Your Guide to Summer Solstice
The days are long, and the nights are short. The garden is beginning to fruit and growing taller each day. Our levels of productivity are at their peak. Work, play, travel, repeat. Meals are shared outdoors. Nature is exploding with color. Time seems to stand still and move at 100mph at the same time. Summer has arrived.
Our bodies and minds are connected to nature and its cycles. When we learn to live in its flow we can benefit from the energy each season provides. I’m not just talking about the woo-woo side of things. No other season can advance your business or creative endeavors as remarkably as summer.
What is Summer Solstice?
Also known as Midsummer, this is when the northern hemisphere is tilted closest to the sun. In other words, it's the longest day (and shortest night) of the year. The term solstice derives from the Latin words "sol," meaning sun, and "sistere," meaning to stand still. As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher in the sky. During Summer Solstice, the sun reaches higher and higher in the sky and, for a short time, seems to stand still before its course moves south.
Themes of Summer Solstice:
Fire, Expansion, Growth, and Generosity
FIRE
Being so close to the sun, we feed off of its "fire" energy, but another way to think of fire is as cleansing. As devastating as a forest fire can be, it also has the purpose of clearing out bugs and debris and maintaining the forest’s ecosystem.
*Now is the time for you to clear what threatens your "personal ecosystem" and clear the thoughts, relationships, and habits that no longer serve you.
EXPANSION
In nature, summer is the most productive time of year. Plants produce rapidly. Animals gather for the fallow months. You can tap into this energy yourself and reap a beautiful harvest come autumn.
This is the season of intense energy. If you prepared by resting in winter you and slowly transitioning through spring you’re now feeling ready to work hard and play harder. To travel, launch new offers, push your creativity to capacity. But, beware, this energy may burn tall and fast; take time to set your priorities this season so that you don’t burn out too quickly.
Make a list of your top 3-5 priorities. This will help you make the best decision for yourself when opportunities come up. For me, I plan to focus on:
My Creative Cash Flow program
Making memories with my Daughter (Camping, swimming, Day trips, etc. )
Visibility - Through guest posting and podcasts
GROWTH
During this season, we can literally watch nature’s accelerated growth.
Have you ever gone away for a weekend to return and find the garden has exploded with noticeable growth? We can channel that same energy. Now is the time to lean in and make progress on the development you desire. Our nature is calling on us to grow and expand, just like the tomatoes in your garden. Trust that you're being guided in the areas you need to grow.
Growth is also about play and experimentation. Tap into the childlike wonder from summer’s past. Imagination is the foundation of a child’s nature. We may no longer be children, but we can embrace our inner child. Explore with self-expression on an artist date.
GENEROSITY
The earth is providing more than enough of what we need. As a result, you may be feeling compelled to give more in your relationships.
Embody the joy of being emotionally sensitive with humans and nature, which teaches us how to love unconditionally and which this season symbolizes for all.
5 Ways to Celebrate:
1. Do a summer Solstice Ritual, like the Sunflower ritual below. Enter to win a summer ritual kit on my Instagram post!
2. Eat- Cool down with one of these recipes":
Lemonade Slushies with Mint and Lemon Verbena
Cold Peanut Sesame Noodles
3. List out your accomplishments from the past six months and take time to celebrate them!
4. Watch the sun set on the longest day of the year!
5. Create a (safe) fire in your backyard. Burn away anything that no longer serves you (metaphorically..ha!)
The Sunflower Ritual
From A Year of Living Mindfully by Randi Regan
Sunflowers are the quintessential plant of Summertime- The flowers turn their heads to follow the sun as it passes over them. Cucumbers are sweeter when planted next to them. Bees love the pollen and birds enjoy the seeds.
Sunflowers have long been associated with creating relaxed, comfortable happiness- the same sort you feel on a warm sunny day. They combat depression or grief and protect from negativity. Here is a simple yet profound ritual for illustrating the power of possibility that summer radiates
On a table, place a vase with freshly cut or picked Sunflowers. Next to the sunflower, place a bowl and 14 sunflower seeds. Light a candle. Put 7 of the seeds in the bowl and hold in your mind seven ideas for yourself that have to do with possibility and growth.
Put the second group of 7 seeds in the bowl and hold in your mind seven ways you can begin today to implement those ideas for possibility and growth.
Afterward, write all of this down in a journal or notebook to refer to in the future)
While focusing on the candle flame, repeat this mantra seven times:
I honor the energy of generosity and connection
This is the mantra for expansion and possibility. Expansion comes as a result of feeling connected to your community and the world at large.... This mantra bestows the blessing of being able to see the highest truth and envision the highest outcome in all situations.
Make a bath immediately following and float the petals from one of your sunflowers in the water. Add fresh tarragon and geranium or shake in 7 drops of each essential oil. These support expansion, emotional uplift, and open-hearted energy.
Within the next 24 hours, plant all of your sunflower seeds in an area that gets strong sunlight for most of the day. Push the seeds down, covering them with soil. Water lightly every other day, and you should see the seeds beginning to sprout in about ten days.
How will you celebrate the summer solstice?
One lucky winner of my summer giveaway won (but I still love and recommend these products!)
Happiness Tonic from @Animamundiherbals
Mini Mushrooms Pins
Hibiscus Dew Lip & Cheek Tint from @Vervain_apothocary
Healing Salve from @Vervain_apothocary
“More than Skin Deep” Tea from @Vervain_apothocary
Sunflower Seeds from @strictlymedicinalseeds
“A Year in the Garden” guided journal @thefarwoods
Stickers by @delilahthegemini
Sage Bundle
+An “Hour of Power” coaching session with me!