PORT TOWNSEND — The world may feel far out of balance, with crises in the Middle East and Japan turning so many lives upside-down.

But with the coming of spring, we have an opportunity to begin again, to seek a new balance and calm, starting within ourselves.

So believes Tinker Cavallaro, a gardener and yoga instructor who will encourage both of those activities Sunday, the day of the vernal equinox.

Special class

At Room to Move, the upstairs yoga studio at 1008 Lawrence St., Cavallaro will lead a special, spring-welcoming yoga class from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

And to each student, she’ll give a six-pack of pea seeds to take home.

Admission to the class is $10, and participants will need a little yoga background. But no gardening experience whatsoever is required to plant those seeds, Cavallaro said.

Sunday’s class — to start 69 minutes after the moment of the equinox at 4:21 p.m. — will highlight balance and harmony, she added.

“We’ll do some quiet sitting to clear our mind before we begin,” she said. “All of us together can hopefully create some harmony.”

Then, Cavallaro will move into some balancing poses but “not extremely hard ones,” she promised. That could throw things off.

At the time of the equinox, the days are the same length as the nights; in yoga, Cavallaro said, practitioners seek an inner balance.

“This can manifest how you move through life with equanimity,” she added.

Jen Bates, another Room to Move yoga teacher, also believes the effects of poses, deep breathing and meditation can overflow into life outside the studio.

Integration with life

“I’ve been told that your yoga practice starts when you leave. Maybe you’ll be able to take some of the balance you’ve integrated in the studio with you out into the world, into your relationships with people, [including] people you find challenging,” Bates said.

Cavallaro, for her part, hopes for a sense of equilibrium in the face of the turmoil found in recent news reports. With all of the suffering following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the unrest in Libya — among other events — she’s looking for her own sense of balance to “see the lessons, and move forth.”

Cavallaro doesn’t shy away from the sadness people are feeling in the wake of such disaster. “But through all of that,” she said, “we can see the beauty of the human spirit. That’s what I want to bring forth.”

To learn more about Sunday’s class and others offered at Room to Move, visit www.RoomtoMoveYoga.com or phone 360-379-2882.

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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.