Your Inner Summer

It's that time of year again... That time of year when we take time out, time away, time to enjoy nature and all of the beauty around us and within us. Whether we spend summer in the city or in Tuscany, we experience time differently. The summer gives us an inner summer experience of immersing ourselves in the happiness of now.

One of the gifts of summer is how it allows us to live more completely in the present moment, watch the sun go down, enjoy long evenings outside as the light slowly changes. We take time to listen to the sound of waves crashing and birds singing, feel deeply connected, and we literally come to our senses as our senses come alive, wake up and smell the roses.

On Saturday evening I was sitting by the water at the Roman Baths, musing about slow time, about the Romans bathing there so many centuries ago, about the spirit of place, the Sacred Spring and the Goddess Sulis Minerva who people came to worship. It was believed that the Sacred Spring was the point at which the human world could communicate with the deity of the Temple.

Summer gives us all a point at which our human world can communicate with the timeless, whether it's having time away from work, the long light evenings, being on holiday, or being out of our normal routines. We are free from our sometimes limiting perspectives, from the fast time, the rushing experience that is the unfortunate norm for so many of us. It's the difference between a not very nice fast-food meal gulped on the run, to a leisurely four course dinner with wine by candlelight and great conversation on a terrace by the sea.

Summer time is slow time. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could enjoy this present moment awareness and appreciation all the time? If we could create our own inner summer, regardless of the season.

Two of my coaching clients this morning shared with me their dreams for the summer, how they wanted to stop living in the future, let go of anxieties about aspects of their work, and really feel, experience, and celebrate all of the small and huge things they have to feel grateful for in their lives.

The present is the only place we can be happy in.

My challenge to you:

Whether you're spending summer in the city, in the mountains, or by the sea, let yourself go. Just like Elizabeth Gilbert in "Eat, Pray, Love," immerse yourselves wholeheartedly in the beauty, experience, and texture of the life that surrounds you, that is within you and without you, as George Harrison put it.

Let yourself be....happy, grateful, peaceful, aware, connected. Connect with your senses, the feel of sunshine on your face (don't forget the sunblock!), the taste of white wine with peaches at the seaside restaurant, the feel of your loved one's hand in yours, your children's holiday excitement, the beauty of the landscapes around you, both internal and external.

Let yourself consciously develop and cultivate an Inner Summer that you can take with you long after the summer season has ended....your Inner Summer.