Hello and welcome to a meditation in celebration of the summer solstice.
I'm Amy Sinclair,
A health and happiness coach,
Using meditation as a tool to guide you back to yourself.
Use this meditation as a part of any ritual that you may do to connect to the energy of this seasonal event.
The summer solstice marks the longest day of the year and the onset of summer.
On the summer solstice,
The sun travels the longest path through the sky,
Making it the day with the most sunlight.
It can be helpful to think of what you might do with this gift of extra sunlight.
In this meditation,
We'll do a guided visualization and then I'll end the meditation with a reading of Mary Oliver's cherished poem,
A Summer Day.
Find a position that allows you to feel grounded.
This may be seated or lying down.
And once you arrive there,
Softly let your eyes close.
Let your hands rest in your lap.
And let's flip the palms to face up.
Breathing a little bit deeper here.
Focusing on the breath in and the breath out.
Feel the inhale travel in through the nose,
To the back of the throat,
Into the lungs,
And possibly further down into the belly.
And on the exhale,
Allow the breath to come back out the way it came in.
After a few rounds of this gentle yet full breath,
Bring your focus to your third eye,
The space in between your eyebrows.
The third eye chakra is the home of our imagination.
And we'll be tapping into our imagination for the visualization portion.
So focusing your internal gaze at the third eye,
Imagine that you're seated in a field.
There's tall grass all around you.
And when you look up,
You notice that you're in the shade of a really giant ancient tree.
The breeze is gentle and you hear the sound of the leaves rustling against one another.
You place your hand over your brow and look up towards the leaves of the tree.
And you see this bright sunlight shining through,
Peeking through the leaves.
And though you're in the shade,
You feel the warmth of the sunlight.
Take a moment now to look down at your hands and see your palms facing up.
And allow the sunlight to shine down onto your palms.
Feel as though you can collect the sunlight.
Maybe you even visualize the sun's rays shining down right into the center of your palm.
Imagine what that might feel like to catch the sunlight in the palm of your hand.
And as you're catching this sunlight,
Imagine that it's a healing energy and imagine that you're kind of being charged up with this energy.
And now take a moment to imagine what you might do with this healing energy that you've just caught in the palm of your hands.
So maybe there's a part of your body that's in a little bit of pain and maybe you can place your palms on that part of your body right now and transfer some of that healing energy.
And maybe there's a part of your body that's not in pain physically,
But could use a little bit of compassion and love.
And maybe you place your hands there,
Transferring that healing,
That compassionate energy from your hands to that body part.
Maybe it's your thighs or maybe it's your belly.
And then finally,
You bring your palms together to touch in Anjali Mudra and place your hands,
Your thumb knuckles at the center of your chest.
Feel the warmth between the palms,
Bowing the forehead down towards the hands,
Acknowledging that your palms have been charged up,
Your hands have been the recipient of this gift of extra sunlight,
Of healing,
Of compassion.
Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
And let your hands rest by your side or bring them back into your lap,
Wherever is comfortable.
And I'll share that poem from Mary Oliver,
A Summer Day.
Who made the world?
Who made the swan and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper,
I mean,
The one who has flung herself out of the grass,
The one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
Who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down,
Who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention,
How to fall down into the grass,
How to kneel in the grass,
How to be idle and blessed,
How to stroll through the fields,
Which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me,
What else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last and too soon?
Tell me,
What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Take a moment here to ponder Mary's question at the end.
What is it you plan to do with your life?
If you feel called to,
Journal some thoughts to this question as a way to complete your summer solstice ritual.
When you're ready,
You can open up your eyes and return back to this moment.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
See you again soon.
