Opening into May: Tending the Heart as We Step Toward Summer
- Nichola Day
- May 1
- 5 min read
On emotional warmth, inner boundaries, and the courage to open our hearts without burning out.
Early May arrives with blossoms opening, light stretching longer into the evening and the natural world deep in its growth. It’s as if the natural world is rejoicing in the unspoken words of ‘I’m alive!’. We humans of course, tend to be a little more complicated, and so celebrating each day of life with an open heart can feel hard - perhaps impossible at times and especially in the times we are living in.
As we shift from Spring to early Summer, there is an inherent energy from the earth that supports us all in opening. There is a call to expand and to grow into new and forgotten parts of ourselves, so that we can find our ‘full bloom’ come midsummer. Externally, this might manifest as progressing in our job/other roles, having holiday plans we have been working on confirmed, or making headway in some other goal we have been striving towards. Internally, this might look like taking a risk in a relationship, becoming clear on certain boundaries, or even opening to inner truths that have been ignored for a time.
These seasonal energies do not exist in a vacuum but instead are playing out amidst the backdrop of our current times. Where we are right now on a global level is fractious, polarised and can feel uncertain. It can be hard to open into new ways, or new parts of ourselves when the ground feels unsteady. This year more than any we’ve known in recent past might feel particularly hard to open up and embrace the life that calls us.
At this seasonal threshold of the year, it might be helpful and supportive to pause and consider asking the following questions of ourselves:
· What within me wants to open?
· Where do I feel resistant, hesitant, or closed?
· In which ways do I feel vulnerable?
· Who/what/where supports me in feeling open, expansive and able to grow?
The Heart as a Centre of Opening
Opening isn’t always easy. Especially if your heart has known grief, or if your spirit has grown cautious (even resentful) from too much giving to others, or when it has experienced relationship dynamics in which boundaries have been crossed. While the season brings warmth and invitation, you might feel drawn toward connection and wary of it at the same time. This in-between place - where something in you wants to expand, and something else whispers “not yet”, is sacred. It’s here, in the tension between blooming and protecting, that real emotional healing begins. I have been in this dance for a while now. Upon entering a deep healing phase in 2017, I was both boundary-less and armoured at the same time. I did not know that looking after myself could be just as much a loving gesture to others as it was to myself. I also did not understand how opening my heart to others required me to first open it to myself.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the energy of the Fire Element is said to be on the rise as we transition towards Summer - an energy that speaks to warmth, intimacy, joy, and connection. The Fire Element lives in the Heart, but also in its protector - the Pericardium. The pericardium acts like a gentle, emotional gatekeeper. While the Heart longs to open, radiate, and connect, the Pericardium is there to remind us to do so safely, and with discernment. When this element is balanced, we feel emotionally generous and grounded. But when out of balance, we may overextend ourselves, feel anxious, or even become emotionally detached and cut off from sources of love and connection.
In Yoga, Anahata, or the heart chakra is said to be the centre that connects us to the wider world around us – the earth, the cosmos and each other. It is the centre that allows us to tap into deep compassion, unconditional love, empathy and forgiveness. When this centre is balanced, we are said to be able to appreciate the wonder of life, seeing the interconnectedness of everything, as well as seeing our shared humanity. These qualities in turn help us to foster deeper relationships and greater sense of community with those around us. However, how many of us come to our yoga mats with a tightness around our chest, or tension across our shoulders, rib cage, neck and upper back? The human experiences of life frequently lead us to overly protect this most tender place, even when we are someone who loves and cares so deeply.
Opening Does Not Mean Over Giving
It’s easy, especially for those of us who feel great empathy towards others, to mistake openness for over-giving. We stretch ourselves thin trying to be everything to everyone, letting our inner warmth pour outward without pause. But true heart opening is not about constant availability or emotional exposure. It’s about learning how to stay connected to ourselves, even as we connect with others. It’s about understanding that we are all connected – so to abandon ourselves for another, only harms those around us as much as it does ourselves. This is the constant dance between self and other, that deepens the more that we connect to our own inner wisdom. When we do this, we discover a kind of intimacy that nourishes rather than depletes, and in turn helps us to navigate our relationships with an even deeper connectedness.
Personally, I have learned this lesson slowly and sometimes painfully. There were times I mistook being emotionally available for being boundaryless—saying yes when I meant no, listening when I was too tired, offering comfort when I hadn’t yet tended to myself. I wanted to be loving, but I ended up feeling drained and resentful. It wasn’t until I began to listen to the quieter voice inside - the one that said, ‘you don’t have to forget yourself to be kind’ - that I understood: real love, real connection, starts with presence to my own heart first.
Gentle Practices for Early Summer
If any of this resonates, you might explore the following practices over the month of May as a way of connecting to your own heart and exploring what opening means to you.
Hand on Heart Breathing
Sit quietly for a few minutes each morning, one hand over your heart, the other on your belly. Breathe gently and ask: What do I need today to feel open and supported?
A Heartfelt “No” Practice
Practice saying no to one thing each week that doesn’t feel aligned. Honour that choice as an act of love—for yourself and for those you care about.
Feeling into Openness
Take a quiet moment to close the eyes and go within. Reflect on and visualise those things, experiences, people and places that allow you to feel open. Notice how it feels in your body to do this and bask in the feelings they provide for a time.
In this transition towards Summer, invite yourself to reconnect back to your own heart and to blossom into the month at a pace that suits you. Remember - there is strength in staying with ourselves, even as we offer love to others and the world around us. There is also healing in honouring what is ready within us - and what is not. Let this be a season of opening gently.
Nichola Day
Yoga & Meditation Teacher, Yoga Therapist, Writer
Creating space for us all to flourish through embodied practices, seasonal living and deep connection.
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