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As an event that is pretty much eclipsed in New Zealand by the Christmas festivities, some might want to be reminded that Summer Solstice is nearly upon us.
Solstice is an important day on the natural health calendar
As the pivotal moment of the year's cycle, December 21st is an opportunity to align yourself more with the essential balance of your own nature.
But how many people acknowledge the solstice with any more than just a passing comment?
When you do pause to consider how absolutely the earth's dance around the sun frames our lives, and how deeply we absorb the seasonal transitions into our own emotional and physical energies…. It seems almost impossible that we would not be more in tune with the event.
In our hemisphere, it is the longest day and the shortest night
A strong sun energy brings openness, action, strength and vitality. But it comes also with the wisdom of full cycle and the implicit return to the inner journey of winter. And it is an awareness of Solstice for both summer and winter that offers the most profound insight to our general wellbeing.
POLAR FORCES ARE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF HEALTHFUL BALANCE
Natural healing is invariably steeped in an understanding of opposing elemental forces. Hot and Cold, Fire and Water, Calming or Stimulating, Opening or Closing…
This is perhaps best known in connection with Yin/Yang of Chinese medicine, but any route to natural medicine will show duality at work.
With pure essential oils for example, we often include stimulating properties to address a variety of problems that stem from low or stagnant energy and blocks (that can affect us physically, mentally or emotionally).
And we use the calming, relaxing aromas to powerful effect for a whole range of nervous issues, from hyper-children, stress and insomnia, and physical tensions.
Good essential oils to know that help with nervousness, stress and physical tensions
Calming
Stimulating
Our entire life experience is nothing if it is not a journey through the extremes of possibility: day and night, light and dark, young and old, happy and sad.
And did you know that summer and winter are seen as male and female energies?
In many healing traditions of the world, sun is seen as the dynamic, healthy masculine energy; and winter is the feminine inner strength, the intuition and patient wisdom, that leads us through the darkest hours.
But summertime, being the powerful extrovert expression of life, is lighter, freer, more open and generally more immediately rewarding than its winter counterpart. So there is a danger that we invest in a preference and resist the essential grounding of winter's wisdom harvest.
In Maori myth it is very clear: the sun has not one but two brides, and the summer solstice marks the beginning of the return to the winter wife.
So the invitation of the Summer solstice is to celebrate the complete cycle.
To find new appreciation for the depth of winter and to begin the return journey with a greater sense of wholeness and awareness.
There are essential oils that complement the inner qualities of intuitive thinking and awareness. These are the more grounding, meditative aromas, such as:
Certified organic essential oils are perfectly suited to the purpose, being therapeutically pure and created in conscious harmony with our planet and her seasons.
We can heal ourselves and the plant with solstice energy
Healing traditions all over the world are focused on this solstice as a pivotal point in our world history - the beginning of increased healing consciousness.
If we each learn to listen more to our inner voice and intuitive connection to the design of life, we find increasingly more healthy and harmonious patterns for ourselves. And we contribute to a critical mass of individuals who will eventually tip the balance of consciousness away from aggressive, destructive lifestyles.
So though you might not want to rush on down to Stonehenge and hang with the druids, there is still a compelling argument to include Solstice in your calendar as a day worthy of reverence; a commitment…
- to get up early for some quiet contemplation at sunrise
- to meet up with a treasured friend and walk in the park at sunset
- to share pot luck with whānau on the beach
Whatever you do, it will surely feel good in the midst of the seasonal pressures and deadlines. And that in itself offers the first step towards greater balance.