Creating better routines for your Wellbeing; Summer edition
Summer has always been my favourite season. I’m a lover of the heat and I enjoy the expansion and abundant energy at this time of year. That doesn’t mean it’s all go go go though, this season especially I like to slow down and focus on a more feminine (yin) approach to work and life; sinking into slow days soaking up the Sun — reading, being, creative and focusing on refilling my cup and my passions after an intense season of laying the groundwork through spring.
I understand not everybody enjoys the heat as I do and may prefer to focus on keeping cool during this season though.
When it comes to summer wellbeing the focus is on rejuvenation, exploration, pushing boundaries and comfort zones and a renewal of our focus, direction, passion…. A recalibration.
The Importance of Summer Routines
Routines are the backbone of a balanced life. They provide structure, reduce stress, and help in achieving goals. During summer, the change in weather and extended daylight hours offer unique opportunities to enhance wellbeing. By establishing thoughtful routines, we can take advantage of the season's benefits while maintaining a sense of stability and purpose.
Some Things to Focus on In Summer
While this is a time of action, it is also a time of playfulness and abundance. That means makings sure you’re blocking out time in your day, or at least week, to do the things you love and enjoy. Making sure that you are recharging your battery daily is so important; whether that’s a 10 minute meditation in the sunshine or taking a couple of hours to spend time on a hobby you enjoy. It’s all about balance and focusing on what feels good for your energy and body…..
Flowing NOT forcing.
While summer may be the height of ‘getting things done’ it’s also the height of social activity and, if you have kids, it’s summer holidays and possible all best are off… although I don’t have kids myself I still believe the same structure applies, just in a looser format that’s more focused on the social and self care categories than the work goals.
The whole point of this seasonal way of living and building your world is to mould the World to your needs. Develop your own way of intentional living and getting things done…. Work out what moves the needle for you, and the most effective way of doing it whilst still maintaining those important pillars of health and self care.
The answers are, and always have been, inside of you. Your superpower is your intuition and your innate cyclical nature… when you rune inwards and listen closely you will find your path. You just have to drown out all the noise and distraction of the outside world first. You can also try setting non-negotiable time blocks in your calendar each week for focused work, creative practices, play time, AND self care.
CELEBRATE YOUR WINS
While you may have already don’t this for the first half of your year if you completed the mid-year review, taking time to celebrate your achievements and all the abundance you already have in your life is SO important. In fact I’d say it’s a vital piece in your mental health and improving confidence. Summer is the season of abundance & expansion, trees are laden with fruits and berries, vegetables and flowers flourish, not only is it important to celebrate your achievements, but to also acknowledge and appreciate all the abundance you already have in your life, instead of just moving on to the next thing.
CONNECTION AND RELATIONSHIPS
This really is the most social of the seasons, while the weather is good everyone want to be out enjoying themselves… even the birds are their most vocal this time of year. Take their lead and use this time to make connections, deepen relationships and friendships, even mentorships and business partner relationships can be strengthened or found in this season of deepened communication. Use the energy of the sun to be your brightest, boldest version of yourself.
EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION
Summer and Winter sit at opposite sides of the cycle of the year. Balancing each other, but also contrasting. While winter is the height of energy contraction, Summer is the height of energy expansion. As such these two seasons can be the most extreme and difficult to navigate periods in the year. Although you will generally find that you struggle with one more than the other… Summers expansive energy is a time of magic and manifestation. The energy that fuels the action, but also more than that… it is our deep connection with Nature (and the elementals) at it’s peak, it is a creative life force, a spark with which we can create anything we desire. SO USE IT!!
This is why Summer is the season of growth; both personally, in your goals, and by stepping outside of your comfort zone. It is the season to Expand your mind, body and soul. Finding your place, and becoming your truest, most authentic self. And focus on the things that move the needle forward rather than filling your days with busy work, or just being busy for busy’s sake — in other words, get smart about how you work so you can work hard during focus times, and do more for yourself the rest of your time.
Expansion doesn’t have to be work focused, your eapansion and growth occur when you are focusing on all parts of yourself equally; mind, body, soul, creativity, rest, work and play!
ENJOY THE LAST PLAYFUL MOMENTS OF SUMMER
Leo may have had you pushing forward and making big bold leaps this month, but as we close out the summer this energy shifts into a more playful and healing time to enjoy the last of the summer Sun; to let go and have fun before the energy begins to wind down and we focus more on systems and details.
