Transform Your Life - Just Count Me In

#22 The Summer Solstice: A Spiritual Checkpoint for Personal Transformation

• Sari Stone • Season 1 • Episode 22

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We celebrate the summer solstice as a spiritual checkpoint

• Timing of growth follows its own divine schedule, like wildflowers that bloom exactly when they're meant to
• Standing still isn't failure but necessary alignment—solstice literally means "sun standing still"
• Light reveals truth and brings clarity, washing away what no longer serves us
• Many of us dim our light to make others comfortable, disconnecting from our authentic selves
• The pause between action is where transformation often begins

If this episode met you where you are or you know someone who needs permission to pause, please share it with them. Leave a review and tag me on Instagram @justcountmein to let me know what resonated with you.



Thank you for joining me!

Speaker 1:

Hey, welcome back to Transform your Life. Just count me in. I'm Sari, and today we're celebrating the solstice, on the longest day of the year. The sun is at its highest point and it's the culmination of light. This is a really sacred day and it's more than a seasonal shift. The summer solstice is like a spiritual checkpoint for us. A seasonal shift, the summer solstice is like a spiritual checkpoint for us. So my clients and I have been just checking in, pausing and taking a minute to reflect and stand really in the fullness of our own light, which can be uncomfortable.

Speaker 1:

Lately we've been talking about the divine timing of our growth and I mean I don don't know, but I don't think that there's anything that tells a flower. I'm watching, I've been watching my flowers open up and I think what signals them that it's time to open the petals and bloom. I don't know, it's something so much more miraculous than I can perceive with my rational mind, but it's just, it's the earth and it's the life force and it's the same for us. So who knows what is coming up for us and what time it is? It has to be the right time in our life because it's actually our life. Right time in our life, because it's actually our life. So I'm going to tell you that, whether you're a parent holding space for your child, a teen navigating interchanges, or a person just trying to find your next step with me, this episode is here to meet you in the moment you're in.

Speaker 1:

When transformation happens, it begins by being, it begins in being, sometimes not doing so. The solstice, especially the summer solstice, brings the longest light, but it also brings a pause. But it also brings a pause, and in ancient culture, solstice rituals included, like bonfires and dancing and intention setting. And why? Because light reveals truth. When you're standing in the presence of something that doesn't feel good, or a spell you've been under, or a belief that you've been holding that is not correct for you, what is it that brings clarity when we learn the truth? The truth sets us free, and this reminds us at this time of year. We were born to shine and I do believe that we are.

Speaker 1:

It is hard for people often when there is a pause, because it can feel uncomfortable, like we're kind of waiting. We're waiting for clarity, we're waiting for a sign, we're waiting for a shift, and then we always have the option to go between love and fear. So which thoughts are helping me stay aligned with love and which thoughts are leading me down an old path. The people I've been working with, some of them have made some huge life changes in the past I'd say month just since school's been out, and their lives just keep getting better and better and better. And one of them said to me it's like it doesn't take me any time I realize that this feels right for me and I just do it. I'm not overthinking anymore, I'm not anxious anymore, and then all these good things just keep happening and happening and happening. And I said exactly, this is exactly how it is.

Speaker 1:

So some of you are also stuck in a place where you feel like you've been doing everything right. You've been doing your healing, you've been meditating, you've been journaling, you've been showing up, and still you're stuck in that waiting place. Check out that episode. It's a good one. But you're not alone. And here's what I want to talk to you about today.

Speaker 1:

The solstice is not just an astronomical event. It is a spiritual threshold. It is the moment when the sun almost seems to stand still. That's literally what solstice means. Sol, which is sun, and sistere means to stand still. So what if this moment isn't about nothing happening, but it's actually giving your inner light a space to realign. In the stillness, your shift begins. Nature, just like the flowers, doesn't rush its transitions, it honors them. The solstice is just a big cosmic reminder. Change begins in silence and light returns slowly, very often not all at once. So I do want to share that.

Speaker 1:

There have been moments in my life when I forgot my light and there was a long period in my life where I was very reliant on trying to make other people feel better about themselves, because I wanted everybody to be happy and it was really important that people liked me and I thought that I was just too much for people and I thought that I maybe needed to tone it down a little bit, and that was dimming my light, so I might know the answer to something and not share it, or I might have an opinion that was different than someone else's, and even though they asked, I wouldn't really express it. While I didn't always take part in conversations that I didn't feel comfortable being in the vicinity of, I didn't remove myself the way I do now and I kept dimming, and dimming, and dimming, and I was so afraid of shining and so afraid of being too much, I got lost and I couldn't really figure out who I was, and that was pretty scary, because the bottom line is the truth. Truth is, every time we step back, and every time I stepped back, I was more disconnected from my spirit, thank goodness. Thank goodness I had some wake-ups and some changes and really great teachers, really great mentors, wonderful coaches, and some changes and really great teachers, really great mentors, wonderful coaches, and some not so, but for the most part, I had people. There was always somebody there. Even if it was somebody that I might just sit with and maybe have a lunch with, I could get a lot out of that conversation. Or a book would just my eyes, would just catch a book on the bookshelf and I would get that book and it would be the right book or something would flash up like a pop-up and it would be the right, the right YouTube or the right person to listen to.

Speaker 1:

And gradually, step by step, I begin to realize that I didn't want to shrink anymore and it's like I tell the children I'm working with and the teens I'm working with light up the space you're in, don't shrink. You were born to shine. Celebrate your life. When we talk about celebrating our lives. Part of that has to do with looking at what we did the last six months since the winter solstice, where we planted seeds for all this, and what we've overcome.

Speaker 1:

The people I've worked with have overcome a huge amount of self-abandonment. They've overcome a couple of them, relationships that were starting to limit themselves. So they've overcome the beliefs that that relationships were a certain way that was not really in their optimal interest at this point. They've overcome some fears that they had about doing nothing, because doing nothing is also doing something and it's part of your own timing. You cannot be too early or too late in your life, because it's your life.

Speaker 1:

That flower. I planted a bunch of wildflowers and I am just amazed because the same type of flower that I planted at the same time won't be open on a Monday, and by Wednesday there's five more of them that have opened up. But it doesn't really happen that quickly, it happens slowly. I guess time-lapse photography would come in handy here. And we are the same way, it's the same for us. So what internal seeds have begun to bloom in you? And then think about it. Why does it feel so uncomfortable? Why is the waiting fearful for us? Are we living in fear, that we're waiting because we missed the opportunity, and then again, that's fear, that's contracting. So go towards love. So what would a thought be that would be a loving thought about this weight? Life is getting things ready exactly the way it needs to happen for me.

Speaker 1:

What do you think of when you celebrate your life? It's I do a pride check-in with my clients, and they for five minutes the last five minutes only because I noticed about 10 years ago that it's very easy. If I ask you what do you need to work on or what's wrong, you would easily come up with your list, and I would too. And if I asked, what are you really proud of, it would be more like accomplishments. It would be well, my kids are doing really well. Or my, you know my grade. If you're a child, my grades are good, and there wasn't a deep sense of pride just for ways that you've grown internally. So I wanted people to be able to get in touch with that by saying I am, because the words we say after I am are very defining for us. So I am proud of and I know it sounds funny and some of the kids are like is it pride check-in time, yet now they're really excited about it. Now they're really excited about it and the adults are, even some of them wanted to start with pride check-in, which made me feel really good that they're getting that comfortable with it.

Speaker 1:

So I would say what is uniquely radiant about you? And if you have a hard time with that, think about what would somebody say about you that loves you? That's one that helped me get in touch with things. What, if what does someone else complimented you about? And you often brush it off. But it's really true.

Speaker 1:

And the next step with the solstice for me is to think what I want to bring more light to in my life and what's ready to be seen in me, what's ready to be shared through me, and what am I ready to release or let go of. Actually, I'll say let go of because I don't want it back again. So what am I ready for? It's at the highest point today, the sun, and it's the culmination of light. This is absolutely the perfect time to commit to living fully and unapologetically. So here are some affirmations that you can try, because I always like to give you a few things to try and some journaling prompts. So for journaling prompts, go ahead and take out your pencil.

Speaker 1:

And where in my life do I feel like I'm standing still? Remembering standing still is not a bad thing. Standing still could be getting ready for the next really great thing to happen. It usually is when we don't cloud it with fear and anxiety. What am I afraid will happen if I stop pushing A really good one for a lot of us? How can I have more allowing in my life? What would it look like? What would it mean if I trusted this pause as a necessary part of my growth?

