Savor the Season
Peaches and Beaches…..Ahhh, Summer ! Still in full swing and getting hotter.
What are you doing to stay cool? Here are 5 Top Tips to stay hydrated, less agitated and more at ease:
- Herbal sun tea. Add ice, fresh mint leaves or cucumber slices and slow down to enjoy a refreshing glass. (if you don’t have time to wait for the sun to heat your water, just put the kettle on and fill pitcher with hot water, just half way, then after the tea steeps, take out the bags, add cold water and put in fridge. Tea suggestions: hibiscus, rose hips, combine camomile with mint or ginger teas, rooibos, lemon balm or combine ginger with lemon balm. The possibilities are endless!
- Foot Bath. Make it a nightly ritual to bathe your feet in tepid or cooler water if your feet get hot like mine. I sit on the edge of the tub and use a hand scrubber with a lovely handmade soap. You can do in the shower too.
- Spritzer. Add a few drops of lavender essential oil to a small glass spray bottle and fill with water to spritz yourself with throughout the day. You can also buy pre-made spritzers at your local health food store. Rose water is also nice spritz, or a combination with mint in a spritz can be super refreshing.
- Sitali Pranayama, or Straw Breathing. This is great for cooling down. If you can roll your tongue like a little taco, great. If not, you’ll pucker your lips as if to sip a beverage through a tiny straw. Then sit up nice a tall and take a slow deep breath in through your month-straw. When you’re ready to exhale, close your mouth and breathe out your nose. Do this 3-5 times and notice how wonderfully cool you are. This is also a good one to help immediately reduce agitation/irritation/frustration.
- Forward Folds. Cooling poses like a forward fold can be done from a standing or seated position. If standing, take a slight bend in your knees and hinge at your hips to come into your fold. Let your arms dangle, shoulders relax and enjoy a few moments upside down. When seated in a chair, simply fold over your lap and reach your hands for the ground and stay for a few breaths. If sitting on the floor, fold over your outstretched legs, or seated cross-legged works too. Doesn’t matter how far forward you can fold, the idea is to let go and relax into the fold. Keep breathing……
Summer can be exhilarating and full of opportunity and exploration and while it’s a season that generously rewards relaxing and receiving, it also places demands on our time with the longer days, kids out of school, and more social commitments.
Instead of getting spun out, overwhelmed and exhausted by the planning and doing and chaos of kids home, why not slow it down and land in what’s most important right now? Embrace the season as a time for gathering together to cultivate fruitful relationships and to enjoy the ones you’ve nurtured throughout the years. Connection is key, on every level. Including connection to yourself. Take time to sip that iced tea or do sitali breathing. Maybe it’s time to do that puzzle with your kids, friends or partner, sit on your front porch and say hi to those who pass by, hang in the backyard & soak your feet in cool water while you chat with a friend, sipping a cool beverage, or take a walk in your neighborhood when the day starts cooling into evening. Connect with yourself- carve out time in your calendar for reflection, visioning, and self-nurturing in whatever form that takes for you. Need ideas for how to expand time and what to make of the time you craft for yourself? Find your healthy daily routine when you join my monthly newsletter or set up your first Life-Coaching Clarity Call with me!
Happy Summer and beyond…,loves.
☀️jenny