While summer might be the most expensive season, and the one where we do most of the hard work, that doesn’t mean we don’t also need those times of rest and playfulness to continue growing and moving forward. Just because you aren’t taking big bold action steps towards the big goals it doesn’t mean you aren’t doing something meaningful. Making time to play and do the things that we fill your cup just as important, sometimes more so
Just because you aren’t taking big bold action steps towards the big goals it doesn’t mean you aren’t doing something meaningful. Making time to play and do the things that fill your cup is just as important, sometimes more so. These breaks are what allow your subconscious mind to keep working away on, things and feed you with brilliant ideas that seemingly come out of nowhere.
ORGANISATION, SYSTEMS & HOW YOU WORK
Mid-month we move into the sign of Virgo and this shifts our energy and focus in a more detail-oriented direction. Virgo is often associated with the virgin in traditional astrology, but is actually more of the divine feminine and witch archetype; the Earth mother who takes action with discernment. This is a time for making decisions based on how they feel in your body and gut (gut instincts) — as well as focusing on organising, coordinating, separating, and assimilating. Or improving your skills in those areas.
Reassess the systems and processes that you use both within your work/business and your life. That includes how you plan out your time, how you organise all areas of your life — are they working for you, do you always feel overwhelmed and disorganised or do you know what you need to focus on each day and do you move easily through the week with time for yourself and social activities as well as work?
If not then this is the time to start making changes and getting things in order.
Start with writing a long list of all the tasks and to-do’s in your head and work from there. That also includes how you work; do you time block, do you make time for focus work, or go with the flow of energy and work on what feels good in the moment? Are you easily distracted or trying to multitask all the time
Find out how you work currently, and how you work best, then find ways to improve if needed. And don’t forget to include a daily self-care routine in part of that planning to make sure you are still taking care of your health and balancing out the work.
FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS AND USE YOUR GUT
Part of this Virgo medicine is feeling into your body and listening to your gut (and gut instincts) — how do you respond to things? How do you make decisions each day? So you analyse or over analyse, are those decisions made from your brain or your heart? Do you know how it feels in your body when you get an instinctive YES response or even a definite NO?
In both health and life, your gut instincts are your intuition at play. The body takes in my new signals from the world around you in both what you see here feel and the energy of yourself and others. These all feed into a subconscious and intuitive response or reaction to things that happen to you on a daily basis.
In both health and life, your gut instincts are your intuition at play. The body takes in my new signals from the world around you in both what you see here feel and the energy of yourself and others. These all feed into a subconscious and intuitive response or reaction to things that happen to you on a daily basis.
These instincts are your compass and your guide, and yet we have been taught (especially as women) to ignore them and focus only on logic and our brains.
Virgo is an Earth sign and she wants you to ground into your body, into the energy around you, and pay more attention to your instincts — they will serve you well.
Health & Wellbeing Rituals and Routines For Summer
1. Embrace the Outdoors
One of the most significant benefits of summer is the abundance of sunshine, which is essential for synthesising vitamin D. This vitamin plays a crucial role in bone health, immune function, and mood regulation. So whether it’s a morning walk to greet the sunrise (or run in my case), taking your workout outdoors, wild swimming or enjoying a picnic with friends make sure to soak up as much as that vitamin D as you can — it will improve your energy, your mood, your sleep, and so much more!
2. Hydration and Nutrition
Staying hydrated is vital, especially during the hotter months. Dehydration can lead to fatigue, headaches, and other health issues. Aim to drink at least 8 glasses a day, more if you're active or spending time in the sun. If you struggle drinking plain water try infusing water with fruits like lemon or cucumber can make hydration more enjoyable.
Water rich fruits and vegetables can also help; Summer offers an abundance of fresh produce such as watermelon, berries, and peaches, as well as vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, and leafy greens. Incorporating these in your daily diet can enhance nutrition and can also provide essential vitamins and minerals. They are also lighter than say more carb heavy root vegetables making them easier to digest in the heat. Salads, smoothies, and grilled vegetables are not only nutritious but also refreshing.
