Summer Solstice: Rhythm and Ritual Through Yoga
With every passing year, the world’s seasons reveal the environmental evidence of a planet that breathes. Mirroring natural periods of warming and cooling that result from our changing position relative to the sun, our living earth completes one cycle of respiration over the course of a single year.
As witnesses to this faithful pattern, we are invited to remember the intimate relationship we have with our home in the universe – each one of us embodied cosmos, completing this identical sacred cycle of birth and death with every breath. Particularly in these times of seasonal transition, may we allow ourselves to be breathed by mama Gaia, the benevolent mother earth, as we consider the seasonal progression of internal time illuminated by our own breathwave.
The Stillness of a Star: Observing a Cosmic Pause
The word solstice comes from the Latin roots sol, meaning sun, and stitium, meaning to stop or be still. With unassuming clarity, these etymological elements describe the precise moment of a solstice when our radiant solar star appears to pause in the sky as its trajectory undergoes a perceived directional shift. This cosmic pause welcomes our attention as we prepare to enter the next cycle of our planet’s breathwave.
While the perceived stopping of the sun is what defines a solstice on the basis of perception, the astronomical underpinning of such an event is actually the tilt of the earth’s axis. When our planet reaches the point along its orbit where its axial tilt is most inclined toward the sun, we experience the summer solstice. Bowing to the ultimate source of sustenance, the earth humbly receives this blessing of solar energy like a flower leaning toward the light.
On the day of the solstice, while traveling at 108,000 km/hr around our system’s center, we perceive the longest path of our sun through the sky as it arcs toward its northernmost position from the equator.
In other words, we enjoy the longest day of the year and the beginning of the summer season.
The Summer Swoon
The summer solstice celebrates the apex of light and sunshine continues to triumph over shadow during this season. Common to both ancient and modern cultures, the sundry interpretations of this celestial event underscore a deep gratitude and honoring of the earth.
Whether venerating the feminine, yin energy in Chinese tradition, hailing the rise of the brightest summer star, Sirius, in Egypt, celebrating the personified fertility goddess, Epona, in Celtic tradition, or praising the god of agriculture during Kronia in Greece, the underlying spirit of summer is one of emergence, purification and potency.
Though we may not always consciously observe these time-honored traditions in the bustle of modern daily life, there is something undeniably special about summertime, it’s the summer swoon.
From a young age, I remember equating long summer days with more freedom. With a sliding curfew that was defined by the street lights coming on, more daylight meant I stayed outside longer, swimming until my fingers were pruney and chasing lightning bugs at dusk. In my adult life, the sacred sway of summer means less hurry, less service to time and more relaxation by virtue of a generous sun that descends more slowly in the evening hours. The whole world seems to participate in this seasonal summer sigh, expanding into the light as we approach the halfway point on our journey around the sun. It is a natural time for reflection and the effortless joy that comes with living in rhythm.
Ritucharya: Attuning to Seasonal Rhythms
Integral to the Ayurvedic approach to health, ritucharya is the conscious alignment of environmentally informed practices with external seasonal rhythms (ritus). Acknowledging how the ritus were primarily influenced by the perceived path of the sun through the sky, early Vedic astronomers divided the year into two six-month periods relating to its course. As the sun moves in a northerly direction, the period of increasing light between the winter and summer solstice is called uttarayana. Uttara meaning northern and ayana meaning movement, path or direction.
Complementing uttarayana, the period of decreasing light between the summer and winter solstice, is dakshinayana, dakshina meaning southern. Delineated by the solstices, these phases or kalas also divide the year into a time of gradual energy depletion (adanakala), resulting from increased heat and dryness, and a time of energy restoration (visarga) corresponding to greater cooling and moisture.
Yoga Practice for Seasonal Transition: Vasanta to Grishma
In the northern hemisphere, the June solstice is one of four major sandhis or junctures where the seasons change, bringing spring (vasanta) to an end as summer (grishma) begins. During this time, Ayurveda prescribes a gradual shift from kapha balancing yoga practices which heat and activate to pitta pacifying practices which are cooling and regenerative.
To avoid imbalance and energetic disruption during the time of transition, practices that are appropriate in both seasons can alleviate stress by allowing the body to adapt more slowly to the change. As we continue opening in receptivity for the second half of our journey around the sun, consider the following during a period of about two weeks around the summer solstice to preserve the body’s vital essence.
