March Meditation: How Do You Reset Your Energy for Spring?

The Calendar Year may get paid commission for purchases made after clicking a link on this page. 
This website is for inspiration purposes only. The content provided is meant to spark creativity and ideas, not to serve as professional advice or as endorsement.

March is the month everything starts to move. After the slow, inward stretch of January and February, something shifts in March. Days get noticeably longer in the Northern Hemisphere. There’s a restlessness in the air. Energy starts to return, sometimes in sudden bursts, sometimes in a gentle trickle. And somewhere in the middle of it all sits the spring equinox, one of the most energetically significant moments of the year.

Of course, if you’re reading this from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or South America, March is your equivalent of September. Summer is winding down, the light is softening, and autumn is beginning to settle in. That’s its own kind of beautiful, and it deserves its own approach too.

Either way, March is a month of transition. And transitions, it turns out, are a brilliant time to develop a mindfulness practice. There’s something about change in the outer world that makes inner reflection feel more natural.

So here’s what I’ve been exploring this month, from prompts to breathing techniques to season-specific rituals.

The Energy of March: What to Expect

March tends to bring a noticeable shift in motivation and mood. In the Northern Hemisphere, especially, the increase in daylight has a direct effect on serotonin levels. You might find you wake up a little easier, feel slightly more social, or notice a bit more creative energy stirring.

At the same time, transitions can also bring restlessness, impatience, or a kind of emotional unsettledness. You might feel ready to move but not quite sure in which direction. That “in-between” feeling is completely normal and actually worth sitting with rather than rushing past.

The spring equinox typically falls around March 20th or 21st. Day and night are roughly equal in length. In traditions around the world, from Persian Nowruz to pagan spring celebrations, this moment is marked as one of balance and renewal. Even if you’re not drawn to any particular tradition, the symbolic weight of it is worth noting.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac has a lovely overview of the spring equinox and what it means across different cultures, if you want to explore further.

Meditation Prompts for March

The prompts that work best in March tend to reflect the season’s energy: emergence, direction, energy, and balance. After two months of quieter inward reflection, March invites you to start looking outward a little more.

Here are the ones I’ve been sitting with.

“What is ready to grow in my life right now?” This feels very aligned with the season. Think of it as the garden version of intention-setting. What have you been quietly tending that’s now ready for a bit more attention and light?

“Where do I feel the most alive?” This is a good one for early spring when energy starts returning. Notice what lights you up. That information is genuinely useful.

“What have I been putting off because I was waiting to feel ready?” March’s returning energy can be a real nudge to get things started. This prompt helps identify what those things might be.

“What does balance feel like in my body?” This one ties in beautifully with the equinox energy. Not balance as a concept, but as a physical sensation. Where do you feel steady and grounded?

“What story am I telling myself that I might be ready to update?” This is a deeper one. It’s good for a longer session of ten minutes or more. Be gentle with whatever comes up.

Tara Brach offers some of the best free guided meditations on the internet. Her spring and renewal themes are particularly worth exploring in March. She’s widely respected worldwide, and her content is completely free.

Breathing Exercises That Match March’s Shifting Energy

March calls for breathwork that bridges the gap between winter’s stillness and spring’s momentum. Some days you’ll want something grounding and slow. On other days, something a bit more energising fits better. So here are both kinds.

Energising Breath (Kapalabhati) is a yoga technique sometimes called “breath of fire.” You take a passive inhale and then a sharp, forceful exhale through the nose. You repeat this rhythmically, about once per exhale. It genuinely wakes you up. It’s ideal for sluggish March mornings when you’re trying to shake off the last of winter fog. Yoga Journal has a clear guide to Kapalabhati here. Start with just twenty to thirty repetitions and build up slowly.

4-7-8 Breathing is one I keep returning to because it’s so versatile. You inhale for four counts, hold for seven, and exhale slowly for eight. It’s calming without being sedating, which makes it perfect for the in-between energy of March. The longer exhale activates your parasympathetic nervous system. It’s great mid-afternoon when the day’s energy starts to feel scattered. Dr Andrew Weil popularised this technique and explains it well on his website.

Walking Breath Meditation is something I’ve started doing more of in March, when the weather allows me to get outside. You simply synchronise your breath with your steps. Inhale for four steps, exhale for four steps. It grounds you in your body and connects you to your environment. As the season shifts and things start to bloom or bud, this becomes a genuinely lovely practice.

Sighing Breath might be the simplest of all. You take a deep inhale through the nose, then add a second short inhale on top of it to fully fill the lungs, then release everything in one long exhale through the mouth. Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman has talked extensively about how this technique resets the nervous system almost immediately. Stanford’s Huberman Lab has more detail on the science here.

March Rituals for the Northern Hemisphere

Spring is arriving, slowly but unmistakably. The trees are budding. The birds are louder. The light is doing something genuinely different by mid-month. Here’s how to make the most of that seasonally for your wellbeing practice.

