You are the LIGHT...
Summer Solstice marks the longest day of light in the Northern Hemisphere, giving physical light to our external surroundings and blazing the torch of inner light, so we may see what may be lurking within the darkness of our subconscious energy.
We often think of Summer as the time to take action, afterall, the energy of the sun is associated with the element of fire. Fire empowers us to transform things; it warms us when we are cold, heats our food so we can easily digest our meals, and shines bright light for our eyes to see things clearly in the dark. However, taking action in the Summer months, the warmest months of the year, can be a recipe for burn out, exhaustion, and fatigue.
This season, I offer you the perspective and opportunity to embody the feminine energy of Fire, which is nourishment.
Summertime celebrates friends and family, with children who are off from school, offering a time for vacations, barbecues, pool parties, and communal festivities. It's a time for long walks and intimate talks, as you watch the beautiful sunsets in the evenings.
It's a time to lighten our consumption and enjoy seasonal fruits, salads, juices, and properly hydrate to keep cool. Keeping cool keeps us calm.
Instead of solely imbibing on spirits, which actually inflames our digestive tract, consider detoxing with cooling foods and cold pressed juices. Alcohol produces more internal heat and stimulates the fire within us, associated with the pitta dosha. Since Summer is also associated with the Pitta Dosha and is known as fiery Pitta Season, giving ourselves healthy outlets to nourish any internal flames keeps a level head and a more harmonious vibration.
Likewise, Summer season is a time to eat more locally grown seasonal foods.
Because the heat can produce feelings of aggravation, we want to give ourselves less stimulants and more opportunities to ease our digestive organs, which also lightens our moods.
One way I calm the energies within me during this fiery season is by regularly detoxifying my body with juice cleanses, saltwater flushes, and eating light meals, so my digestive tract does not have to burn & expend more energy, creating more heat to break down large meals. More heat leads to more irritability.
Our moods are directly influenced by what we nourish ourselves, and taking conscious ownership over our physical bodies can be a great endorphin booster, leading to mental clarity.
In my previous post, I wrote, Dancers are athletic artists.
Part of maintaining peak performance and optimal bodily regulation as a dancer, included knowing what to nourish my mind and body during each season. As mentioned above, Summer is a great time to practice juice detoxes. The benefits of juicing includes giving our digestive organs relief from breaking down physical food, which often leaves us feeling tired, as the majority of our energy centers around the stomach after eating. Juicing for 3 - 5 days helps to bring essential micronutrients directly into the bloodstream without the pressure of extraction. Freeing the body of removing fiber and waste particles helps to stimulate pranic flow, eliminates free radicals and harmful toxins, rebalances the natural gut biome, and promotes an increase of energy levels.
Our mind is directly influenced by our gut's digestive health.
During the warm months, we don't need to hold on to the excess within our bodies, once metabolized for warmth during the colder and cooler months. Another great way to rebalance and clear the residue of the colon is a salt water flush.
Salt water flushes are an ancient Yogic ritual steeped in the Kriya practice of purifying the physical body. We often associate Kriyas with visualization techniques, depending on the style and lineage of Yoga you practice. However, purification of the physical body is state of being, which brings us closer to our Divine Nature.
Cleanliness is close to Godliness.
So how does the practitioner experience a transcendental state through physical purging?
Through SALTWATER FLUSHING.
Salt water flushing is an extremely beneficial practice to rid the body of parasites, excess mucus which has built up within the lining of the gastrointestinal walls, and to bring trace minerals into the bloodstream. Place 2 teaspoons of pink himalayan sea salt into a liter of warm not hot filtered water, and add the juice of 1 lemon to cut the taste of the salted water. Drink this mixture in under 5 minutes and do not make any appointments for up to 2 hours, as the body will begin to purge and rebalance itself into a healthy state of natural cleanliness.
Saltwater flushes are a great way to begin each new season and can also be practiced every month, as a monthly self-care ritual. The important thing to remember is that the lighter you FEEL* on the inside, the lighter your external world will vibrationally become. We attract what we are, so become the LIGHT you wish to receive.
Warmly,
Nikki
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