Today is officially the Summer Solstice, the longest day and shortest eve of the year.
Last Thursday, here at my workshop space, the women of the Soulstice Sisterhood – the year-long women’s circle that I lead, honored this earth-based holiday with a celebration in a dedication of the light without and within.
We talked about the duality of the season – the light being the brightest, but also the shadow being the strongest when we’re illuminated by the light – embracing the fullness of our human experience.
We also explored integrating more PLAYFULNESS into our everyday life – releasing the idea that play stops once we become adults (anyone else ready to bring back RECESS for big kids?!).
Tonight on this potent Solstice holiday, I invite you to create your own Summertime ritual and dive into exploring the theme of playfulness to ignite this season of summer on your own terms.
Here are some Summer Solstice ritual ideas to get the inspiration flowing:
1. Create a summer altar with lots of yellow, oranges and whites to represent the sun at it’s fullest, candles to represent the heat of the season, summer flowers like sunflowers, and any solar-themed items.
2. Dress in all white, and dive into these journaling questions in front of your summertime altar.
- I feel most playful and joyful when I’m…
- What makes you feel most playful in your life?
- What does your playful side, act like?
- What playful elements that are emerging would you like to weave more frequently into your everyday life?
- How might leading from this playful and intuitive space affect your life, leadership, and business?
- What will this begin to open up for you for the second half of the year?
- What actions/rituals would you like to create for yourself to infuse more play, joy, and lightness into your life?
3. During our retreat, I took the ladies on an earth-based scavenger hunt to create the beautiful mandala in the photo above. You can create one at home by collecting natural art supplies from around your area (think stones, leaves, flowers, berries, herbs, bark, etc). With your finds, create a geometric, circular pattern around a center point – such as a candle or large crystal. Have fun with it and get creative! Then set your intentions for the season in front of the mandala, meditate on those intentions for 10-15 minutes and dissolve the mandala. <3
Also, if you’ve been as disturbed as I’ve been around what’s been happening with immigrant families at our border and if you’ve also been feeling helpless about what to do, I thought I’d share some actions that we can take that my dear friend Elly sent over from my Dining for Women group.
Elly’s Recommendations:
My favorite blog Nonprofit AF has put together a good list of actions to take, including where to donate and how to get involved: http://nonprofitaf.com/2018/06/actions-we-can-take-to-end-the-inhumane-policy-of-separating-immigrant-kids-and-families
I’ve done some research and Kids in Need of Defense seems like a good organization to donate to. Nonprofit AF links to a number of other options if that one doesn’t resonate.
There is going to be a Families Belong Together rally on June 30th at 10 a.m. in Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa. You can RSVP that you’re going here: https://act.moveon.org/event/families-belong-together/20106/signup/?akid=&zip=&source=
Alright, dear friends, I hope you can take some time diving into these ritual ideas today or this weekend, and sending much love for a healthy and restorative summer season,
