Spring is in the air. Hooray! The snows are melting, the robins are chirping, and sweet Mother Nature is breathing new life into trees that were barren and birdless just a few weeks ago.

And what, Dear Reader, is your part in this joyful blossoming? It's rejoicing in your own human nature — knowing that when the seasons shift and change, so can you.

Spring is the time for fresh starts and new beginnings, especially when it comes to living a healthier lifestyle. Like plants to the light, we all desire more energy, more growth and greater productivity.

But how do we get there?

Dr. Elson Haas's timeless book, "Staying Healthy with the Seasons," is a great source of inspiration.

"The beginning of spring is March 21st, the time of the spring equinox, when day equals night," he writes. "For the next six months daylight, the sun and yang principle, will be dominating our lives.

"You may now feel a new spark and power, and be filled with inspiration and energy to act upon your ideas."

(Yes, this sounds like something you'd find inside a fortune cookie, but never mind. There's good stuff here.)

"(Spring) is the time for planting," Haas reminds us. "New growth in our lives, relationships, and work is stimulated now as well. We and nature will flourish this season."

So let me plant a few seeds to help you flourish this spring and inspire your own new growth:

LET NATURE NURTURE. Knowing that spring is the perfect time for new beginnings is one thing. Experiencing it is another. Take an hour or a day this week to reconnect to nature, in all her season-changing glory.

Spend some quiet time at a park, a lake or in a garden. Notice everything around you. Breathe.

Think about one change that would make you feel more alive, ease your stress, add to your happiness.

Do you want a better relationship with food? A stronger core? Greater equanimity at work?

Write down just one goal as a way of marking the moment. When you tap into nature and seasonal change, you tap into something bigger than yourself. That connection will help you make lifestyle changes that last.

START A JOURNAL. Don't question why a springtime fitness journal is sacrosanct. Just do it! Make an entry every day, based on the goal you wrote down after your commune with nature.

Don't judge, don't censor. Simply keep track of the day and anything else that relates to achieving your goal, including your feelings, your successes.

Read it over in 3 months, just before summer begins. When you see how far you've come, you'll have the strength and confidence to keep going. And that is exactly how change happens.

CRANK IT UP A NOTCH. This spring, decide to strengthen your connection to your favorite physical activity. If it's running, work with a trainer, try some new terrain or add interval training to your routine. If it's dancing, learn some new steps or switch from salsa to tango. If it's golf, concentrate on getting out of the sand or becoming a better putter.

If you don't have a favorite physical activity — What? — please find one! There's a sport for everyone. Aikido? Badminton? Checkers? Diving?

If nothing else thrills you, I invite you to find a great yoga teacher and move into it, slowly and deeply. Give yourself three months of just showing up. For sure your sap will rise.

SPRING CLEAN YOUR EATING HABITS. Let the spring of 2016 be the season you shift away from old patterns of eating that make you unhealthy, unhappy and overweight.

No gimmicks, no fads, no aping the latest trend to go Paleo. Find your own path, according to your own biochemistry, your own nutritional needs.

Give yourself permission to stop dieting, now and forever. Instead, root down deep and come up with a more satisfying way of eating that focuses on eating tasty real food.

For sure, do a springtime kitchen makeover. If you're reading this, you can read labels. Get rid of processed food-like items with long list of suspect ingredients. Eat clean. You can! You must! You will!

I like to call it the song of the robin.

ENERGY EXPRESS-O! TEND YOUR OWN GARDEN

"Who are you inside? You are continually creating your life; be aware of this, and dance and play the tune that you are!" — Elson M. Hass, M.D.

Marilynn Preston — healthy lifestyle expert, well-being coach and Emmy-winning producer — is the creator of Energy Express, the longest-running syndicated fitness column in the country. She has a website, marilynnpreston.com, and welcomes reader questions, which can be sent to MyEnergyExpress@aol.com. She also produces EnExTV, a digital reincarnation of her award-winning TV series about sports, fitness and adventure, for kids of all ages, at youtube.com/EnExTV and facebook.com/EnExTV. To find out more about Preston and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.