As the sun reaches its highest point in the sky, we cross a threshold: the Summer Solstice. This is the longest day of the year, when light is at its peak and nature is in full bloom.
Energetically, solstice invites us to pause, reflect, and connect. Not only with the world around us, but with the light within.
This moment is sacred. It is a mirror. It reminds us that everything has a season: expansion, stillness, contraction. And we are allowed to honor where we are in the cycle.
Solstice Reflection Practice
Before you begin, find a quiet space, preferably outdoors, and bring a journal or simply breathe into presence.
- What is blooming in your life right now?
- What part of you is ready to shine more fully?
- What still needs gentler tending or support?
- Where do you feel most connected — to nature, to your truth, to your light?
Embody the Light: A Somatic Practice
Stand or sit comfortably, preferably with sunlight on your skin or natural light nearby.
- Breathe deeply. Inhale through your nose, feel your ribs expand. Exhale slowly through your mouth. Let your body settle. Repeat slowly until you feel the body start to soften.
- Connect with the sun. Feel the sun above you, warm and golden. Imagine it pouring light into the crown of your head, down your spine, through your heart, and into your torso.
- Notice your body. Where do you feel radiant? Where feels soft, open, or alive? Where feels dim or tense? Just observe.
- Place your hand on your heart. Whisper or think: I honor my light. I trust the cycle. I choose peace.
- Close with stillness. Let the light settle into your body. Feel what’s here. Let it be enough.
This is your medicine. Your rhythm. Your return.
You are allowed to feel full.
You can be both full and soft.
Even though we feel the light outside of us, it also lives within us —
quietly asking to be seen, held, and tended to.
Integration: Tending Your Light
The solstice offers a brief, radiant pause. It is a moment of fullness before the gradual return to darker days.
It is not just a celebration of light. It is an invitation to tend to it, to protect what has been growing, to honor what has been revealed, and to carry that warmth inward as the cycle shifts.
As we begin the slow descent into longer nights, the question becomes:
How will you stay connected to your light when the world around you begins to dim?
Integration is the practice of keeping the internal flame lit.
It is not about holding onto the high. It is about gently weaving the wisdom of this moment into the rhythm of your days.
You might try:
- Morning light rituals. Start each day with at least 15 minutes of sunlight on your skin and in your eyes (without sunglasses, if possible). Let the light regulate your rhythms, wake your energy, and remind you that you are part of something greater.
- Tune into your inner and outer light. Ask yourself: How am I connecting with the light around me today? How am I connecting with the light within me?
- Notice what dims your light and what brightens it. Who are you around when you feel light, free, alive? Where are you when you feel heavy or disconnected? Begin to track these moments as data for your nervous system.
- Feel the light in your body. Remember the felt sense of connection — when you feel grounded, warm, soft, open. What does that feel like in your body? Practice inviting that sensation back in as often as possible.
- Create a closing ritual each day. Light a candle, sit in silence, journal. Ask: Where did I feel my light today? Where did it dim? What will help me tend it tomorrow?
Your light does not need to burn brightly all the time.
It needs to be fed by rhythm, by rest, and by relationship to what is real.
And it lives not only in your mind or your plans, but in your body, your breath, and your daily choices.
Let this solstice be your commitment:
To not just celebrate your light at its peak, but to keep tending to it through every season that follows.