Speaker 1:

And again, think of the flower. I don't think the ones that haven't bloomed are looking at the one that bloomed saying, oh better, get on it, I'm behind. I don't think so. Think of yourself as a radiant being standing fully in your light, a person who celebrates how far you've come and is ready to open up to what's next, trusting, trusting the timing of your own growth and shining without apology. Your opinion of me, as Wayne Dyer points out in many of his talks, your opinion of me is not really any of my business. That's a tough one for a lot of us, but it's very true. It's not technically my business, it's your business. Can you honor the quiet miracles unfolding in the unseen and I wanted to share a quick one. And it might not be a miracle, but it is definitely a synchronicity.

Speaker 1:

We had to run to Walmart for something We've got our grandkids getting ready to come visit. We realized that one of them is past the weight of that's safe on his life jacket. They're coming today and we found this out last night. So I did a quick run to Walmart early this morning, luckily thank you for pickup and I also ordered a dolphin, a little dolphin floaty for the boys, because I thought that that would be cute. After I ordered and we're getting ready to go to bed, we realized that we can't find for the life of us the little swimmies that one of them wears the little water muscles and that would be a bummer because I know he's going to want to hit the pool and it's more fun. I know he's had swimming lessons. It's more fun if he has his swimmies on. We looked all over, had to go to bed because we both had to get up for work today and just kind of gave up and figured well, one of us is going to scoot out to the store, we'll figure out a way to make it work. We live in a beach town. I know there's swimmies. So I get to Walmart this morning and I picked up the order. They substituted the dolphin floaty with a pair of swimmies that are exactly the right size and weight for my little grandson. And I checked no substitutions because I did not want the life jacket to be substituted or the other items to be substituted. So here it is, i's it's. It's small, but I felt like I texted my husband, I showed him the picture and I said you know, we are so taken care of.

Speaker 1:

So it doesn't have to be big things, it can be the quiet, quiet miracles in your life, the quiet synchronicities in your life, when you trust it that it's always going to come back to what it needs to be in the right time. And how do you do that? I align with the energy of light and truth and God and love, and God and love. So if you have a moment, take a moment and close your eyes and you can put one hand on your heart and one hand on your stomach. Your stomach is by the creation chakra and your heart is your heart. These are also your two strong forms of intelligence and you have your mind.

Speaker 1:

So close your eyes and take a breath in. Hold it at the top and out, and a bigger breath in. Hold at the top and let it go, feeling your body relax. Imagine the sun above you Warm, golden, steady light and feel it just pouring, pouring down over your head inside, lighting you up with that beautiful golden light, your shoulders, your beautiful heart. Allow that light to work its way down your arms and out your fingers and let it fill your stomach, go down your hips and your legs and let it just flow, like you flicked on a switch and this light fills you with vitality, confidence and clarity. Now you can repeat silently, silently or aloud I am light, I am aligned, I am enough.

Speaker 1:

Stay here for just a few breaths, soaking it in and remember light reveals the truth. Light brings clarity, it washes away everything else and it reminds us we were born to shine. Reminds us we were born to shine. You were born to shine or you wouldn't be listening to my podcast. You know it, you know somewhere inside of you. So when you're ready, remember to carry this light with you and share it with others. I really appreciate that you spent part of your solstice with me, I know, and you might be listening next week, and that's still okay.

Speaker 1:

I believe this energy sticks around for a while. I hope that this moment reminds you of your beauty and your brilliance and your inner fire, and, whether you are guiding your own soul or guiding children or counseling other people, if this episode met you where you are or there's somebody you think could benefit, this is why I'm here. I'm here to help others feel and embody their own light and live it. So if there's anybody that you think you can share this with, please do, especially if you come across somebody who feels like they need permission to pause, and please leave a review. I honestly do.

Speaker 1:

Read them. Tag me on Instagram and remember the miracle is not always the shift. Sometimes it's the moment you finally stood still and let yourself receive. Until next time. Thank you for listening to just count me in. Thank you so much for joining me today. If you liked this episode, please let me know. Stop by at social media, on Instagram or my Facebook page just count me in and please leave a comment. If there's anybody that you think could benefit from this episode, please forward it to them and I look forward to seeing you next time. We're all in this together, thank you.