Connect the fullness and upward energy of solar backbends to the stability and strength of the earth in postures like Ustrasana and Dhanurasana offered in the sequence below.
- Invite the circulation and fluidity of the water element to prevent energy stagnation by adding rhythmic movement of the limbs in static postures
- Take care not to become depleted by hydrating and staying cool during the increasingly hot and dry midday sun
- Reserve the morning and early evening hours for physical activity
- Support the body’s natural cooling process which pulls the inner digestive fire to the extremities by shifting to smaller, lighter meals
- Spend time outdoors in the evening and take in as much moonlight as possible
Summer Solstice Sequence: Moving Meditation for the Whole Body
Heart
Offer to your inner fire altar anything you wish to purify through release.
As a moving prayer, let any hindrances to transformation dissolve into emptiness, clearing the inner slate for the next season. Before beginning your moving meditation practice, read the following verse from the Vijnana Bhairava Sutra, letting the sweet words Shiva offered to his bride, Shatki, land as a soft whisper of wisdom.
“Exhaling, breath is released and flows out. There is a pulse as it turns to flow in. In that turn, you are empty. Enter that emptiness as the source of all life.”
Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, Yukti Verses I, translation by Lorin Roche
Breath
I invite you to practice this sequence with an emphasis on the emptiness of the exhale. Emerge into the potency of this void as potential for experiencing the complementary fullness of the next breath, the next pose, the next season. When it can be done without strain, observe Bahir Kumbhaka, pausing for a few moments at the end of the exhale when the lungs have emptied to experience how the direction of the breath shifts. At the close of the practice, please offer several rounds of Sitali Pranayama, a cooling breath, as needed to pacify pitta by expelling heat before relaxation.
Body
The sequence offered below begins in a seated position using rhythmic motion in the arms to trace the flow of breath in and out of the body in reverence of the internal seasons while awakening the spine. This gentle opening is followed by a slow, steady standing sequence where the lower energetic centers are activated, drawing energy towards the earth in preparation for grounding backbends. Marrying the qualities of fire and water, dynamic movement is employed in postures that stimulate the solar plexus chakra (manipura), the place where pitta resides.
Taking this fluid motion into prone backbends, the idea is to navigate the transition from the activating energy of spring to the hot, arid summer season where pitta is susceptible to aggravation. With circular movements that mirror the arc of the sun in the sky, the arms trace the line of the horizon and pause to experience the conscious, directional shift of the limbs – an interstitial gap that embodies the illusory solar stillness of the solstice.
To support your self-practice, please refer to the pose breakdown below with links to photos and alignment for each posture or enjoy the complete guided sequence video. Bows and blessings to Britt B. Steele of the Deva Daaru YogaFarm for generously offering her studio space for this practice.
About the Author
How to Balance Your Solar Plexus Chakra
The Solar Plexus chakra or Manipura chakra is often referred to as the chakra of personal power. Located two inches above the navel at the base of the rib cage, it is the seat of our ego and where we draw motivation to achieve our goals. It governs our ability to achieve the goals we set for ourselves, moderates our self-esteem, it oversees our raw emotions and we draw on it for our self-discipline.
Call on Your Solar Plexus Chakra to Understand Your Emotional Self
When our Solar Plexus is unbalanced we experience both physical and emotional problems. Because this chakra is located near the abdomen, it affects many internal organs such as the kidneys, intestines and pancreas. Stomach ulcers and possible weight problems can also be attributed to an unbalanced Solar Plexus. In addition, we may suffer from back problems, lethargy and because this chakra is connected to our sense of sight, we may experience blurriness with our vision.
Note that physical ailments have a dramatic effect on our emotional and spiritual state and that if we pay attention to these energies within our bodies, we could, in earnest, take control of illnesses we feel are wreaking havoc on our bodies.
If it is under-active, it can lead to emotional problems, sometimes seriously. We may feel powerless or ineffective which can lead to negative thoughts and despair, we will doubt ourselves and our accomplishments and see mistrust within our friends and family. Anxiety and low self-esteem often accompany an under-active Solar Plexus and if we let these emotions fester, it can and will affect our other chakras, and by extension, our physical and emotional states.
Yet a Solar Plexus that is overactive can be just as harmful. Too much of a good thing, no matter how healthy or helpful it is, never good for us. If we find ourselves judging people too harshly or have become too critical or demanding, then our Solar Plexus could be over-stimulating our system. Anger and aggressiveness is another symptom of this overactive chakra. Anger is one of the more serious effects as it has a noted physical reaction. When we are angry the body re-directs blood away from the abdomen area and to the muscles in preparation for a physical confrontation, therefore, starving the organs of the Solar Plexus of nutrients.
