Rain and Sunshine
We live on a planet that gifts us polarities, always.
Coming back to the United States after three weeks in Europe I was reminded why summers here are a challenge for me. It seems illogical to my Dutch mind to dread summers, but it’s a ‘whole different ball game’ in this climate. Summers in the Midwest and in most of the United States are not just warm, they are HOT. And they’re not just hot, they are also very humid (read: sweaty and exhausting). Most people stay inside in the air conditioning and summer-hibernate. Is that an actual term? It should be… If I spend too much time inside I slowly lose my mind, so I try to go out in early mornings on a walk or a run. It’s not good for our mental health to spend time inside and sit around. We need movement and we need daylight and sunshine!
My fellow Kundalini yogi Lauren C. Bradley gifted our community with a talk on hormonal health, and guess what?! Our hormones are influenced by movement and daylight! In the morning, our bodies produce cortisol, (which is infamously known as the ‘stress hormone’, but it only causes stress when it is OUT of balance), when we see sunlight. It’s very good for a healthy cortisol production to go out in the sun in the morning first thing. Cortisols’ yin to the yang is Melatonin. Also a hormone that doesn’t wake us up, but regulates our sleep and makes us sleepy. As I am typing this I have changed my computer screen and my phone into night time mode (even though it’s daylight) which dims the normally blue light that is deregulating our hormones, especially in the evening. I already feel this light is much gentler on my system. Wow. Game changer.
You can go to Settings and then Display on your computer and shift into night mode. On your iPhone, swipe down, long click on the brightness and the options pop up to shift on night and/or dark mode.
Lauren has a podcast called The Quantum Collection which discusses all the background gold on how the body works. This one is on Vitamins A and D, which influence each other. Vitamin D is not something you can just take in a pill, but must come from the Sun (with the Solstice ahead get your mega intake!!!!!)
Midsummer // Solstice
“Solstice means to stand still and honors the sun at its highest point in the sky. On the Solstice day, the earth is at its maximum tilt towards the sun, absorbing heat and power. The Sun is a golden beacon, directing a forward path in each of us carrying our purpose, our courage, our heart. Summer solstice is the most sun, the most power.” - Joanna Pitt @ RaMa Institute
This is such an important time in the year, to embrace your power, to open up and to go forward in that that needs light. How are you moving forward? What is the path of your light?
In Rudolf Steiner/Waldorf traditions, we jump over a fire to start a fresh year with luck and health. Couples can jump hand in hand to jump into a blessed life together. And yes, children jump over the fire too. In fact, this tradition is often celebrated in schools. I am hosting a jump in Missouri, are you coming?
Verse for the Summer Solstice by Waldorf Mama:
i am the sun and i bear with my might,
the earth by day and the earth by night.
i hold her fast and my gifts i bestow,
to everything on her so that it may grow.
man and stone, flower and bee...
all receive their light from me.
open your heart like a little flower,
that i may shine in it every hour.
open your heart, dear child, to me...
that we together one light may be.
The summer Solstice this year is on the 20th. The feast of Saint John and/or Midsummer are celebrated often on the 23rd or 24th or June, often Christian holidays and pagan celebrations coincide.
Solstice doesn’t feel close as it has been raining the whole entire day here in Missouri. I hear in Europe it’s the same. So here’s a song that’s perfect to listen to on a day of rain.
Forrest and his wife Margaret are Missourians and amazing musicians and storytellers. This song is dedicated to Troublemakers, Chance-takers, Heartbreakers and Booty-shakers. Amen!
The grand Missouri River