7 Ways to Enjoy Summer

Enjoy the summer in as many ways as you can imagine!

Summer Is The Season of High Energy

Summer starts on the solstice, the longest day of the year. The life-giving sun shines on us for almost 15 hours, which is about 5 ½ hours longer than the shortest day. Plants produce vibrant fruits and vegetables as well as verdant lawns. Animals raise their young, and both young and old grow strong and healthy. People are full of energy and are constantly looking for fun ways to spend it. What are you planning to do with all your extra time and energy? Here are some ideas to help you make the most of your summer:

1. Sunny Mindset

Start with gratitude for all that you have, which is an instant mood booster. Then brainstorm what you would love to do this summer. Focus on what you already have and what you would love to do. Keeping a sunny mindset will help you enjoy your summer more, no matter how you spend it. It also creates the right frame of mind to brainstorm ideas you would love. With a sunny mindset, you’ll attract ideas that are fun and easy to do, that can fit into any budget, and that can be allocated to the time you have. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.” This helps to create a sunny mindset where anything is possible.

You may already have a vacation planned. That’s great! For those who don’t think they have enough time off or the funds for a “real” vacation. What can you do? Be creative. Would you like to have frequent day trips, weekends excursions, or a longer stay-ca-tion? Would you love to have your own backyard oasis, even on a budget? Have fun with it. Be playful like a child daydreaming. There are no limits to what you can do!  Don’t critique any idea, just write it down. You’ll have plenty of time to pick and choose later.

2. Imagine

What are your favorite memories from childhood or from spending time with your children when they were younger? Would it be fun to recreate a childhood excursion? Or design a new one with the same people and similar activities. Do those memories spark ideas for where, when and how to make new memories?

Do you have a bucket list of places you’d like to see? Can you plan a trip to one of your listed destinations? If you can’t afford the time or money to travel there now, maybe you could research the place and create a staycation, where you watch movies to help you feel like you’re there and create meals and activities, based on your research. For example, you could replicate Greece with Mama Mia or My Big Fat Greek Wedding, while eating stuffed grape leaves and gyros. Simple and fun. What ideas can you imagine? 

3. Expression

How do you like to express yourself? Do you enjoy arts or crafts - drawing, painting, woodworking, music, acting, writing, storytelling, inventing? Spend some of those extra summer hours enjoying these expressive activities. 

Take them outdoors if you can. I’ve had summer retreats where participants: splattered paint on canvases in the grass; used different colored sands to create mandalas in the sand surrounding the firepit; and created beaded jewelry for each other. I’ve enjoyed a weekend retreat with a fellow writer, focusing all our time on writing pursuits and supportive energizing nourishing breaks. Think of ways you’d love to express yourself this summer.

4. Self-Centered Choices

Choose to make some time to care for yourself, so that you will be centered while making choices for spending time with others or in nature. My choices often involve water. In the summer, I move from the soaking tub to the outdoor pool. I even use the pool for exercising, not just swimming. Massages are also good for self care, whether you have a professional masseuse or exchange massages with a loved one. 

Another important aspect of self care, which is often missed this time of year, is the need for rest. Are you getting enough mental, emotional and physical rest? 

Meditation, yoga and journaling are more ways that easily come to mind. What ideas appeal to you? When you think of self care, what ideas immediately come to mind? Give yourself that gift. You deserve it.

5. Connect with Family and Friends

The most obvious choices here are to spend time with loved ones on a special vacation, making those memories we mentioned earlier. Remember that some of the most special memories happen during the simple moments on ordinary days. 

You don’t have to go on vacation to enjoy connecting with your loved ones. You can create rituals that you enjoy together that you can only do during the summer months. Be sure to notice and appreciate the simple moments you enjoy together. 

This is generally the best time of year for family reunions. My husband and I have a core group of college friends that we still gather with for quarterly dinner parties, and we used to travel for long weekends together at different times during the year. I want to have regular pool parties this summer, inviting both family and friends. 

You may want to have barbeques or go boating or hiking with family and friends. Maybe you prefer dinner and a movie in an air conditioned theater for the latest blockbuster. How would you love to connect with family and friends?

6. Connect With Nature

Energize your connection with nature. As we discussed earlier, you can do many of the things you enjoy outdoors.  Hiking, walking, practicing yoga, sharing picnics, telling stories around a firepit, dancing, drawing, painting, swimming, you name it. 

Create moonlight rituals, if you’re a night owl, or morning rituals to welcome the dawn, if you’re an early riser. Ground your energy to the earth by walking barefoot in the grass or sand. 

I do energy cycles while grounding, drawing energy and chanting internally “up from the ground and down through the crown”. While still standing there with my palms open, I connect with the trees through my breath. Breathing in, I chant internally, “You give me breath.” Then internally chant while exhaling, “I give you breath.” As I realize this interdependence with the trees around me, I feel the energy pulsing within me.

Sit and listen to the sounds of nature: the birds and squirrels. Notice all the insects, busily working or taking a drink from the pool. Even the birds will dive for a sip. Welcome all the creatures big and small and thank them for being part of your world. Notice all the brilliant colors, and the plants changing from flower to fruit. Watch the clouds dance or darken into thunderstorms, with rainbows as you near sunset. Enjoy nature in all its many forms. Step outside right now if you can, enjoy a breath of fresh air.

7. Awesome Activities

Intuit your next steps. Plan some awesome activities for this spectacular summer, and be sure to leave plenty of time for serendipity. You never know what opportunities might come knocking.

What would you like to do? Do you have a new project? No matter what your answers are to questions like these, be sure to choose them consciously with love and gratitude. Remind yourself that you deserve to thrive, just because you are alive.