How Anger Affects the Body
When the energy of our Solar Plexus is balanced, our outlook on life improves, criticisms and problems are easier to handle, and you have control over your emotions and your thoughts. The ego is easier to handle. You will understand and accept your inner peace and radiate that acceptance outward, coming to appreciate people and things around you. When balanced, our Solar Plexus gives us confidence in ourselves and our performance. We feel accomplished and proud of our work and achieving our goals. We create an emotional focal point.
The Solar Plexus Chakra is connected to the sense of sight. It is thought that nearsighted people may an over-abundance of fear or insecurity, while those who are far-sighted hold unresolved anger or guilt. We can draw on our personal power to help stimulate the chakra. Exercising our self-discipline not only brings us closer to our goals, but strengthens our chakra and allows us to digest the more unfavorable situations and negativity in our lives.
See the Solar Plexus Light at the End of the Tunnel
Stimulating the Solar Plexus is as easy as taking a walk and observing a sunset or sunrise. Visit a park or just watch the stars. Observing the many colors in our world can stimulate and reinforce more than one Chakra point.
Color is an important part of Chakra therapy. Just like sound vibrations, each color has a corresponding wavelength.
A simple way to fortify or help keep your chakras balanced is to wear clothing or an item of the corresponding chakra color. Try this exercise: as you go about your day, periodically think about the color you’re wearing. Imagine that color infusing into the corresponding chakra point. See it in your mind, blending with your body, soaking into your skin. Take several deep breaths, exhaling all the air out of your lungs. Do this several times a day, or when you happen to remember. It will go a long way in helping you to condition your mind to balance your energies.
You can also try the meditation exercise above with any of the colors below to balance their respective chakras:
- Red/black for the Root
- Orange for the Sacral
- Yellow for the Solar Plexus
- Green for the Heart
- Blue for the Throat
- Indigo for the Third Eye
- Violet for the Crown
How to Balance Your Solar Plexus
There are as many different ways to balance our chakras as there are people in the world, and what works for one person may not work for another. Some people like to sit and meditate, using sounds and smells to relax and re-energize, while others may chose exercise or participating in other activities that stimulate our points. Whichever way you chose, make sure that it’s right for you. If you feel uncomfortable doing a yoga position, try listening to music and focusing on how your body responds, or if you are more energetic, a good hike or riding a bike might be better suited. This is the important part; listen to your body. It will tell you what works and what doesn’t.
To nourish your spiritual side, try volunteering or taking a class; learn something new. This nourishes our mind and spirit.
Solar Plexus Balancing Tools
Crystals
Stones of yellow hue are best to use. Crystals such as amber, citrine, golden or honey calcite, yellow sapphire are just a few. Wear or place these crystals on your body as you listen to meditative music, or carry them in your pocket.
Sound
Using sound as part of your chakra balancing is a soothing and relaxing way to release the tension and blockage within our bodies. Either by ‘toning’ which is using a specific vowel sound, drawing it out in a tone of voice you feel comfortable using. For the Solar Plexus, the sound of ‘oh’ should be used.
A Bijas mantra is different and can be used as well. The Bijas for the Solar Plexus is RAM.
New Experiences
The Solar Plexus helps with mental clarity as well as learning new things. Try taking up a new hobby or playing games that stimulate and sharpens your mind. These are excellent ways to keep this chakra open and balanced.
While the majority of these suggestions concentrate with feeding our emotional and mental side, we need to think of our body as well. Keeping the body healthy with the right food and good exercise can also keep the chakras balanced and the energy flowing. Consider eating foods that are yellow, such as some squash, yellow bell peppers and lemons. Fruits and vegetables of this color contain antioxidants such as lutein. Research suggests that lutein along with other plant basted antioxidants, may reduce the risk of chronic eye disease.
Yoga Poses to Balance the Solar Plexus
Stimulate and balance your solar plexus with full yoga classes or individual poses, listed below.
Yoga Classes on Gaia
- Third Chakra Yoga Practice
- The Healing Elements: Fire: The Third Chakra
- Authentic Power: Enlivening the Third Chakra
Yoga Poses
- Boat
- Firefly
- Mountain
- Warrior pose I
- Warrior pose II
