and Hawthorn, nettles and dock begin to carpet the earth as the daffodils continue to flower and the occasional bluebell makes an early appearance. Blossom is in abundance this month and gives the April moon it name- The Pink Moon. Named for the common colour of blossom now on cherry, magnolia, cuckoo flower and phlox. These early blossoms are vital food for pollinators, and not just bees. Magnolias pre-date bees in evolution and so rely on beetles for pollination, creeping down into the blooms emerging dusted with pollen like confetti at a wedding.

This month look out for.....

Orange-tip butterflies make an appearance this month. The males flutter about along hedge rows as though on some 90's rave dance floor, giddy with life. A fleeting glance is the best you may hope for. The more demure females, lacking the orange tips on their wings, wait on the edges nonchalantly until a male takes their fancy. To encourage them into the garden try growing cuckoo flowers or jack-by-the-hedge. They love anything tasting of garlic-mustard, which is probably why the birds avoid eating them!

April heralds the return of many winter migrants. Watch for swallows, swifts and house martins all making the epic return journey from southern Africa. Gilbert White (an ornithologist in the 1700's) recorded the 13th of April as 'swallow return day', however they have been spotted earlier in recent years. A fabulous place to watch the ariel acrobatic flight skills of swallows is Leverhulme Park. Walk across the grass and as you disturb tiny insects the swallows follow and catch them on the wing. You may even be lucky enough to feel the 'whoosh' of their wings as they flit past.

The blackbird comes into his own this month. A star in the dawn chorus he most definitely may be but he shines even more at the end of day finale. As dusk approaches head outside and wait. He will perch as high up as he dare and then serenade you with his beautiful melodic song as the sun dips away for another day. Not a bad way to end the day, especially if it has been a tough one.

As the air and earth warm so the water warms, all be it slowly. Look out in ponds, streams and rivers for life emerging. Frogs, toads, newts, flies and beetles that call water home are now making an appearance and starting the circle of life. Frogspawn may be visible around the edges of ponds- keep returning and eventually you will see the tadpoles start to wriggle inside before they hatch.

A Reflection...

When I hear the blackbird sing, I always stop to listen. I gently drift back to a time of white knee high socks and black T-bar shoes. Standing on the coal bunker watching the glorious sunset over the greenhouse scented with compost, tomato vine and tobacco. The blackbird is perched high on next door's chimney. As the sun dips behind the horizon his fluting melodic song carries across the quiet, still neighbourhood. When the blackbird sings I always stop to listen. Now it carries me back across the years to a time of innocence and simplicity, stirring memories of playfulness, happiness and love.

Next time..... I introduce you to the garden and the veg plot.