2021 Summer Solstice Newsletter

Merry Midsummer my Friends,

June 20th is the Summer Solstice in the Northern Latitudes. Also known as Midsummer, this Solstice (meaning ‘Sun stands still’) is when the Sun is at its peak, creating the longest day of the year. It is also one of the eight great spokes on the Celtic wheel of seasons, and celebrated in some way in all cultures. Midsummer’s Eve is the zenith of summer; the felt sense of Beauty is everywhere.

The Pandemic is easing now and as we emerge from our cocoons there is a deep need to transform our inner pain from fear, loss and trauma into a new sense of who we are and what truly matters to us. The practice of choosing Beauty which Gregg Braden, in The Wisdom Codes describes as a force of nature that has the power to transform the chemistry in our bodies, is essential to our recovery, building the resilience necessary to fully emerge as wiser, more conscious humans. 

Braden tells us that this practice of feeling the power of Beauty in any moment comes from the ancient wisdom of the Southwestern Dine (Navajo) elders, when they were facing the trauma of intertribal wars near extinction from our efforts and suffering the poverty conditions on reservations.

“The key is that we must choose to look beyond the hurt, suffering and pain that we are presented with in the moment and recognize the beauty that already exists in all things. Only then will we have unleashed the power that the choice of beauty holds for our lives.”

Gregg Braden

The oft-quoted phrase: ‘what fires together wires together’ means that our neurons will fire with habitual emotions and actions. Yet the phenomenon of neuroplasticity promises that we have the ability to consciously shift out of old habits and create new patterns. In the case of post pandemic experiences, we can shift from the fear and contentiousness that bombarded us with cortisol into new practices that will help us heal.

Braden offers this abbreviated prayer we can say, as I do, every day.

The beauty I live with, the beauty I live by, the beauty upon which I base my life.

It is our choice to feel the sensation of Beauty in our bodies at any moment and practice it daily. Since trauma lives in the body, the practice of experiencing the Beauty that is already there is a welcome balm to our souls. I wish you many moments of Beauty that is ever present around us,

Happy Summer Solstice, Linda