3. Protecting & Nourishing Skin
The summer sun can be harsh and drying on your skin so extra skincare steps are essential to keep skin healthy, moisturised and protected. This incudes at least an SPF 30 sunscreen (preferably mineral based and reapplied regularly). And additional moisturisation…. I like to use sweet almond oil on a morning as I get out of the bath or shower, applied to wet skin before drying it is more absorbable and helps to both sooth and moisturise sun kissed skin. On an evening I opt for an after sun moisturiser that is thicker and contains monoi oil - know for it’s tan protecting and moisturising properties.
For facial skin care I always use natural products;
Morning — for my workout I apply a protective and moisturising layer of my Heal All Balm which is full of skin healing and moisturising ingredients. Post exercises I wash my face with water only, then apply a vitamin C serum, and and a thick vitamin E creme
Evening — I cleanse with a rose otto gentle face wash, then apply a rosehip oil, and another thick layer of heal all balm before bed.
4. Relaxation
Those hot summer days just call for slowing down and lazing in the garden. While Summer energy is predominantly yang and masculine, it is an ideal time of year to practice a more divine feminine and ‘receptive’ approach to life as a pose to trying to push through the heat. This divine feminine, Yin energy nicely balances out the fiery energy of the sun, and just because you’re not pushing forward doesn’t mean you aren’t still achieving or being ‘productive’ — not only are periods of rest and down time an essential part of being productive, the key to Divine feminine energy is to draw things in to you… it is a focus on the energy you create and put our into the world with your thoughts, beliefs and actions.
That makes this a perfect time to practice mindfulness and relaxation techniques, helping to reduce stress and improve mental clarity. Meditation to help centre your mind and energy (as well as being a powerful tool for mental wellbeing and focus),
Other ways to relax include Deep breathing which can be particularly soothing in the summer heat. Techniques like diaphragmatic breathing or the 4-7-8 method can help calm the nervous system.
And of course, spending time in nature has been shown to reduce stress and improve mood. Simply sitting under a tree, connecting with nature can be deeply restorative.
5. Creative Outlets
Summer isn’t for spending your days on your phone, social media, or watching tv. Take a digital detox and instead focus on enhancing your brain and creativity by trying new hobbies or creative activities. Being creative can be both fulfilling and a great way to spend free time during the summer.
Activities such as writing in a journal can help process emotions, set goals, and reflect on experiences. It can also be a creative outlet for storytelling or poetry.
Painting, drawing, crafting, or even gardening can be relaxing and provide a sense of accomplishment, and can be a way to pick up a new skill or hobby you wouldn't necessarily have tried otherwise.
Whether it's playing an instrument, cooking a new cuisine, or trying your hand at photography, these are all creative outlets and an opportunity for learning something new which can be both fun and mentally stimulating.
Not to mention your brain and work will thank you for it later!
And if you don’t want to spend your digital detox creating, then at least spend time reading a book, taking a walk, or simply enjoying a quiet moment. Reading is one of my all time favourite summer activities, especially on a hot day…. all you need is a towel and a cold drink and you can imagine yourself on a holiday aboard :)
Practical Tips for Implementing Summer Routines
Establishing and maintaining routines requires intentional effort. Here are some practical tips:
Start Small — Begin with small, manageable changes. For example, start with a short daily walk and gradually increase the time or intensity.
Be Consistent — Consistency is key to forming habits. Try to stick to your routines even on weekends or holidays.
Be Flexible — While consistency is important, it’s also crucial to be flexible. Life often brings unexpected events and opportunities. Allow room for spontaneity and adjust your routines as needed.
Track Progress — Keep a journal or use an app to track your progress. This can help you stay motivated and see how far you’ve come.
Reward Yourself — Celebrate your achievements, no matter how small. Rewards can be as simple as enjoying a favourite treat, taking a relaxing bath, or spending time on a hobby.
Creating better routines for you and your health needs a holistic approach that encompasses physical health, mental wellness, social connections, personal growth, and spiritual development. It is only by addressing health on all levels that you can enhance overall wellbeing and create lasting positive changes.
Remember, the key is to start small, be consistent, and allow yourself the flexibility to enjoy the season. It’s not always about getting things right or turning habits into another to-do list, it’s about creating a better life and environment so you can better enjoy your time and choose how you spend it!!
Here's to a summer filled with growth, joy, and wellbeing!
And if you want to learn more and dive deeper into the world of Seasonal & cyclical living, with information like this for every month you can check out my Seasonal Alchemy Guide, the Seasonal Alchemy Life Planner, and The Seasonal Sisterhood!
xo Emily
