Summer Solstice!

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At 1:04 AM today, those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, Eastern Time marked the beginning of summer and celebration of Summer Solstice.  For centuries, there are have been traditions across cultures celebrating the beginning of summer and really enjoying the longest night of the year.   I was remined about the Summer Solstice by my sister, and the question she posed to us was "What will you do with that extra time today.?"
How will you spend that extra time?   Simple in its question, yet the answer is not that simple.  So many of us may think of all the chores that may need to be done, while others may say, we can use it to celebrate the Sun.  Celebrate the beauty of the Sun.  
What does the sun symbolize to you?  For me the sun is warmth. It signifies life, vitality, energy.  When the sun is out, we find ourselves all happy, full of energy.  When the days are longer, we feel like we can get more accomplished.  When the days are longer, we enjoy the beauty of the outdoors.   When the days are longer, we find ourselves doing things outdoors we may never do.   It's like children - the moment the weather is warm, all they want to do is be outside and play.   They could be out there for hours, but don't think about their tiredness.  Instead they are too busy enjoying themselves that they forget that their body is tired.  Similarly, we too, during these special months of summer must take advantage of this gift that the sun is providing us - if makes you more alive and full.
This year in particular, i'm more connected to celebrating the summer solistice year, moreso because of the spiritual significance of it - each of us has a spiritual fire in us that need to be ignited and just like the sun extends its rays to alll unconditionally - we too need to have that spiritual fire in us -those rays of love ignited and utilized in a direction that will help us manifest our dreams.   How many of us start something and don't complete it? How many of us take on too many things and end up feeling overwhelmed? How many of us just don't have the energy to just do anything?  Traditions state that rituals celebrating the summer solistice enable those to ignite their spiritual fire and help in realizing dreams.   In yoga, there is a pose, called the warrior pose - this pose is about developing internal strength in our knees, in our legs, in our feet - to help keep us grounded.   What I like about this pose, is that it gets us to focus on our breath, and breathing through our abdomen, we gain strength in extending our limbs forward.  As we do that, we begin to create will power, we create stability, and centeredness.    I am also reminded of a yoga class that I took in a park one time with my cousin and sister and found it so relaxing and wonderful as we tried to be grounded while we were in nature.   On many levels we were celebrating the sun - and in retrospect I will cherish that moment.   So on this day, I ask you to take one hour of the day to give honor to this beautiful creation of the universe - the sun - without whom we could not be sustained.   And taking it to another level - honoring you and your beauty and your life.   Give yourself that hour of ritual for yourself.   And enjoy the summer days!
Happy Solistice!
P.S.  A Journal Prompt for you for This Day:   
"Where would I go today with the Sun?"


Happy Journaling!!!!