The time is now
Hello there,
Spring is arriving as we find ourselves at the close of the 立春 (Li Chun, beginning of spring) solar term. This is my first seasonal newsletter to you in 2026, and I’m truly grateful you’re still here with me! 2025 felt incredibly heavy for so many around me, full of moments that demanded shedding, taking action, and letting go. Some may still be standing in the eye of the storm at this moment. Personally, it was as if I only just woken up to the new year a week ago, still feeling the aftershocks, still grieving the sudden passing of my dog, 熱狗, right before 2025 ended.
2026, which for me is only just now beginning to unfold in these early weeks of February (happy lunar new year if you’re celebrating!), feels like a true fresh chapter. The groundwork for this started a few years ago, marked by a stubborn inner resistance. In January, I found words that gave this resistance a voice: it wasn’t my work I was clinging to, but the identification of my worth through work. Once I could see that distinction, letting go of that identification became so much more natural. After years of inner work, I feel ready to meet the year with a new sense of lightness and a playful heart.
That’s the energy of 立春. Nature’s invitation to spring upwards, outwards, and expand into new beginnings from the deep places that lie dormant all winter. Did you notice the change in the air here in Singapore a few days ago? The cool breezes in the early morning and late night have quickly given way to heat that seems to arrive overnight. As I continue to learn about the 24 solar terms, I’m fascinated by how, in 立春 (from 4th to 17th Feb), latent Yang energy stirs beneath the ground, awakening insects and drawing ocean life upwards toward the warmth.
What about you, dear friend? What is stirring inside you, even if you haven’t found its name yet? Even the most subtle signs are worth noticing — this season is your invitation. The time is now.
Notice it: a gentle, or maybe insistent, stirring in your heart. A faint impulse deserves attention, too.
A yogic lens to the energy of 立春
With Lunar New Year approaching (and perhaps, for some, already in full swing!), there will be so much movement, socialising, and gathering next week. Even so, I invite you to find pockets of quiet: before the celebrations, a moment before sleep. Turn inward and notice what’s stirring in your heart.
The Yoga Sutras remind us that clarity comes when the mind’s disturbances settle. Not through force, but by creating the conditions for deep listening. This is the realm of pratyahara — a turning inward that lets wisdom from within surface, before intention, before action, before form.
Walking another year of seasons together
If these seasonal newsletters have spoken to you over the past couple of years, I’d be honoured to practice alongside you in 2026.
There are many ways to stay connected:
- Yoga Nidra at Studio SOMAYOKE — next session on 8 March, 2pm. Sign up here.
- Seasonal Yoga Nidra recordings infused with nature soundscapes in 2026, available through paid membership, along with a growing library of past practices.
- Spring retreats in Taiwan (Alishan in early April, Lalashan in late April) and Autumn retreats in India (Rishikesh and Varanasi). Reply to this newsletter via email if you'd like a retreat guide to find out more.
Each offering is another way of entering the same conversation. Kindling connections with ourselves, with Nature, and a deeper intelligence of the collective consciousness.
Whether you join a class, explore the recordings on your own, come along for a seasonal retreat, or simply remain a quiet, cherished reader, may your 2026 be deeply nourished by the wisdom of the seasons.
May you trust what is beginning, even if it has yet to take on a shape.
Yokes x