The Great Spring Recalibration

On Friday, March 20th, the world performed its annual, magnificent tilt. Spring has arrived and, with it, the light stretches its legs. The air begins to lose its winter teeth.

After a long, dark and wet winter, the season of bright starts and optimistic beginnings rolls in once more.

Underground, the roots are waking up. Above ground, the light is beginning to linger, turning the evening air into something gold and hopeful.

But for the human nervous system, Spring can be a bit of a muddle.

We see the sun and think we must immediately bloom at full velocity. We try to match the sudden brightness with a frantic increase in output. 

In this season of "more" (light, growth, activity) it’s easy to forget that biology is a dance of waves. It requires a rhythmic oscillation. 

We appreciate the blossom all the more in contrast to the bare branches.

Nature can appear bare, but beneath the surface it’s always marvellously busy, developing the requirements for the inevitable bloom.

The Resolution Gap

Human performance is no different. We often try to force output without building the capacity to do so. 

When we stack new tasks without allowing the system to replenish, we accumulate a heavy coat of unresolved load. 

Every bud and root has spent months preparing its capacity, that magnificent ability to meet the coming demand of growth and return to its baseline. They understand a biological certainty: to flower brilliantly, the system must first be stable.

We often imagine our output as a straight line climbing toward the sun. Biology prefers the aforementioned rhythm of waves. An inhale must be followed by an exhale. A stimulus requires a resolution. When we meet the demand of the day, our system activates, but the real magic happens in the return.

True recovery is a decision. There is a profound difference between collapsing on the sofa and actually resolving the strain on your nervous system. We can sit perfectly still for hours while our internal machinery continues to scream.

Resolution is the specific moment the nervous system flips the switch from a state of high-alert back to its regulated baseline. It is an active neurological event. Without this shift, the cycle remains incomplete and your capacity shrinks simply to keep the lights on.

A Sunday Seed: The Horizon Gaze

As the days grow longer, borrow a trick from the birds. This week, find a window or a patch of park where you can see the horizon. For a few minutes, soften your gaze and look as far as the world allows.

The more we stare at screens and phones, the more we engage our focal vision. This activates the parvocellular pathway, one linked to our sympathetic nervous system. It triggers the release of norepinephrine (adrenaline), narrowing our focus to meet demand.

When we gaze at the horizon, though, engaging our panoramic vision, we activate our magnocellular pathway. This is linked to the parasympathetic nervous system. The extended field of view sends signals to the brain that there’s nothing immediately in front of us to lock into.

A simple way to signal the nervous system that it’s safe to down tools. And a great excuse to get out of the house.