What is the solstice?

If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, the solstice is the first day of Summer, the longest day of the year, and the days will begin to get shorter for the next 6 months until the winter solstice. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, the solstice is the first day of Winter, the shortest day of the year and the days will slowly start to get longer. 

When is the solstice?

The solstice occurs on Friday, June 21st. 

Why does it symbolize?

Beyond just daylight hours, the solstice is a powerful time for reflection, intention setting, and feeling your place in the natural world as the seasons change. 

It is a moment to pause, and take a step back from the routine that the day to day grind can bring, and zoom out to look at the bigger picture of our lives. It is also a potent moment in the yearly cycle to get clear on what it is you want to call in, during the next season. 

How to honor the solstice?

Taking a moment to honor this turning point in the year and seasons, that the solstice represents, does not have to be overly involved or time consuming. Simple gestures can go a long way, and have ripple effects for the next 6 months. 

You can get creative with how you'd like to honor this occasion also, as there is also no correct way to salute the solstice. This could be a day where you simply feel more connected to nature and the cosmos, or a pivot point where you get clear and serious about your goals and intentions.

Whether you're simply putting your feet in the grass, or taking the day to journal and cast spells, the mere recognition on this day of our place in the solar system, can have profound benefits for your life, or simply make for an enjoyable day.

Here are 6 fun, simple, solstice ritual ideas for you for a happy and healthy season ahead. 

Don't feel confined to just these 7 ideas, and you can even use these ideas as inspiration to come up with your own.

1. Honor the sun.

If nothing else, the solstice is a reminder of our relationship with the sun, as residents of the Earth. Without the sun, we would not be here. It is what gives us life, the different seasons, and our energy.

This simple solstice ritual idea will take no more than 1 minute and connect your entire being to the sun's magnificence. 

1. Go outside.
2. Face the sun (you might want to close your eyes).
3. Take 3 deeps breaths, and feel the energy of the sun connecting and charging your heart.
4. Feel gratitude and appreciation for the sun, and send good energy back to it.

2. Reflect on the past 6 months' successes and room for improvement.

Take time today to look back for a moment. What has gone well since the last solstice, 6 months ago?

Have there been breakthroughs and areas where you've made positive change and progress? Have there been new challenges or ways you could have done better? 

Without beating yourself up about anything, look at the successes and setbacks over the past 6 months, as neutrally as possible. Use these reflections as powerful information, for where you want to put your time, energy, and focus, over the next seasons and months ahead. 

This idea, can be combined with idea #3 (but you can also do this one by itself).

3. Create your ideal vision for the next 6 months.

This idea is perfect to combine with idea #2 (reflecting on the past 6 months). 

Tell the story of your future, more than you tell the story of your past. There's no better day to start than on the solstice. The solstice is a potent time to set new intentions you'd like to have manifest over the next cycle. Take time today, and create your ideal vision for the next 6 months. If you're newer to law of attraction, the idea is we attract what we focus on.

Take time today to focus on what it is that you want. Dream big and set goals that excite you.

4. Go barefoot in nature or lay in the grass.

Simply taking the solstice to be more with the natural world, is a special way to appreciate the solstice. The beach and sand count here too.

It's easy to forget that we are animals on this Earth, susceptible to it's change in seasons and rhythms. Take time today to be outside. 

You could commemorate the solstice by going somewhere new, or one of your favorite places in nature you might not get to regularly. Or, if it's more ceonvenient, you can do this in your backyard, or at the nearest park.

The essence is the same though. Get outside and feel the Earth. There's no easier way to do this, than taking your shoes off, and feeling the Earth beneath your feet! You can even combine the first 3 ideas, with your outdoor time.

5. Make a vision board.

A powerful, fun, and artistic way to get creative, is to create a vision board. While the benefits of intention setting on the solstice have been outlined, if writing is not your thing, you can channel these intentions into an artistic activity. 

Making a vision board is simple, creative and fun. Simply go through a stack of magazines, and cut out images of things, feelings, and experiences you'd like to have manifest in the seasons ahead, cut them out, and glue them to your vision board. Have fun arranging everything. 

Collaging usually takes a few hours, with some clean up time. All you need to create a vision board collage, are scissors, glue, some magazines or books you're okay with cutting up, and a piece of paper (preferably strong paper) to glue the cuttings onto.

6. Organize a get together. 

There's a number of ways your can go about this. If you want to make the gathering intentional, you can bring people together for any of the 5 ideas above, such as a group vision board making night, a solstice ritual of honoring the sun, or journaling together. 

Otherwise, solstice does not have to be about ritual or intention setting and can simply be a good excuse to gather your favorite people. Especially in the spirit of summer, it's good to re-connect with people you love that you may not get to see as much as you'd like.

It can be harder to connect with people during the winter also, which is a more introverted time for many, so it's good to spend time with those important to you, before you go into hibernation mode.

Enjoy this day, the constant change of seasons, and planning something special, to honor the sun, your vision for the future, or those you love!

By Keith Allen

Keith is a teacher on YogaDownload.com and teaches yoga internationally. Connect with him by practicing his yoga and meditation classes on YogaDownload, or connecting with him on Instagram or his website.

Practice yoga or meditate to visualize your ideal season ahead, with Keith, now!

Manifestation and Visualization Meditation

Humble Warrior Flow with Keith Allen