Summertime is the season of light and joy, abundance and expansion. In terms of energy, summer is when we are most present to our inner radiance and who we know ourselves to be – when we can shine our light brightly just as the sun shines so abundantly during this season.

As we live in cities and are surrounded by our technological comforts, it is easy to forget that we are an interconnected part of this vast world of nature. Our bodies, minds, and hearts crave living in harmony with the natural rhythms and cycles of the world we are a part of.

This guide is an invitation to tune into the energies of summer. It draws on the wisdom from a few different traditions: Shamanism, Chinese medicine, and Ayurveda. These traditions speak on the energies of a season, and how we can adjust our routines and invite our hearts and bodies to be in tune with the seasonal energies.

In Shamanic tradition, summertime is represented by the South direction on the Medicine Wheel – a place of expansion, coming into full bloom, opening the heart, and enjoying life’s beauty. We are invited to focus on the love and light within us and all around us. With the abundance of sunlight and day hours, we have an opportunity to leave behind darkness, shed negativity, and embrace positivity.

As you read through this guide, take the time to listen to your heart, mind, body, and spirit. Explore the ideas that resonate the most with you. Tap into your own inner wisdom. And most importantly, regardless of what season it is, remember to be gentle with yourself, to love yourself, and to regard yourself with compassion. Some of our greatest tools on this healing journey is our own inner wisdom paired with gentleness, love, and compassion.

Morning sunbathing is a healthy Ayurvedic practice that stimulates sadhaka pitta – an energetic principle in Ayurveda that is extremely mood lifting, similar to serotonin. The summertime is a season of sunlight, joy, and expansion; a 10-15 minute early morning walk can not only set the tone for our day, but help us to safely nurture a relationship with the sun and our inner sense of expansion during these brighter months.

While there are moments during the day we can safely experience the sun’s physical and energetic benefits, there are moments of the day we must protect ourselves from overheating and exhaustion. Balance is a very important part of keeping our summertime energies from being depleted.

During the hottest hours of the day, seek out shade by wearing a hat and sunglasses, or move indoors. Staying in the sun for too long or when it’s too strong can be extremely aggravating and even dangerous. Ayurvedic principles encourage spending the afternoon indoors, in a cool location, and outside of direct sunlight. Afternoon siestas are encouraged; napping for 10-30 minutes is ideal. Allowing your body to rest and replenish is a beautiful gift to yourself.

Because of the extension of sunlight hours and higher temperatures, it’s extremely important we stay hydrated during the summer months. The daily water intake recommendation is to take the number of your body weight, half it, and drink that amount of water in ounces. Adding a pinch of salt in your food or water will help you better retain hydration.

Along with water, experiment with drinking other cooling beverages such as fruit juice or cucumber infused water. In India where the summers can be extremely hot, nimbu pani (limeade) is a favorite drink. To make it, add lime juice, a pinch of sugar and salt to a glass of water. Stir and enjoy. Other ingredients you can add to enhance flavor are a tiny bit of cumin, a tiny bit of black pepper, some mint, or cucumber slices. Have fun and experiment with it!

Fiery yang energies must be balanced with cooling yin energies. In ancient Chinese philosophy and medicine, yin and yang explore the concept of duality, of opposing forces being complementary and interconnected. Yin is associated with femininity, shadows, and rest; yang represents masculinity, light, and activity. Yin and yang are in constant flux. If one is deficient or in excess, there will be an imbalance.

During the summertime, yang can be excessive, thus making yin deficient. Spending time near local bodies of water is very helpful to balancing these energies. Walks on the beach, picnics on a lakefront, and dunking your feet in creeks and rivers are all ways of connecting with the replenishing energy of water. For those moments where we are too far from natural bodies of water, there are other ways to tap into this energy. Spraying your face with rose water or listening to a cooling waters meditation are ways to tap in while not leaving the house. Here’s a healing meditation that helps cleanse negative feeling energies and welcome in higher frequencies.

