Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 3: Connect with Nature
• Method 2 of 3: Harmony and Balance
• Method 3 of 3: Social Events
• Tips

Over the years and centuries of the celebration of the summer solstice, many different traditions have developed around the holiday. In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice usually occurs on June 21, and in the Southern Hemisphere on December 21. If you want to make the most of your day, enjoy the sunshine and nature outside - make flower wreaths, work in the garden, or play in the water. Seek harmony and balance through meditation, yoga, or start a gratitude journal. Enjoy socializing with loved ones during summer holidays and festivals, or during a campfire gathering.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Connect with Nature

1. 1 Watch the sky. Astronomically, the summer solstice occurs between June 20-21 in the Northern Hemisphere and December 21-22 in the Southern Hemisphere. Find out the exact date based on the year and your location to watch the summer solstice outside.
2. 2 Rejoice in the light. Spend time outdoors in the sunshine and enjoy the light that guides us through life. Construct an altar of light with candles, summer flowers, and yellow fruits in a beautiful natural setting. Later, enjoy the fruits that will absorb the warm sun rays.
3. 3 Honor the sun. The summer solstice is a great time to pay your respects to the sun. You can make a holiday sun tea by adding edible flowers and herbs to a cup of water, then letting it sit in the sun. You can also make a sun mandala from orange and yellow petals. Arrange all the petals in circular decorative patterns that will express your serenity and serenity.
4. 4 Make a wreath of flowers. Pick flowers from the garden or buy from a flower shop. Choose fragrant flowers with thin stems. How to make a wreath:
   • Take the first flower and carefully split the stem in half lengthwise about two-thirds of the stem's length to create a small hole. The hole should not be very large. It is enough that another stem passes into it.
   • Take the second flower and thread the stem through the hole. Then split the stem of the second flower to create a new hole for the next stem.
   • Continue adding new flowers to the wreath. At the end, make a larger hole through which you can thread the entire flower and connect the first flower to the last stem. All ends can be trimmed.
5. 5 Break up the garden and the beds. Summer solstice is a great time to create your garden. Dig up the soil and add compost or fertilizer to prepare the beds. Choose plants from your nearest garden center, or ask friends and neighbors to share cuttings with you. Further:
   • Prepare wells of sufficient size for each plant and leave space between the wells for growth;
   • carefully place the plants in the holes and cover with soil with fertilizer;
   • Water your new plants on time and enjoy your garden.
6. 6 Visit a local farm. Travel to the nearest farm and watch the sun give life. Have a picnic to enjoy the sights and smells. You can also pick berries that are ripe in the sun. Offer your help to the farmers and remove weeds from the beds or do other things.
7. 7 Play in the water. Greet the sun in cool water. Head to the nearest river, lake, waterfall, or beach and enjoy the scenery. Dive, swim, or just sit on the shore and watch the wildlife. Build sand castles, cairns or just collect wild flowers. Use all your senses to explore the world around you through sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste.

Method 2 of 3: Harmony and Balance

1. 1 Practice yoga or meditation. The summer solstice is a great time to find inner peace and balance. Try doing the Sun Salutation and Tree Pose yoga, or even just sitting quietly. Meditation and yoga are exercises for body and soul that allow you to find harmony of thought and physical movement. Start doing this on the morning of the summer solstice and make it a daily habit.
2. 2 Strive for self-realization. The summer solstice heralds the beginning of summer, which also symbolizes the time of self-realization. This is a great opportunity to take a critical look at your life to gauge your progress. Think about your New Year's promises or key goals in life and think about how you bring such goals to life for yourself and your loved ones.
   • Are you still on course or off course? Use this opportunity and resume driving, as well as make the necessary changes.
   • Be honest about your goals - set aside tasks that are holding you back in the direction you want to go. All people grow above themselves and change. Make sure you don't hold on to old goals that no longer match your views and aspirations.
3. 3 Start keeping a gratitude journal. This diary will remind you of the wonderful moments in life. List events, objects, and people in your life for which you are grateful, as well as your abilities or qualities. Write down all positive emotions and impressions. Remember all the positive events in life in order to correctly assess the scale of self-realization.
4. 4 Explore new ways to recover. The summer solstice is a great time to learn more about healing and recovery techniques you are interested in, such as reiki, massage, or acupuncture. Sign up for a new recovery therapy session in the context of the problem you're worried about (stress or pain). You can also find courses and learn how to do massage or other treatments.
5. 5 Focus on positive change. Summer stability and the prospect of pleasant warm days are a time of self-development, freedom and self-care. Consider these conditions as an excuse for positive change.
   • Rearrange the house. Rearrange furniture and replace bored items with items from the attic or basement. Add new accents like pillows, lamps, art. You should get rid of unnecessary things, but keep the items that give you joy.
   • Change your diet - start eating more seasonal fruits and vegetables. This is a great time to start consuming greens, your own crops, and organic foods instead of processed foods.
   • Find an activity that you like. Choose a pleasant activity instead of boring and monotonous activities. For example, you can meditate, do yoga, swim, run, or ride a bike.

Method 3 of 3: Social Events

1. 1 Travel. Consider celebrating the summer solstice away from home at one of the key destinations where the event has centuries of tradition, or at the solstice festival. Countries like Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden hold summer festivals where people dance around the traditional maypole and decorate their homes with greenery, flowers and tree branches.
   • Stonehenge in Great Britain is a must-see for the keen observer and connoisseur of the holiday in which thousands of people greet the dawn. On the day of the summer solstice, Stonehenge is in line with the rising sun and opens up an incredible picture to the audience.
   • In 2006, an ancient temple of the sun was discovered in the Egyptian capital Cairo. Visit this place and get involved in local activities.
   • In Iceland, a "secret" three-day music festival is held on the occasion of the summer solstice.
   • In Russia, the summer solstice is celebrated with a large-scale three-month festival "White Nights" with the participation of opera and ballet stars.
   • The Inca Sun Festival is held in Peru and Ecuador.
   • In the United States, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, hosts musical performances and nighttime sightings, and Santa Barbara, California, hosts the Summer Solstice Music Festival.
2. 2 Organize a family holiday. Invite family and friends to celebrate this day with you. Visit farms and markets to get the freshest produce for your holiday. Dishes can include brightly colored vegetables and sun-colored fruits such as lemon, papaya, corn, oranges, bananas, carrots, peppers, peaches, apricots, melons, pumpkin, mangoes, grapefruits, and sweet potatoes.
3. 3 Have a campfire party. The bonfire is a traditional attribute of the summer solstice. Fire has always provided protection for a person, scared away real and mythical creatures of the night. Today the bonfire is the perfect excuse to have a party for your friends.
   • Choose a safe place to make fires. Make sure campfires are not prohibited due to dry weather conditions.
4. 4 Arrange night vigils around the summer solstice campfire. The pagans lit a candle or bonfire at sunset and kept the fire going until sunrise to ritualistically care for the sun's flame for the shortest night, until at dawn the Wheel of the Year (seasonal ritual cycle) again turned towards the dark half of the year. This tradition is seen as a celebration of the brightest time of the year and honoring the gifts of the coming darkness, which will come along with a reduction in daylight hours.

Tips

• If your faith has its own version of celebrating the summer solstice, then you should learn more about it and participate in the event. For some beliefs, this is a very important day.