Your Mid-Summer Review

 

Late July.  The season is in full swing, and you’ve adjusted to its rhythms.   Your days are long, and within them you find opportunities to appreciate the feel of sun on skin, the taste of fresh peaches, the swish of soft cotton around your legs.

Whether you’re on vacation or not, summer brings with it a change in mindset.  The relentless drive to do do do relaxes a bit, and you likely find yourself more spacious, more willing to give yourself an out, more interested in activities without an agenda.  All those years of school holidays are hard to unlearn!  

This is a great opportunity to explore your inner landscape from a different vantage point.  With the summertime mindset, take a few moments to sit down with a pen and consider these queries.

(extra points for writing your responses while lying in a hammock!)  

My midsummer review

 •    What do I value most right now?  What’s most important to me these days?

 •    How can I have more of those things I value most?  What actions can I take to bring in more of these things today, this week, in the next 10 minutes?

 •    What’s on my Stop Doing list?

 •    How am I celebrating the deliciousness of summer?

 •    What am I appreciating about myself right now?

 •    How am I in my own way?

 •    Who or what inspires me?

 •    If my life were a novel, this chapter would be called:
 

Please share your responses in the comments below.  And feel free to take these questions to the beach, to your next BBQ, or to your next daydreaming session.

Happy summer to you!

Choose Joy : CJ Ananda Page of Present Moment Retreat Center

CJ Ananda Page is delighted that those who come and stay at Present Moment Retreat Center in Troncones, Mexico experience a simple yet profound type of magic, again and again. 

The magic shows up within the experience of simply “being”; it’s what happens when we quiet our minds enough to touch into the essence of who we are.  It might be revealed while walking the beach or having a meal.  And while it’s quite ordinary, this taste is precious and sustaining.  It’s a gift the visitors take with them when they go back home.

As co-founder and director of Present Moment, CJ embodies the intention of the Center – to awaken the power of the human spirit.  She took some time recently to talk with us about the ins and outs of retreat.  Please make yourself a cup of tea and find a quiet spot in your day to watch this interview.  It may help you find your way to Troncones sometime in the future.  

Learn more about Present Moment Retreat Center here.

The Power of the Circle by Amy Kessel

We’ve been doing it for thousands of years.

It’s what we do innately, as women: we circle. We hunker down, we share space, we offer an ear. We come together to listen and to be heard. In this age of busy, circling becomes a sacred act – and, for some of us, a lifeline back to ourselves.

Women’s circles take many forms, but serve one purpose.  

The circle is an energetic container and the women within are nourished, held and enlivened by it.

Some circles are bound by a common thread; there may be a theme or a central commitment shared by the members. 

Perhaps they’re reading a book or studying something together, and discussing what they discover through the learning. 

Or maybe the group wants to meditate together, to deepen their individual experiences and to create community around them. 

Circles form to grapple with grief, to build solidarity, to travel through life’s more precarious chapters with support and guidance. 

Circles can also be joyous, experimental and fun.

I’ve made circles an essential part of my life. There’s the women’s group that meets monthly in my backyard or my friend’s cottage to share secrets, question doubts and celebrate milestones. The mastermind sisters who offer feedback and committed support for my business as well as my larger purpose. And I facilitate a leadership circle whose women span the time zones, and where we hold space for audacious dreaming and playing bigger.

My time in circle strengthens my spirit and deepens my commitment to the life I’m creating.
I show up on my darkest days and my bright shiny ones, bringing what’s true for me at the given moment.

The circle always gives me what I need, even if I don’t know what I’m asking for. It’s a whole lot wiser than I am, and I can relax into that, knowing that it will provide the clues that lead to the insights that catalyze the action I will eventually take, when I’m ready. 

For me, being in circle is the beginning, the end, and all that’s in between.

What about you? Do you have a circle, or several, in your life? Have you created space where you can show up with whatever is happening, and see how exposing it to the light of day transforms it?  Please share in the comments!











 
Amy Kessel is a certified coach and devoted supporter of women.  A former Hestia Retreat Circle Member, she continues to contribute to the evolution of Hestia through blogging and special events.  Find her online at www.amykessel.com.