ACCESS the meditation here

According to Indian Ayurvedic medicine, Pitta energies can easily get aggravated during the summer months. Pitta is the element associated with fire and heat. When Pitta gets out of balance, we are prone to feeling emotionally irritable, impatient, and angry. Physically, we may feel overheated, experience indigestion, and be prone to eye and skin conditions.

To keep Pitta in balance, it is important to adopt “cooling” practices to our summertime routines. This includes eating seasonal fruits & veggies, using a cooling face mist during the daytime, and exercising in the morning before the hottest part of the day. A small, great tip for balancing Pitta energy is washing the bottoms of the feet with cold water during moments of overheating.

As the temperatures shift with the seasons, it’s important that our diets reflect the shift. Eating more sweet, bitter, and astringent flavors helps us to balance Pitta energies in our bodies. This includes cucumbers, celery, summer squashes, leafy greens, watermelon, cantaloupe, stone fruits (such as peaches, plums, cherries, apricots, etc.), and herbs such as cilantro and mint. Avoid hot drinks, spicy foods, alcohol (which has a dehydrating effect), and fermented foods – these all further aggravate Pitta energies. Eating according to the season is a beautiful way to sync our bodies to nature’s abundance and celebrate the season accordingly.

In Shamanic traditions, summer is associated with the Spirit of the South – supportive and abundant, beautiful and warm, playful and passionate. During the summer months, invite these principles into your life. Bring laughter into your daily doings. Find time for celebration and joyfulness. Recall the fabled summertime associated with youth and invite play into your life. The expression and sensation of joy can be very uplifting and healing. Open your heart to the potentials of joy, love, and other uplifting emotions. Seek out healthy company, wholesome activities, and connections that make your heart shine. Think kayaking playdates, beach picnics, or moonlit walks with loved ones.

As we add more play to our schedules, summertime can get busy. Between the outdoor outings and keeping up with work, it is extremely important to remember to take the time for ourselves to rest and reconnect. Remember to make time for meditation, for morning prayers, for moments of stillness amidst the summer frenzy. Remember to honor yourself and say “no” to busyness if it means saying “yes” to your self-care. Stress further aggravates Pitta.

In line with resting our bodies, the eyes are ruled by Pitta in Ayurveda. Be extra mindful of screen-time and computer overuse. Rest your eyes; rest your mind. Rebalance by close-eyed meditations or taking a walk in nature where you mindfully tap into your other senses (listening to bird calls or children playing, smelling flowers, watching sunlight dance through tree leaves, etc).

All exercise during the summertime months should be cooling. Swimming is an excellent way of connecting with the energy of water during Pitta months. Biking is also a beautiful summertime exercise because of the cooling element of wind. Moonwalks are another beautiful way of soaking up lunar energy during a season of solar energy, while moving your body in a cooler environment. Exercise should take place in the morning before 10am or in the evening after 7pm. When outside during hot hours, wear a hat to protect the top of your head from the sun. In keeping with the playful energy of summertime, try replacing your exercise with fun activities such as kayaking, dancing, or barefoot walks in the park.

One of the simplest and most powerful practices in optimizing wellbeing is living in a state of gratitude and abundance. As summertime shows off its abundance and full expression, showing gratitude is a beautiful way of reciprocating grace and being mindful of the blessings we receive during this season. Keeping a gratitude practice, where we count our blessings, can be a very powerful way of replenishing ourselves and our souls. A gratitude practice includes taking a couple minutes everyday to give thanks. This can be done by writing in a journal, or simply in reflection and meditation. Another powerful practice is setting a daily intention to notice the abundance around you throughout the day. With this practice, our awareness builds and we are given even more moments to be thankful for.

We hope you enjoy this summer healing tips and guided meditation. Reconnecting with nature’s rhythms and cycles offers us a rich opportunity to honor every transition with grace, gratitude, and ease.

Please email us with any questions or comments, and please share this post with any friends and family who may enjoy these tips and guided meditation.