Summer: The Season That is Bold, Brilliant & Moody

In the current issue of WholeLiving.com’s Body+Soul Magazine the goal for the month is “Let Yourself Flow.”
I first subscribed to this magazine for research and ideas for topics we could discuss on our blog and our future website, SkirtsInDirt.com. However, after receiving my first issue and reading it cover to cover, I realized that subconsciously I had subscribed for my own personal business, body, mind and spirit.

Terri Trespicio, a senior editor at Body+Soul, writes that “fall inspires nostalgia and winter a longing for warmth, summer has an endless amount to give, if only we can stand still and receive it. This season, resist the urge to control every last vestige of time.” Boy, how right she is, at least for me this summer.

Summer is half-way through its season and as I reflect on the past month…my father has found a very nice lady friend who he has asked to be his companion and live in my mother’s home. My husband changed jobs. Skirts Networking has finally gone live with our blog. A close family friend lost her 27 year-old son due to a drug overdose. And my niece is getting ready to go to college. And, yes! I want to take control of it all and feel stressed. Are you wanting to control everything and feeling stressed to the max?

So, I read the article “Feel Your Best!” with great interest since obviously I wasn’t feeling my best. The article features 17 tips from well known experts in integrative health care. Below are a few of the tips that jumped off the page at me.

Listen to Your Body - Dr. Tracy Gaudet, executive director of Duke Integrative Medicine and author of Consciously Female, tells us that our bodies are talking to us all of the time, but we don’t listen until it screams. She recommends that we make a commitment to listen to our body on a daily basis. Start this by taking a breath and bringing yourself to the present and then ask yourself, “How does my body feel? What does it need from me today? Do I have any discomfort or pain? How is my energy?” Gaudet says that this practice should be done first thing each morning.

Practice Forgiveness – for better health overall, let go of the past, advises Dr. Brent Bauer, Director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic.

Be Grateful – Mimi Guarneri, M.D., medical director at the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, recommends shifting away from negative emotional patterns. She also says “Every night before bed, list 10 things that you have to be thankful for. You quickly realize that though your life is not perfect, you have a lot.”

I can’t predict what the remaining summer months will bring, but I can practice now to be prepared to handle anything. At the same time, I can increase the likelihood I’ll enjoy the summer for its bright and brilliant possibilities.

I encourage you to join me and try these three tips during the rest of the summer and enjoy this season of bright color and light.

Tagged as: Body, Body+Soul Magazine, Brent Bauer MD, Kathi King, Mimi Guarneri MD, Terri Trespicio, Tracy Gaudet MD, wholeliving.com