June Transition

June is a transition month - the end of spring and the beginning of summer. June’s element is fire, which purifies and gives life. It’s a highly yang time of movement and power, the season of completion, abundance and fulfillment. I have a hope that in summer I will reach the full flowering of my self and my dreams.

June has a different pace, less scheduled though more active. It’s a time for fine-tuning, and for decisive action. June is when I like to energetically climb to the top of a hill, survey the landscape and climb down again, to put myself in context, evaluate my progress, see what I’ve accomplished since January, and make careful adjustments in my goals and priorities. 

My aim this month is to stand still and calm in the center while I am playing, cleaning, writing, socializing, teaching, digging in the garden, swimming, traveling, and painting. 

"Only when there is stillness in movement can the spiritual rhythm appear which pervades heaven and earth." -- Taoist text

Agenda:

1. Journal query

2. Read "It's a Meaningful Life"

3. Vow practice

4. Ray of Sun Meditation

1. Journal query: 

Summer’s question is “What is ideal?” 

Today I made a list of idyllic, peaceful, expansive, and exciting things I long to do this summer, including some I loved to do as a child and young adult:

• Go to Whidbey Island to explore!
• See my family
• Go to the ocean with Sadie
• Paint in the garden
• Hike at Three Sisters or Fall Creek
• Summer adventures and pool time with grandsons
• Pick berries
• Teach summer classes outdoors

2. Read "It's a Meaningful Life": 

Last winter I began to re-read "It's a Meaningful Life; It Just Takes Practice," by Bo Lozoff (2000), and I'm finally finishing the first section, which is on the Inner journey of Communion. 

Chapter ten is It Always Gets Back to Kindness, about taking kindness up a notch, to greet each person as the "Precious Child of God" that they are.

"A life of lovingkindness in the face of every day's events, good and bad, requires persistence and practice and a good deal of understanding."

3. Vow Practice:

Take a vow each morning: "I will take full responsibility for my state of mind, and refrain from blaming others, or circumstances, for my negativity."

This directly addresses the root of anger, depression, and irritability - myself; I've no one else to blame, and it might lead me to "turn the other cheek" when someone lashes me. Even one person working with this vow changes the tensions in an argument.

4. Ray of Sun Meditation: 

Today I will sit where I can feel the rays of the sun on my body. I will relax, be still, and soak up the light and heat of the sun. As I sit I will:

• Explore the sun’s inner qualities of warmth, light, clarity, and power. 
• Extend this awareness to all parts of my body, through each cell, my heart, mind, and spirit. 
• Radiate the sun's energy outward into the environment, in all directions. 
• Return to an awareness of my body, thank the Sun, and take this energy with me throughout the day.