Summer Solstice At Home
Here we stand before Summer Solstice - a day of peak sunshine, energetic exuberance, and solar magnetism. A day where ancient and mystical traditions honored seasonal re-alignment through celebration, ritual, and even stone monuments (ahem, ahem, Stonehenge). Solstice is a time when many of my kundalini pals sit atop a mountain in New Mexico meditating, quite literally, all day to raise their vibration at this powerful time of year.
But what if you're not feeling like your most mighty, open-hearted and energized self? What if you stepped in dog poop not once but twice in bare-feet before 9:00 AM today? What then?
There is still hope. There is still opportunity to enjoy and align with this dance of energy. And whether you can carve out 6 minutes or 3 hours, there is a way to orient yourself to receive that juicy summer energy of potential.
Solstice, much like the full moon time, is both a perfect peak and balance point. It represents the peak of daylight, as in the Northern Hemisphere we're granted a day of unparalleled and maximum sunlight. It offers a balancing point because it perches itself at that halfway mark - almost perfectly allowing reflection on what has been and intention for what's still to come.
And if, as I mentioned, you're not feeling super gung-ho about all this sunshine energy, I offer this - take part in something small. Some small way to catch and receive this potent energy. Because it will do just that - energize you and grant you a bit of a lift. It doesn't have to be intense or lengthy, but it is absolutely a yearly "hack" to harness the Solstice period and feel better.
Below, a choose-your-own adventure (and time span) ritual to dance with this fullest day of sunshine, and allow the energy to move you towards a great second half of 2018.
Option 1| If you have 6 minutes | Intend
Listen to this recording:
Then write your intention and place it somewhere you will see all summer long.
Option 2 | If you have 20 minutes | Reflect + Intend
First, give yourself a few minutes to answer the following:
- What are my victories since Winter Solstice (December 21)? Big or small. Important or insignificant. Write 'em out.
- After listing your victories, consider: what patterns have continued to hold me back? What guilt/shame/anxiety/expectation-of-someone-else is it time (REALLY TIME) to release now on this most potent day?
- What 3 action steps can you take for each of the following questions: First - how will you continue to increase and celebrate your victories across the rest of 2018? Second - how will you continue to be aware of and release the patterns that hold you back to find more freedom and self-trust across the rest of the year?
Then listen to the recording in the "6" minute section, create your summer intention and display it somewhere you'll view daily.
OPTION 3 | If you have 30+ minutes | Reflect, Intend, Meditate, Celebrate
Start with option 2. Then go to option 1. Finally, come back and..
MEDITATE| Seal in this new vision of your life across the summer through this meditation.
CELEBRATE | Find some way to celebrate Summer! Buy yourself some super sunny flowers, dance to this or this song, draw a picture of what summer means to you, do some cartwheels outside, just allow yourself to celebrate and seal in this bounty properly. Your life will thank you.
Happy Summer Solstice + Much love to you!
Art by Lisa Ostapinski