The sun rises at 4:35 am today and I intend to make the most of this longest day of the year! I'll be bringing in the Summer Solstice with the greeting of the dawn!
Greeting the Dawn with the Rising Sun
When I see the gold on the treetops they signal it is going to be a glorious day!
They beckon me to come forth and are often what pulls me out of my grogginess of sleep!
After lying in bed motionless for the nights sleep, I need to get my body moving again and get my energy flowing!
I start with some stretches and rocking horse moves.
This is like a moving massage that relaxes the back muscles, and improves my spine flexibility, stretching out those tight spots!
The therapist Dom Mckay does a really good demonstration of the Rocking Tuck Yoga Exercise explaining some of the benefits in the video below:
Also when I come up from that rocking horse move , still hugging my knees, I can do some sit bouncing on my bed or my rebounder which has been a game changer for me gaining strength and mobility after a car accident where I had a spinal cord injury with paralysis. Read how I over came paralysis here
Rebounder
Not only was bouncing on my rebounder an exercise to strengthen but it also flushes the lymphatic system, causing the valves to open and close increasing lymph flow multi times over which in turn boosts immunity and helps in the removal of toxins. Rebounding will also increases circulation of blood flow.
Doreen Puglisi a contributing author for The MedFit Network gave these 12 benefits of rebounding:
- Rebounding provides an increased G-force (gravitational load), which strengthens the musculoskeletal systems.
- Rebounding aids lymphatic circulation by stimulating the millions of one-way valves in the lymphatic system. Your lymphatic system acts as your body’s internal vacuum cleaner.
Rebounding circulates more oxygen to the tissues- and where the is oxygen there cannot be disease. - Rebounding establishes a better equilibrium between the oxygen required by the tissues and the oxygen made available.
- Rebounding increases capacity for respiration
- Rebounding increases the functional activity of the red bone marrow in the production of red blood cells.
- Rebounding improves resting metabolic rate so that more calories are burned for hours after exercise.
- Rebounding improves circulation. It encourages collateral circulation (the formation of new branch blood vessels that distribute blood to the heart) by increasing the capillary count in the muscles and decreasing the distance between the capillaries and the target cells.
- Rebounding strengthens the heart and other muscles in the body so that they work more efficiently.
- Rebounding improves coordination between the proprioceptors in the joints, the transmission of nerve impulses to and from the brain, transmission of nerve impulses and responsiveness of the muscle fibers.
- Rebounding improves the brain’s responsiveness to the vestibular apparatus within the inner ear, thus improving balance.
- Rebounding for longer than 20 minutes at a moderate intensity increases the mitochondria count within the muscle cells, essential for endurance.
- As our planet has become dangerously congested with debris so does our body. We are neither helpless nor hopeless in this dire state; we can also take measures to reduce, eliminate and cleanse toxins from the blood, tissues and organs of our bodies. One of several effective methods of detoxification is through lymphatic cleansing.
You can read more about this at the source here
I found rebounding to be an excellent exercise in winter when it is 30 below and you don't want to go outside! Also when I am doing a meditation self course it is perfect for in between each sitting session.
You can read more about my morning routine here where I incorporate a modified version of Salutations to the Sun a very befitting exercise for greeting this solstice sun!
Another thing that I find important to get my energy flowing is doing some earthing or going barefoot on the earth so you can feel the energy moving from the earth into the soles of your feet and up your legs and rest of your body. Often if I am sitting to much or been on my feet indoors with shoes on the energy seems to pool in my feet but earthing will automatically get that energy flowing again!
With nature calling me to come for another photography adventure and a dog to walk, I have no problem getting out for a walk, usually climbing the hill by our place or exploring in the woods.
With these long days there is ample of time to be outside so combining my daily walks with my gardening (I live on an acreage with many different gardening plots around the land) I get plenty of exercise and I'm careful to balance out my screen time or sitting time with active times.
Today the sun doesn't set until 9:33 pm tonight so I can get lots of exploring, photography and gardening in!
End of the Day with the Setting Sun
I hope you have a glorious Summer Solstice!
Along with wishing you a Happy Summer Solstice I wish to invite you to take part in the Natural Medicine Movement Challenge - details here This here is my entry post.
The three photos of the sunrise and sunset were taken with my Canon PowerShot SX 60HS
Thanks for stopping by!
MINDFUL LIFE is a Natural Medicine project which supports meditators on HIVE Discord II Community**