Ten tips for a spiritual summer

It’s finally summer again – the trees are green, the flowers are blooming and the raspberries are growing in the garden. The days are long, the air is warm and we generally feel more comfortable than on dark winter days. For many, this is the best season of the year. Perhaps this summer will even be the best summer of your life? We've put together ten tips on how to turn this summer into a wonderful time of spiritual growth. Get inspired! 

1. Don’t complain about the weather 

Sometimes it's the freaking heat, sometimes the annoying rain. Even in summer, the weather gods can’t always please us, can they? Although we could perform a rain or sun dance, we usually have no impact on the weather. Complaining about it is useless – it won’t change. We only spoil our own mood if we don’t just accept the weather as it is. Don’t let the weather determine how you feel. When you wake up in the morning, before you pull back the curtains, make sure to feel good and decide to make the most of the day – be it rainy or sunny. 

2. Spend time in nature 

Summer is a great season to spend more time in nature. When everything is green and nature’s scents are in the air, you can literally absorb the life energy into you. Take time for trips to the countryside to recharge your batteries! Watch animals and look at plants more closely. In nature, you can learn a lot about life – and about yourself. 

3. Bathing in lakes, rivers or in the sea 

Use the warm season to swim in fresh waters – be it in lakes, rivers or in the sea. Water is not only pleasantly refreshing for your body, but also very beneficial for your soul. Bathing in the sea in particular is a good way to cleanse your aura and free yourself from useless energies. However, bathing in lakes and rivers also has tremendous power to align yourself and get your energies to flow. 

4. Watch the stars 

Lie on a blanket on a lawn or in a hammock and take your time to watch the night sky and admire the stars. From the perspective of astronomy, July is the best month to see the southern constellations Scorpio and Sagittarius. For those of you familiar with star constellations, Ophiuchus the serpent bearer, the serpent and Hercules are also visible. 

From mid-July to the end of August, more and more shooting stars decorate our night sky. This is the period when the yearly Perseid meteor shower takes place. The Perseids are small fragments of a comet, which burn up when entering the earth's atmosphere and become shooting stars. These can be seen all over the northern hemisphere of the planet – and since there's winter in the southern hemisphere, you'll probably spend your summer somewhere, where you can spend a romantic night under the sky. By the way, the highlight of the shooting star season is between the 9th and 13th of August. During this time, you can see up to 150 shooting stars per hour! Write down your wish list to the Universe and make sure you don’t miss out on this magic experience. 

5. Listen to the song of the birds 

Whether you live in the countryside or in the city. Birds are everywhere in summer! Make sure you occasionally listen to them chirping – this is incredibly calming and grounding. Bird chirping is nature’s own meditation music. Whenever you can hear birds singing and pay attention to their song, you liberate yourself from your stream of thoughts and come back to the here and now. Early in the 

morning, just before sunrise, the birdsong is loudest. If you like getting up early, then this is the perfect time for your morning meditation. Even if you don’t get up that early to experience the summer morning hours, it’s still not too late to meditate on the music of the birds. Just before sunset, they sing again at full volume! 

6. Walk barefoot 

Walking barefoot not only feels fresh and free. It’s proven to be very beneficial for your spiritual wellbeing to take off your shoes and touch the ground with your bare feet. Because barefoot we discharge negative energy through the soles of the feet into the earth, where it’s transformed into fresh life energy. You will feel much more balanced if you regularly walk barefoot in summer. This works just as well in your apartment or in your house as in the garden or park. To enhance the effect, do a short walking meditation without shoes. Feel the ground under your feet and visualise the energy, which you release into the earth through them. At the same time, imagine how, with each inhale, you fill your lungs with fresh life energy and, with each exhale, distribute it throughout your body. 

7. Read inspirational books 

Summer is a good time to relax and take time to read books. While you sit in the subway, in the evening before falling asleep, while sunbathing in the garden or on the balcony. Learn new things, nourish your mind and be inspired by spiritual books or articles like this one. 

8. Meditate in the open air 

In summer, you have many possibilities to vary your meditation practice: 

• Meditate on the infinity of the universe and see all your worries disappear, as you look at the stars on the night sky. 
• As you bathe in water, meditate on the fact that you are made to about 70 percent of water and become one with the flow of life. 
• Meditate and ground yourself while walking in nature – whether barefoot or with shoes. 
• Meditate with the birdsong as a mindfulness exercise anywhere and anytime during your day. 
• Meditate under a tree like the Buddha and become one with nature and the divine. 

Turn your entire summer into one long meditation, being mindful and present at every instance and anywhere, even if only for a moment. Ultimately, life is nothing more than a sequence of moments. So don’t be discouraged if you can’t hold your attention for more than a moment. Every moment counts! 

9. Eat healthy 

A healthy diet is often easier in summer – because we usually eat lighter food. In warm weather, we have less cravings for heavy, greasy food and are less tempted to overindulge and overeat. Listen to your body! Pamper it with freshly squeezed juices, smoothies, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and crispy salads. Make sure you take in enough liquids, as the days are longer, the temperatures warmer and we are usually more active, which requires more water for our bodies. Besides, you don’t have to be a vegetarian to be healthy or evolve spiritually. If your body needs meat, then eat it. When shopping, however, find out about the origin of the meat and pay attention to the ethical treatment and appropriate nutrition of the animal. Because you are what you eat. 

10. Pay attention to your thoughts 

At least as important as the diet of your body are the thoughts that feed your mind. They can be healthy or toxic. With the power of your thoughts, you create your reality. Through the regular practice of meditation and mindfulness exercises, you will learn to recognise and change your thoughts if they are not conducive to your reality and the realisation of your dreams. Also pay attention to the food you feed your thoughts. What movies you watch, what books and articles you read, what conversations you make – all of this is food for your consciousness. 

We hope you found some inspiration for a spiritual summer in our ten tips. Of course, some of them aren’t only relevant in summer. Spiritual growth takes place throughout the year – what you sow within yourself grows and thrives, no matter what the season. Namaste!