It is midsummer, the longest day of the year. Today, the sun reaches its highest point in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere. Solstice means that the sun stands still. A cosmic pause lasting three days. Kumbhaka. In yoga, this means “holding the breath” between inhalation and exhalation.
Mother Earth cradles us. She took a deep breath in the fall and winter. In the spring and summer, she exhales again. Nature unfolds outward. Everything is now beginning to come into its own; soon we’ll be able to harvest again. The summer solstice is one of those Kumbhaka moments, ‘just a few counts’ of … nothing. It’s a time to slowly prepare ourselves once more for the inward movement that culminates in the stillness of winter.
Today, the sun also enters the sign of Cancer. With Cancer, the first growth phase of our journey through the zodiac comes to an end. After Aries (action, initiation) comes Taurus (grounding, consolidation), and in Gemini we connect with the outside world. Cancer, the first water sign, invites us to feel deeply into the experiences we’ve gained.
Have you ever seen a hermit crab? This crab often lives where the seawater meets the land. There, it moves with the ebb and flow of the tides, following the rhythm of the Moon. The hermit crab has a soft abdomen. To protect it, it seeks out a shell to use as a shield.
Young hermit crabs grow quickly and molt several times a year. Adult hermit crabs grow more slowly, and some hermit crabs change shells even when they aren’t growing—for example, because they find a lighter, stronger, or more comfortable shell.
Over the next few days, take a moment to reflect on the solstice. Take a breather and tune in:
What do you feel? What nourishes you? Are you feeling vulnerable? Are you taking good care of yourself? Are you retreating into your shell? Do you feel at home in your house?
© Muriel Marie, Bright Sea, this text is written without the use of AI.