Celebrate Summer Solstice With Sun Salutations Yoga Practice!
Connect with nature’s rhythms and energize your intentions.
Summer Solstice is a time of growth and abundance; a celebration of daylight and the vitality it brings.
In yoga, the Sun Salutations are an activating, repetitive flow practice. They help to focus and direct the energy that gets things going.
Give focus and energy to your intentions and sustain them into fruition.
Drawing from the wisdom of yoga and observations from the nature traditions, this innovative workshop unites yogic wisdom with the seasonal flows of nature.
Join us for this exciting yoga workshop as we learn more about how to go with the flow of the seasons rather than resist them.
By shifting the focus, we invite change that feels better!
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
About this workshop
Yoga teaches us to observe our breathing. The breath holds the most fundamental rhythm of life: inhale, brief pause, exhale, another brief pause, inhale… and so the cycle repeats. Moving beyond our bodies to the natural world, we see the daily, yet ever-changing cycle of light and dark. Through circadian rhythms, we adapt our waking and sleeping cycles. We can observe larger cycles of days through the changing illumination of the moon, marked by its phases. Likewise, through the earth’s orbit of the sun, we observe a change of seasons every 13 weeks. The solstices are indicated by minimum and maximum amounts of daylight, and the equinoxes as the intermediate inflection points between them.
There are instinctive ways of being that correspond to the seasons; we are generally less active and more introspective during the winter; more active and outgoing in the summer. Learning to move with these cycles (rather than fighting them) is a way to flow with nature and feel connection with something larger than hectic modern living.
At the change of the seasons, yogis all around the world practice 108 Sun Salutations. This acknowledges the time of change in the environment around us. Sankalpa – the setting of spiritual intention – acknowledges that there are changes to occur within us and are customarily set at this practice.
In the nature traditions (paganism, Wicca), the solstices and equinoxes (seasonal days) are observed, as are cross-quarter days. These four transitional days occur mid-season, about 6 weeks after the solstices and equinoxes, and denote the effects of the sun’s changing energy on the earth, as evidenced through temperature cycles that correspond to seasonal cycles. This seasonal lag is explained by insolation (solar irradiance of the earth). Agricultural societies utilized these natural signals to plant and harvest, since their lives depended on the plants they grew for food and they learned that working with the natural cycle was extremely beneficial.
Summer Solstice occurs in the northern hemisphere around June 20. On this day, the amount of day light is the longest and the solar energy most intense. From this day forward, the amount of daylight (and solar energy) decreases until Winter Solstice, about December 21.
This workshop intentionally occurs near Summer Solstice as a way to observe and experience the energy of maximum daylight. We will use this time to access the energizing practice of Sun Salutations, which empowers growth into who we really are and who we desire to become..
About Sun Salutations
“The energetic nature of the Sun Salutations Practice gives fire to the spark of Sankalpa Intention.”
Why Sun Salutations?
When we set Sankalpa (spiritual intention) on the seasonal quarter days, The radiance of intention begins awakens and ignites. This flowing practice moves through a series of positions From standing, then close to the ground and then back up to standing. Like the whole cycle of life. Sun Salutations produce a fire-like, energizing effect, this action gives momentum to the Sankalpa.
What to expect
In this innovative, experiential yoga workshop, a mixture of presentation, discussion and specialized yoga practice are introduced.
During the first 30 minutes, I will describe what the Wheel of the Year is all about, how it meshes beautifully with energizing Sun Salutations Yoga Practice, and share insights obtained through my own practice and spiritual journey.
The remaining 90 minutes is dedicated to Sun Salutations Yoga practice, which includes breathing (pranayama), warm ups (kriya) and, instruction and practice of Sun Salutations, which are done at a one’s own pace.
The workshop is recommended for individuals who have some experience in practicing yoga, want to deepen their practice and open awareness to a new level.
How to prepare
Wear loose-fitting, comfortable clothes.
Turn off your phone, buzzers, alarms, dings, notifications, announcements, etc.
This session is recommended for those who already have some experience in the practice of yoga.
Modify the practice to fit your body
If there are certain parts of the Sun Salutations sequence that don’t suit you, feel free to substitute an alternative pose within the sequence so that it meets you where you are. Modification is a type of self-compassion that is at the heart of Kripalu Yoga.
Items to consider having available:
Yoga Mat, Blocks, Cushion and/or Blanket
These props can help support the body in while in the different positions, especially in seated positions.
Don’t have these things? Just make use of something similar that you already have laying around.
Use a firm pillow, a comforter, or a tightly-folded bath towel for a cushion or blanket.
Those should attend who:
Are interested in becoming more peaceful, grounded and embodied.
Desire to have greater understanding of how their life flow fits into something larger.
Are ready to engage in a deeper level of yoga practice and are ready for more tools.
Already have some experience in the practice of yoga.
About the Facilitator
Michael Patrick, LMT, KYT, CPC
As a Licensed Massage Therapist, Kripalu Yoga Teacher, Certified Professional Coach and former Scientist, I bring all the gifts of who I am to my work. Driven by the desire to elevate others, my career initially spanned the biotech industry, interdisciplinary research and laboratory safety. Over the past decade, it evolved to wellness and now I work in my own company, Centered Presence, Ltd. As a presenter, my workshops are characterized by elements of touch, intimacy, authenticity, embodiment, grounding, presence, spiritual practice and cultivation of inner awareness, which result in personal growth and empowered movement forward.