How to Celebrate the Summer Solstice with Feng Shui
Today we have Amy Shellhorn joining us to talk about the summer solstice. Amy is a graduate of our Mindful Design Feng Shui School program. She’s a certified feng shui consultant and has her own business, Joyful Family Spaces. We’re going to talk about the meaning of the summer solstice, and some ways to celebrate it with feng shui.
The summer solstice is the point in the solar cycle with the longest day and the shortest night. At this time of year, we’re blessed with so much light during the day, and it has a real impact on our bodies and the world around us. This is a great time of year to celebrate the enormous gift of the sun, as many cultures have done before us. It’s also a time where we’ve left spring, a time of planting seeds, and are seeing things bloom in our own personal and spiritual life.
For most of us here in western culture, we celebrate the summer solstice as the beginning of summer. However, for many cultures, this was the culmination, rather than the start, of the return of the light. We’re all so excited for summer that we don’t realize that this actually marks the time where we start to lose a few minutes of light each day. While we’re still in the yang part of the year--the most active, open, and awake time of year--we’re actually shifting into the more yin part of the year, which begins at the fall equinox.
So, how can we use feng shui to welcome the summer solstice? As we’re slowly transitioning to the yin part of the year, we move through the earth energy cycle. It’s a time to look to yourself and your self care. You may want to implement some grounding rituals to support you, since this can be a very busy time of year, when people often travel and are active with friends and family.
The first way to do that in your home is through preparation. This is an intense time of year with a lot of fire energy, so it’s a good idea to bring in the water element. Remember that this is a seasonal change; it’s easy to get excited about something and leave it up for a long time, but there’s something really special about adding something to your home for just a short period of time. Just like we change our clothes with the seasons, we can do the same with our homes.
To bring in the water element, you could hang a picture of your favorite water source or cooling scene; this could be a beach scene or a calm clear lake. You could also transform your space by replacing anything that is heavy, like drapes or pillows, with lighter fabrics like linen and cotton. You can also balance summer’s fire energy by bringing in cooler colors, like blue, green and white.
Another way to welcome the summer solstice is to tap into what is going on in nature at this time of year. Plants have grown and matured and are now blossoming. We’re in this stage too, since our lives often reflect what is going on in nature. This is a time to take a moment to appreciate the beauty of life. One way to do this is to bring fresh flowers into your home, which also resonates with the fire energy of summer. With intention, place three different fresh bouquets around the perimeter of your living space. This will be a visual signal that you’re thinking about the bounty you have in your life. Another bonus of doing this is that when you open the windows, you’ll get that warm, scented air, which is calming and grounding.
Finally, celebrate! It’s easy to get caught up in other people’s activities, but we encourage you to stop and celebrate the summer solstice for yourself or your family. You could prepare a seasonal meal, bring in flowers, or decorate with objects that have a lot of movement, like spirals, pinwheels, and streamers. These things give a nod to the cooler weather and balance out summer’s fiery energy.