New Moon and Summer

Yesterday, June 19, the moon started a new cycle of waxing. The Summer Solstice is today, at 4:09 PM PST, the longest day of the year.

What actions, cycles, and thoughts do you want to put in motion at this time of new beginnings? By your thoughts and actions you create an expectancy.

• What are you drawing to yourself?
• What are you inviting into your life?
• What creative impulses are you ready to initiate?
• Is your life enhanced by your thoughts?

Take an inventory right now. Simple question: what would you like to bring to fruition this summer, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?

A teacher of mine reminds me to do five simple things on a weekly basis:

• Exercise
• Have fun
• Use creativity outside of work: singing, dancing, gardening, cooking, entertaining
• Gratitude, every morning: thank you for my health, thank you for my family, thank you...
• Journal of accomplishments: write one or two sentences about your accomplishments for the day. Feel how good it felt to finish a project, negotiate a deal, resolve an issue. Give yourself kudos for showing up.

The bumblebee pictured above was literally rolling in the California poppy's pollen, moving from blossom to blossom. It looked like fun. You go, bee! What is your pollen? What feeds you? What activities and relationships pollinate you, make you flower? The moments matter, when nature ripples through you, when you are filled with beauty, with the "aha," with awe. These invite a cellular response. These moments are health enhancing.

The following is a guided meditation that can be done seated. Find a comfortable chair and allow yourself a few moments with your phone ringer off.

Imagine yourself closing your eyes. Draw a protective circle around yourself; this is your private space. Take a moment to breathe and center. Feel your feet anchored to the ground, and feel the floor respond by holding your feet. Drop an imaginary taproot down out of your tailbone and let it slowly descend to the center of the earth. Allow your shoulders to relax away from your earlobes. As you breathe in, imagine the earth's energy rising and filling you. As you exhale, release fatigue and unease, imagining them seeping out of your body and dissipating into the earth.

Feel your solar plexus, directly behind your navel. Inhale and breathe the energy of the sun and light into this area. Feel the warmth, power, and brightness. Nourish yourself by breathing in this sun energy in just the right amount for you today. As you exhale, imagine any tiredness being released at your lower back. Feel the energy rising up and spilling over your shoulders, past the top of your head. Take a deep inhalation and feel the air element fill you.

Feed yourself with these elements. Feel your strength, your grace, your place on earth. See yourself blossoming, producing, exchanging, communicating, living. You as a living entity experience the cycles of the seasons. Acknowledge and embrace these cycles. Gently open your eyes and notice how you feel.

Whispers of the Breath Diva:

Live in your body and celebrate your life!