Take your meditation outside. Even if it’s still a bit cold, wrapping up and sitting outside for five to ten minutes connects you to the seasonal shift in a really direct way. Listen to the sounds. Feel the air temperature. Notice what’s different from last month. This sensory mindfulness is simple and powerful.

Do a spring clean of your inner world. There’s a reason spring cleaning resonates so widely. Mentally and emotionally, March is a good time to look at what’s cluttering your mind. Before a meditation sit, try writing one thing you want to mentally “clear out” on a piece of paper. You don’t have to do anything with it. Just naming it helps.

Track the light deliberately. By late March, the evenings are noticeably longer. Make it a small ritual to step outside at dusk and just notice the light. Pair it with a few slow breaths. It sounds tiny, but it creates a genuine sense of connection to the turning year.

Try a morning equinox ritual on or around March 20th. It doesn’t need to be elaborate. Light a candle, do five minutes of coherent breathing, and sit with the prompt “what am I welcoming in?” That’s honestly enough. Consciously marking the equinox, even briefly, can give March a satisfying sense of meaning and rhythm.

March Rituals for the Southern Hemisphere

In the Southern Hemisphere, March brings the autumn equinox, also around March 20th or 21st. The light is softening, the heat is easing, and there’s a natural invitation to slow down, reflect and gather what the year has so far offered.

Embrace the harvest energy. Autumn in traditional cultures is associated with gratitude and completion. A meditation prompt like “what has this year already given me?” feels very aligned with this energy. March in the Southern Hemisphere is a good time for gratitude practices.

Notice what you’re ready to release. Just as the Northern Hemisphere spring is about emergence, the Southern Hemisphere autumn is about letting go. Leaves fall for a reason. A prompt like “What can I gently set down?” works beautifully this month.

Enjoy the gentler outdoor conditions. As the heat eases, outdoor meditation becomes more accessible again. Morning and evening sitting outside is lovely in autumn’s softer light. The sensory richness of autumn, fallen leaves, cooler air, and the smell of earth, makes outdoor mindfulness particularly grounding.

Try a loving-kindness practice oriented toward gratitude. Adapt the Metta meditation from February slightly. Instead of “may I be well,” try “I am grateful for…” and let your mind fill in the blank with whatever arises. It’s a small shift, but it changes the emotional quality of the practice meaningfully.

Smiling Mind is an Australian-founded mindfulness app that’s completely free and beautifully made. It’s globally available and has excellent content for adults and children alike. Very worth bookmarking for autumn practices.

The Equinox Moment: A Worldwide Pause

Regardless of which hemisphere you’re in, the equinox on or around March 20th is a moment worth pausing for. Twice a year, day and night are in near-perfect balance. That’s a pretty rare and beautiful thing.

Around the world, March marks Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which falls on the spring equinox and is celebrated by over 300 million people across Central Asia, the Middle East, and beyond. It’s one of the oldest New Year celebrations in the world, and it centres on themes of renewal, light and fresh beginnings. UNESCO has a wonderful page on Nowruz here if you want to learn more about its history and traditions.

For meditation purposes, the equinox is an invitation to pause and feel into balance. Not the forced, Instagram-friendly version of balance. Just the quiet, steady kind. Where in your life do you feel in equilibrium right now? Where do you feel pulled to one extreme or another? Sitting with those questions on or around the equinox has a particular resonance this month.

A Simple March Practice to Build On

By now, if you’ve been experimenting since January, you’ve got a loose foundation to build on. March is a good month to introduce a little more variety and length if that feels right.

In the mornings, I’ve been trying Kapalabhati, or the sighing breath, for five minutes to wake up properly, followed by five to ten minutes of sitting with a prompt. On the days I can get outside, I swap the indoor sit for a short walking breath meditation instead.

In the evenings, especially around the equinox, I’ve been spending a few minutes doing 4-7-8 breathing and then just sitting quietly with the question of what I’m welcoming or releasing. It takes maybe ten minutes total.

The most important thing, as always, is just doing something rather than waiting until you have a perfect routine.

Insight Timer remains my go-to for free guided content. Their equinox and seasonal collections are worth searching for as March approaches.

March Is an Invitation, Not a Deadline

One thing I want to flag is that the energy of spring or autumn can feel like pressure. Like you should be launching something, or wrapping something up, or transforming yourself by the equinox. Try to resist that.

These seasonal shifts are invitations, not deadlines. The point of tuning into them is to feel more connected and alive, not more stressed.

So take what resonates. Leave what doesn’t. And if all you do this March is step outside, take a few deep breaths and notice the season changing around you, that’s genuinely enough.

Resources for March: Tara Brach Free Meditations | Huberman Lab Breathing | Smiling Mind App | Insight Timer | UNESCO Nowruz