The year is broken into 4 seasons, summer, autumn, winter + spring. At the beginning of each season is either an equinox or a solstice. The biggest difference between the equinox + the solstice is that a solstice is the point during the Earth's orbit around the sun at which the sun is at its greatest distance from the equator, while during an equinox, it's at the closest distance from the equator. Summer solstice is the longest day of the year + this year on June 21, 2023, many time zones in the Northern Hemisphere welcome the first day of the summer, as the Sun reaches its northernmost position in the sky.
So, what could this mean for us?
Go outside and get out of your mind and into your body, let yourself SHINE!
Get outside, immerse yourself in the outdoors. This is the season to strengthen our connection to Mother Nature. This is a time when around the world people are getting outside in natural settings celebrating with dancing around bonfires, music, singing, playing, concerts and using creative expression through the elements of the earth. People are connecting with others while expressing themselves creatively with Mother Nature during her most abundant time.
The solstice moves through the 4 elements, fire, earth, water + air as the spicy buzz of summer activates our creative abundance.
Get out there and give back the over abundance of your shine. This can mean being who you are, and as doing so brings you joy, share it with all around you. Your joy brings out your gifts and vise versa. Part of finding joy in your gifts is recognizing what lights you up doesn’t just serve you but it serves the community.
During the Summer we are awake and on the go, with the abundance of sun and warmth fueling our fire with energy to pursue passions and take action. We are full of that gusto that makes for long days and even longer nights. Rest is for the weary. But as with most great things in life, a balance of energies is needed so you don’t burn out.
Checking in with our bodies and what is necessary for us to remain grounded in the physical and not just stuck in our minds or constantly reeling over ‘what we know’ rather than what we are living. It is a good time to integrate all of what we know into actual practice so that our vitality can nourish not only ourselves but each other. You can’t pour from an empty cup.
As the summer begins you can ask yourself..
What do you need to let go of to make room for what you are integrating?
What do you have to metaphorically put outside on the curb so that you have room for the new of what you are embodying?
Maybe what you have learned and know are not sinking in and this could be the problem. We only have so much space and so much time. We may need to be more discerning about what we are allotting time for or allowing as a part of our routine.
What you are DOING is directly affecting who you are BEING, be intentional about how that lines up.
The solstice marks the midway point in the year. This is the perfect time to take a look and edit out anything that isn’t jiving the way you thought it might. Or maybe you thought you’d be doing one thing and it happened to go a completely different way, it might even seem unnerving or upsetting with this shift. Doing a once over and intentionally resetting can be really helpful in embodying this new direction or any action you are wanting to take.
Ask yourself, am I doing what I want/need to in order to be who I want to? If not how can I?
Are you having fun?
Are you being intentional?
Are you organized enough to accomplish what you want to?
Are you creating a well-oiled machine that allows flexibility and creates harmony between doing and being?
Are you focusing too much on results?
Are you focusing too much on how it looks and not how it feels?
It really is an authentic balance that requires you to get to know yourself, so you know what that balance needs to be. No one can tell you what that is.
People will try, blogs, the internet, the media, influencers, marketing, well meaning people, they will all try.
You are the only one that knows.
So, find it.
The balance and live it, embody it.
Summer is a time to shine, feel the joy, be active and create authentically.
What I did for the summer solstice (again, you do you)
This solstice was a special one.
My sister threw her first in-person women's mini-retreat called SHINE. Women gathered, we ate, we shared, we meditated, we learned and we released. The event was meant to connect women to there inner authenticity and have the confidence to share it with the world this summer.
I had the honor of teaching a segment called Cosmic Confidence, where we looked at our sun placements in astrology and studied how that connects us to our inner authentic selves and discovered ways we might share our shine with the world. It was a gift to connect with like-hearted women and come together it that way.
I also went to a summer solstice themed clay workshop. We made candelabras, imprinted with summer herbs and plants. The candle represented the light of the solstice, reminding us of the light we cherish outside of us and the ability we have to always lead with the light we have from within.
It gave me a chance to express my creative fire and actively work with my hands. During the art making process I was able to slip into what I call creation meditation, relaxing into a zone of peace and connection while creating something beautiful. Everything about the workshop helped me feel connected to the season and the land.
Each morning leading up to the solstice as I took my daughter to daycare, getting into the car we would listen to the birds and find the sun peaking from behind the trees. We’d sing “Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun” She would get so excited exclaiming, “You see!” every time she would spot the gleaming rays.
This is all simple and just another intentional way to connect and embody being abundant. By creating abundantly. By being grateful for what we already have. By giving love abundantly.
Though the longest day of the year officially came and went the summer has only officially begun, so with that it's not too late to start embodying what summer livin’ means for you.
Like the sun, become full of yourself, so you share your authentic shine.
N.joy,
N
Σχόλια