June 21 - Summer Solstice (Earth's Tilt and Spin) + International Yoga Day

 We finally got to celebrate such an important day today and to begin this occasion we share this lovely creative piece which you could purchase too at:  https://www.etsy.com/dk-en/listing/838382062/yoga-svg-namaste-svg-meditation-svg?ref=hp_active-mission-recs-rv-1-1

We welcomed international yoga day and summer solstice by doing a yoga sequence by listening to the Terra Earth Chimes: https://youtu.be/VVlLgvQQQgU while doing the poses suggested in this article: https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/summer-solstice-yoga-sequence  We did the Sukhasana (Easy Pose with Surya Mudra), Buddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose), Utkata Konasana (Goddess Pose), Vrksana (Tree Pose), Half Lotus Pose, Vipartia Karani (Legs-up-the-wall Pose), Savasana (Corpse Pose), Padmasana (Lotus Pose).

We did a Chakra Yoga Meditation Card selection chosing these from our set we purchased from the lovely: https://gabitatemporium.com/products/chakra-meditation-cards-for-children?pr_prod_strat=use_description&pr_rec_id=51712979a&pr_rec_pid=6076884025494&pr_ref_pid=6087946698902&pr_seq=uniform 

We also did an intention card selection for the beginning of summer, you can own this lovely set too: https://gabitatemporium.com/products/meditation-intention-and-affirmation-cards-for-children?_pos=3&_sid=d6ede5918&_ss=r

We also enjoyed a tarot reading for summer starting from this sweet product: https://www.littlepaganacorns.com/product/tarot-cards-for-kids/

and the free manual available at: https://www.littlepaganacorns.com/product/tarot-for-kids-manual/ 

Thought this tic tac couple doing yoga was super precious: 

We shared a few moments with the courageous and lovely people in Times Square NY doing live yoga with an amazing Yoga instructor Kirra. This Peloton Yoga instructor said find your center in the middle of chaos, greatest wisdom shared! Various Yoga events are happening throughout the day at: https://www.timessquarenyc.org/solstice-in-times-square

These are the wonderful instructors sharing their teachings with us on this International Yoga Day: 2023 Class Schedule

7:30am – 8:30am Douglass Stewart

9:30am – 10:30am Peloton Yoga Flow with Kirra Michel

11:30am – 12:30pm Ruchika Lal, presented by Consulate General of India, NY (ASL interpreter present)

1:30pm – 2:30pm Marco Rojas (ASL interpreter present)

3:30pm – 4:30pm Nyota Nayo

5:30pm – 6:30pm Joseph Encinia

7:30pm – 8:30pm Matt Boylin

May the Midnight Summer Evening bring you peace, we never did yoga outside in the park and never thought of an evening yoga session, something to strive for perhaps in 2024.

Thinking how to define yoga we came across this,  Yoga is the coming together of the brain and the body as we learnt from Sesame Street Yoga School which also suggests to pay attention (focus) and concentrate. Practice and you will improve. Give Yoga Time. We did Warrior 1 arms above the head and warrior 2 arms extended out in front and warrior 3 is one leg up and stretching out your arms. Join the challenge at: https://youtu.be/2AACZ91BVUo 

Of course this day could not escape without the most wonderful Jamie from Cosmic Kids and our adventure with her today: https://youtu.be/KAT5NiWHFIU We did her Going on a Bear Hunt Session with our code word: Namaste Day We adore you Jamie you are a treasure.

Bear in Action with Jamie: 

Took a quick peak at Stonehenge on this Summer Solstice day: https://www.stonehengeskyscape.co.uk/

As this video explains it is the longest day with sunlight: https://youtu.be/tX8-ULtgI4M 

Barron asked an interesting question about an autumn and spring solstice which there is not, instead there is an autumn and spring equinox. Basically in winter the shortest day (least amount of sunlight and more moonlight) occurs on winter solstice and in summer solstice the reverse happens more sunlight and less moonlight. On Spring and Autumn Equinoxes those days have equal amounts of daylight and moonlight. This is also explained in this way, "An equinox is one of the two times of the year when the amount of daylight and nighttime hours are just about of equal length. The vernal equinox marks the start of spring, and the autumnal equinox marks the start of fall. A solstice is one of the two times of the year resulting in the most amount of daylight time or the least amount of daylight time in a single day. Solstices mark the start of summer and winter." Source: https://www.dictionary.com/e/fall-equinox-solstice/ and in this lovely video: https://youtu.be/CSs8K_HQSZ4  

 

Equinox and Solstice Dates for us in North America according to this source:https://www.weather.gov/media/ind/seasons.pdf

VERNAL EQUINOX.....(SPRING) MAR 20 2023 

SUMMER SOLSTICE....(SUMMER) JUN 21 2023 

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX...(FALL) SEP 23 2023 

WINTER SOLSTICE....(WINTER) DEC 21 2023 

Remember the Earth's Tilt and the way the axis moves and spins around is the reason for us to have seasons. We are lucky to have four seasons as some locations only get two!

We also would not have a complete day without our seasonal mandala from the sweet shop creator: https://gabitatemporium.com/products/mandala-template     Barron made one to let summer in as did I:

 To end the day we lit a candle, well ours is battery operated: