the summer solstice!

i’m writing this on my phone and have no idea how to make the formatting look like my usual. this is flaming june by frederic leighton, 1895:

My friends —

I hope you all enjoyed the really nice astrology last week. It was one of the best weeks of my life. Watching the Knicks win it all with Sam as we celebrated his birthday is a memory I will cherish for as long as I live. 

This week also contains some really incredible astrology: On Sunday, we have the summer solstice. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, this is the longest day of the year. It’s the first official day of summer and the first day of Cancer season, and it’s always one of my favorite days of the year.

Cancer, as I wrote last week, is ruled by the moon, our most local heavenly body. It also rules our bodies, and recently I’ve been really in my head about my body. I’ve been injured, I’ve gained weight, I haven’t been in a chapter of my life where working out is my number one priority, and even as everything else has been beautiful, hating my body has really sucked up a lot of my energy.

As I write this, I’m waiting to board a flight to Mexico and I’ve been all worked up about being in a bathing suit and how I’ll look and how I’ll feel and how I’ll judge myself, and finally I just thought: What if I went on this trip and just loved my body, exactly as it is? What if I went and wore a skimpy bikini and had fun? 

That is really what the energy of the solstice asks of us, to be deeply in our bodies and to be really sweet to them even and especially when it’s hard, to eat good food, to be outside, to appreciate nature, to recognize the ways we are a part of it, to be with community. The solstice is sort of the energetic full moon of the year and it will feel like it — a big burst of energy that can, if we let it, expand us so beautifully.

My challenge to all of you is the same challenge I have for myself right now: What if you loved your body exactly as it is right now, no weight loss, no spray tan, no filler or filter or shame? Our bodies are our vessels for experiencing life, they are the physical manifestation of our souls in this plane, and they are the best tool we have for being present in this exceptional dimension of reality.

As you read this right now, feel into the palms of your hands. Put your mind into your fingers, one at a time. Notice what your skin feels like, where it touches air, touches your clothes, touches whatever you’re sitting or standing on. Notice the way you can feel inside your body, the shape of your organs even if you have no idea where exactly they are or what they look like. Feel your skeleton. Notice your spine, at first one vertebrae and then all of them together. Feel your whole body, all at once. This is presence. Stay here, as long as you can. You will lose it. Come back. This practice will change your life.

Enjoy the solstice. I love you all bad.

A