What a long, strange school year it’s been! It’s wonderful to see parents and kids alike have gladly put away their screens (mostly!) in favour of more outside time, play and hopefully more relaxation. Bringing on the energy of summer vacation is a little questionable.

This kickoff to summer is usually the time when many of us start our holidays, whether that’s heading to the cottage, taking a road trip to a destination near or far, or staying at home for a “staycation”. With Covid still in our midst, it has been challenging and sometimes downright frustrating planning out the holidays we vision so vividly in our minds. Activities are limited and some places maybe even be closed this summer due to all of the restrictions put in place and the travel limitations.

This can easily put a damper on your ‘vaycay vibes’ if we let it 😬

Questions start to arise like “what can you do to make sure that you have the stamina to deal with all that comes at you this summer and still make it a memorable one for you and your family?”

Sure setting up a schedule and planning out your days is certainly a great idea, and it gives you and the kids something to look forward to while keeping with a looser routine, but there is something that you should be doing FIRST before everything else.

A bit of a back story here for you

I sat down the other month and I ripped through my thoughts on how the heck do I make this summer great for my family. An idea was born! It’s probably not anything that you’ve come across before, but I have to admit this has been a game-changing realization for me.

The first thing you should do is take the time to recalibrate your energy so that your body, mind and spirit can approach summer not from a place of dread, but rather optimism and patience.

Recalibrating my energy before summer was something I never did in the past, and there were many summers in recent memory where I found myself almost to the point of burnout and wishing for school to start not even halfway through!

Knowing that this could potentially be the case but far worse this summer (due to such a long and stressful lockdown period here in Ontario, Canada), I started putting in place a few simple things almost the minute school let out.

Here are 3 things that I have made sure to put in place to help me recalibrate my energy. It’s not too late to begin right now, and you’ll be off to a happier summer:

1. Get into Nature

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, being in nature is one of the best ways to increase your calm and increase your creative flow. Thanks to the warmer temperatures and mostly sunny days, it is so easy to get into nature and reset yourself. Take advantage of getting into nature as much as possible during these summer months. This is one of the most effective ways to quickly and fully reset and recalibrate your energy. If you are at home on a “staycation”, find a forest or green space to wander through in your city or town. Or, maybe you could drive to your favourite beach and sit in the sand and enjoy the sunset when everyone else has gone home for the day. Luckily there are no restrictions for parks and trails anymore, so bring the kids with you and you can all benefit from the energetic reset.

2. Practice Gratitude Daily

I have found it easier to be grateful and feel grateful this past year despite the enormously emotionally trying and uncertain times. I’ve learned to appreciate the very basic and simple things that I used to take for granted before. I find it even easier in the summer months to practice and increase my gratitude because of all the wonderful things nature puts in front of me that I can appreciate and say ‘thank you’ to consistently.
So every night before I go to bed, or every day when I sit outside watching the clouds go by, I silently say ‘thank you’ to all those things that have meaning to me.

This practice doesn’t take much time at all and has a tremendous effect on your energy field, feeding and nourishing it and connecting you to something greater than you.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out my latest blog all about How the Sun Impacts Human Consciousness and Sensitive People, you should check that out here. It gives all the summer vibes.

3. Daydream

There is something about summer that is conducive to daydreaming. It’s a lot easier to do when you’re on vacation, mind you, but most of us are taking “staycation’s” this summer so finding a quiet spot in and around your home to slip into quiet contemplation can be the next best thing.
I find the best place to daydream is outdoors, so I’ve been making a point every day to take at minimum 5 minutes (and a maximum of half an hour) to sit in my backyard and observe nature and its flurry of activity, while slowly drift into quiet contemplation. Sometimes when my mind wanders freely in a daydream, I come up with a solution to a problem that I’ve been up against for a while or I see it from a new angle. Sometimes I imagine myself at my next vacation spot, however impractical it may seem at the time. Or I imagine what activity I’d like to do next with the kids. When you daydream, you are giving yourself a break from the constant bombardment of input from everywhere.

The best part of daydreaming for me in summer is imagining the creative ways I can bring more value to my life and business. Some of my best hits of insight and biggest, far-flung ideas have come from daydreams. My brain is allowed to traverse through these thoughts without self-censorship and negative self-talk.

Life is sometimes taken too seriously. It can be on social media, in our work lives, in our daily routines. That is not what summer vacation is for!

So, there you have it, my best ideas that I’ve implemented to change the staycation vibes. Embrace the leisure of beautiful summer by taking some time to lose yourself in thought. Let your mind wander to wherever it wants to go. Guaranteed you will feel refreshed and recharged afterwards!

If you are heading out on a day trip or a weekend getaway in your hometown, I’ve also created a Staycation meditation to start it off right. Get mindful and positive, you deserve it!

https://www.buzzsprout.com/995308/8813654-staycation-meditation.mp3?download=true