Summer meditations for everyone
Summer brings a need for cooling off and slowing down, but also makes me want to take advantage of energy and light that the sun brings. Meditation through deliberate focus of mind and body can be in line with all of these things, but I pick what I want to try depending on my mood. Setting intention before you get focused will give you the right vibe.
Cool Feet
Fill a shallow container big enough for both of your feet with a few inches of cool water and put it on the ground. Sit comfortably in a chair and place your feet into the container. Breathe slowly. With every exhalation feel the heat from your body travel down your legs and into your feet and toes. Let that heat dissipate into the surrounding water. Repeat until the water no longer feels cool, or your feet become deliciously pruny, whichever comes first.
You can also pull a chair up to the edge of the partially-filled bathtub and use that to cool your stank feet in instead.
Sun’s Energy
Find a patch of sun outside or near a window. Get comfy and make sure you are exposing enough skin that you can feel the sun directly. Breathe with your abdominal muscles, trying to pull your breath to a point below your lungs but not quite to your belly button as you exhale. Imagine that spot as a point of bright light that collects the sun’s energy. Practice this a few times.
When you are ready, also focus on your inhale. When you breathe in do so fully, expanding your breath to reach through your limbs and neck, outward from that spot in your belly. Bloom your breath outward like a big flower, taking the current back out through your whole body. Feel the tingling as the energy you’ve collected travels to your face, hands, and feet.
If you are having a hard time getting enough sun, doing this for 15 min at a time will help you meet your quota.
Breath steeple
Sit or stand comfortably. Press your palms together, fingertips level with the bridge of your nose, but a few inches from your face. Pull your palms apart but leave your fingertips touching.
Inhale through the mouth, with a little resistance, kind of like a reverse whistle. Exhale through your nose slowly, projecting your breath into the void between your palms. Feel it escape between your fingers, warming them. Pause very slightly at the end of the exhale, enough to let the heat disappear.
Better out than in, I always say
Shrek
I hope Shrek is only talking about farts, and not reverse-whistles
Me
Three Knots
Find a string, rope, or other thingy that you can tie into knots. It should be roughly the size of a bracelet. Tie 2 knots in the string, and make the third knot when you join the ends to make a loop.
Pick three words that embody how you want to feel this summer. Sit for a minute and imagine how these words could manifest into reality.
Put the string in your non-dominant hand and roll the knots with your fingertips in succession, going around and around the loop. Use the first knot to think of your first word and what it looks like and feels like to you. Go to the next word and knot and then the last. When you are through repeat the 3 again.
You can also use a beaded bracelet/necklace, or meditation beads for this, but stick with no more than 3 focus words.
Want more meditations to practice?
Here are some other meditations to try that are good for any season:
Spring meditations for everyone