5 Tips To Save Your Energy & Stay Cool This Summer
Summer is finally here! While this is a season that many look forward to all year long, summer can also be hot, busy, and stressful at times. It is so important that we continue to take care of ourselves all summer long. I have compiled a list of five things you can do this summer to save your energy and stay cool during the summer season. This list contains some of the best Shamanic, Yogic, and Ayurvedic tips to help you have your healthiest summer yet!
Tip 1: Eat Cooling Foods
Summer is the hottest time of year, and it takes our bodies time to adjust to the change in temperature. This is especially true for people who live in a place that experiences extreme temperatures. When the heat rises, it’s important for us to listen to our bodies and keep cool before the heat becomes too much. When our bodies are exposed to too much heat, we risk dehydration, increased mood swings, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and many other health complications.
One way we can combat the heat is to eat cooling foods. Cooling foods help lower your body temperature, and as an added bonus, many of these foods also contain a high percentage of water. The extra water helps keep your body hydrated while you enjoy a snack. Cooling foods fall into many categories, which provides lots of options if you have a particular food preferences or dietary restrictions.
Cooling Vegetables
Leafy Greens
Cucumbers
Celery
Asparagus
Zucchini
Cooling Fruits
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Cherries
Grapes
Kiwi
Other Cooling Foods
Almonds
Coconut/Coconut Milk
Honey
Cilantro
Dill
Parsley
Alfalfa Sprouts
Goat Milk/Goat Cheese
Yogurt
Ayurvedic Sunbathing
Ayurvedic Sunbathing is a great way to start each morning. Start each morning with a 10-15 minute walk at sunrise. The temperature should be mild and the sun is much more gentle at this time of day, and in most places, the streets are still fairly quiet. This soothing walk allows you to set your intentions for the day, do some reflecting, and feel the sun shine on your face with the brisk morning dew. These Ayurvedic sunbathing walks can also lift your mood significantly, similar to a rush of serotonin. You may also feel a burst of creativity and happiness on your walk during this time of day.
Ayurvedic Sunbathing also allows you to start your day with a small dose of Vitamin D from the sun’s rays. Vitamin D is an essential vitamin for many things, such as calcium absorption and bone and muscle strength. Increased Vitamin D can also help the body’s response to pain and inflammation. Getting just 10-30 minutes of sunshine on your face and arms each day can have immense health benefits for your mental, emotional, and physical health.
Note: It’s very important during the summertime to avoid the sun during 10am-2pm. This time of day is when the sun is the hottest and will increase not only your body temperature, but may increase ‘hot’ emotions such as irritation, stress, anger and competitiveness.
Meditate Regularly
Meditation is another wonderful way to positively impact your health during the summer months. Summer is Pitta season, which means that the elements of fire and water rule over us. This can lead to increased agitation, among other mental, physical, and emotional concerns. Additionally, for many people, summer means long days, busy nights, and travel. Meditation can help you combat those negative feelings.
Carving out ten minutes into your schedule for daily meditation allows you to have some peaceful time with yourself to make sure that your schedule is aligning with your vision for your life. Meditation can help you embrace the energy of the summer season in a positive way. Here are some helpful tips if you are new to meditation:
Find a quiet space where you can sit comfortably in solitude.
Focus on your breathing. Picture yourself in a quiet, peaceful place in nature.
Use headphones to listen to Binaural Beats or Solfeggio Frequencies.
Contemplate your intentions for the summer by asking these questions in your mind and waiting to receive your intuitive answer: What do you want to accomplish? What brings you peace? What helps you feel your best?
When you feel ready, grab your journal and write down any new ideas that popped into your head. You can come back to your journal when you feel overwhelmed with decisions that need to be made. Journaling your ideas and visions can help them feel more concrete and attainable.
Focus On Your Breathing
Implementing yoga breathing techniques can help your body stay cool during the warm summer months. Warm temperatures can also lead to a quick temper and easy frustration. Both of these things can also be combated by focusing on your breathing. Breathwork can be cooling to your central nervous system, which controls the entire body. Beyond the breathwork itself, focusing on your breathing patterns instead of hot weather or frustration can give your mind the reset it needs.
Sitali pranayama is one technique that can begin to cool your body down in just 5-10 breaths. This is a great technique that can be done between work meetings, during your commute, or when you feel like you need a quick reset. In order to correctly do the Sitali pranayama, you need to stick your tongue out and curl the sides upward (taco tongue). Your tongue should be rolled up (if you can’t do this, pucker your lips like you’re using a straw). Breath in through your mouth. Hold the breath in, and then slowly exhale it through your nose. Repeat 5-10 times, or until you feel physically and mentally cooler.
Here are some additional breathing techniques that can help you stay cool all summer long.
Connect With Likeminded People
Summer is a wonderful time to connect with new people. As human beings, we are naturally more social and outgoing when the weather is nice. Finding new friends who share your interests, beliefs, or hobbies is a great way to feel mentally, emotionally, and socially refreshed. Sometimes finding new friends as an adult is hard, but it doesn’t have to be impossible!
Shamanic Yoga offers many opportunities for you to connect with likeminded people, especially during the summer. Here are just a few of our current offerings. Each event occurs monthly.
New Moon Women’s Circle: This is an opportunity to connect with likeminded women to deepen your knowledge about womb awakening, moon consciousness, and red tent wisdom. As an added bonus, each participant in the circle will receive an oracle reading during the event for your life. The New Moon Circle builds unbreakable connections and provides each woman the support and encouragement to persevere life’s greatest challenges and obstacles. This event is an in person event in Los Angeles, California, and we will also provide a zoom link for those who would like to join but cannot do so in person.
Community Healing Circle: Community healing is one of the most effective forms of healing available to us. When we can heal with community, we finally feel like we are not alone. We need a community to help us through times of uncertainty, crisis, and confusion. By participating in this community healing circle, you will experience: personal growth and spiritual ascension, connection with a group of like-minded and like-hearted individuals, the clarity and relief of physical and energetic symptoms to transform and embody your True Self, and clearing the energy blocking you from manifesting your Destiny. This community healing circle will be a virtual event! No need to be local to Downey, CA to join! Just log on in a quiet space and get comfortable.
Full Moon Circle: During this event, we will be using neuroscience based Breathwork techniques to rewire and regenerate our brains. These breathwork techniques have powerful effects on our mind-body happiness. I will guide you step by step through the event, and you will leave with the tools to create an optimal brain circuitry to live a happier, healthier life. This event is both in person in Downey, California and virtual on Zoom for those who are not local or would prefer to participate from home.
Sign up on my website to participate in one or more of these amazing opportunities! The dates of these events are also listed on the website. Everyone deserves to be supported and uplifted, and that is exactly what these events can do for you!
I hope these five quick tips can help you feel grounded, peaceful, and cool all summer long! Summertime does not have to be hot, busy, and stressful. You are in charge of your life, and you get to choose how you spend your time. Let me know which tips you decide to try!