Midsummer rhythms
How to move more gently through the fullness of summer
As the days stretch longer and the edges of the year soften towards midsummer, many of us begin to feel a shift in ourselves too. Summer is often imagined as a season of fullness and vitality - of blooming gardens, golden evenings and endless possibility - but it can also bring a strange tension between energy and exhaustion, longing and lethargy.
For many of us, this time of year carries an old rhythm in the body. Even long after leaving school behind, there can still be a subconscious sense of building towards an ending: the approach of summer holidays, the loosening of routine, the desire to switch off and step away for a while. If you have children, work in education, or simply move through the year with strong seasonal awareness, that feeling can become even more pronounced. And often, after the rush of spring, our minds and bodies begin asking for rest.
In the wild world, summer can appear abundant and overflowing, but beneath the surface, something subtler is happening. The rapid growth and transition of spring is beginning to slow: leaves deepen and thicken, tomatoes redden on the vine, beans swell in their pods. The landscape is no longer striving in quite the same way it was a month ago. As we pass the Solstice later this month, we’ll then move towards Lammas at the beginning of August - the first harvest festival in the Wheel of the Year - and will likely start to sense the first turning towards autumn.
There is wisdom in that slowing, yet modern life rarely allows much space for seasonal ebb and flow. We are encouraged to remain consistently productive, motivated, switched on. And so summer can create friction: tasks that once felt simple suddenly feel heavy; concentration drifts; the body longs to be outdoors, stretched out beneath trees or wandering somewhere wild and sunlit.
For some, summer brings excitement and expansiveness. For others, the heat and brightness can feel draining, overstimulating, or difficult to endure. Either way, this season often asks something different of us than spring or autumn do, and perhaps the first step is simply acknowledging that. There is nothing wrong with finding summer harder to focus in. Nothing wrong with craving spaciousness, slowness or softness. We are not separate from the world around us; our energy shifts with the seasons too. And once that’s acknowledged, it becomes easier to loosen expectations a little. Choosing not to push relentlessly forwards is not failure - sometimes it is simply responsiveness, and a willingness to work with the season rather than against it.
A few things that can help:
