I started my daily Fitness First ritual at the end of August in 2013. I’ve always felt, intuitively, that summer was a better time to start a new practice. Going to the gym daily, first thing every morning, is easier when the sun rises early and the weather is warm. I had completed four months by the time New Year’s came. I told a friend at that time that if I could make it through the dark and cold winter months, I was confident that I could sustain for a year.
I was right. Almost 5 years later, I’m still going strong.
I’ve since learned that the energy of summer makes it an especially good time to start a new daily practice.
Here are three themes from the Summer Solstice that apply to conditioning new rituals and changing your habits.
New Beginnings and Renewed Resolve
The majority of people who create New Year’s resolutions abandon them within two weeks. If you fall into this camp, take heart: one of the reasons that you fail to keep your resolutions is simply that January is the wrong time of year to begin new things. In January, the Northern Hemisphere is in mid-winter—peak hibernation time.
When is the best time to condition a new daily practice? Now.
The energy of summer makes it is an ideal time for new beginnings, especially those that require consistent, daily actions.
Message of the Solstice and Moon Cycles
The moon was ending its first quarter phase at the Summer Solstice before transitioning to a waxing gibbous today. Both of these phases are associated with taking action and making decisions.
Julia Gustafson explains that the first quarter moon is “a time for strength and resolve” and a chance to “refocus and reinvest in your ideas, relationships, goals, or projects.”
Likewise, The solstice signals a changing of the seasons and reminds us that we’ve reached the midpoint of the year. It simultaneously calls on us to acknowledge and celebrate the gradual pace of nature while waking us up to what’s left on our to-do lists for the year.
Small Shifts, Big Impact
From now until the Winter Solstice, gradually we will lose a little bit of daylight each day. It will happen in small, imperceptible amounts. From day to day we won’t notice the change. But when we pause at the Fall Equinox and again at the Winter Solstice we will notice the difference.
Small shifts that are barely perceptible until we pause to look back and see the cumulative effect.
This is the pattern of life in every realm, and has been my secret to sustainable change.
Sustainable change in any area — whether it’s your behavior, business, fitness, finances, habits, health, productivity, perspective, thoughts, emotions or anything else — comes from consistently implementing small daily actions over time.
Summer’s energy is of fire. This is the season for tending to things and nurturing them. It’s perfectly aligned with the energy needed to condition new rituals.
Patience
According to Mystic Mamma
Summer teaches us patience. The fruit is green until it’s ripe and you just can’t rush it. Something of the slow, sure rhythm of the time will enter into us if we let it; no, we can’t hurry things, but if we just relax and let go, things will reach their fullness without effort or ego’s striving on our part.
Patience is required when you’re conditioning a new habit or ritual. Maintaining a slow, sure rhythm is essential to creating a sustainable daily practice. Try to rush, or push too hard, and you’ll deplete your energy.
Sustaining a new ritual is much easier if you relax, let go, and detach from the outcome.
What New Year’s resolution did you abandon that you’re ready to resume? What new habit do you want to create? Now is the time to create it, and I’m ready to help you!
The Ritual Revolution is my signature program that helps you create sustainable daily habits and rituals. I’ll be opening the program for limited enrollment in the coming days and we will be starting in early July. This is a small, group experience with limited enrollment. Register here for early access.
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