We celebrated the 2022 Summer Solstice this morning in DT Cary at Book Drop!  Forrest joined for a pre-run (woo hoo!) but had to leave before the workout – but so glad she came!

To begin, Zeppelin & I headed to the roof of the parking deck and chose a good spot so we could see the sunrise.  We brought our mats, water, and one medium/heavy weight (12-15 lbs).

I started with the disclaimer and then we did our Summer Solstice-themed warm up – 4 sun salutations (see picture for flow).

We then began our workout – a 12 minute set that we did 2x through.  For the strength exercises, we did 6 reps on each side and rested the remainder of the minute, and for the cardio exercises, we did the exercise for the full minute.

  1. Snatches (6 each side)
  2. Plank drag (6 each side)
  3. Jumping jacks/Jack presses (jumping jack using weight)
  4. Single leg deadlift (6 each side)
  5. Halos (6 each way)
  6. Mountain climbers
  7. Walking lunges with weight above head (6 each side)
  8. Wood chop (6 each side)
  9. Skaters
  10. Weighted donkey kick (6 each side)
  11. Squat single arm overhead press (6 each side)
  12. Side lunge (6 each side)

Run stairs after each round.

We then did a core set –

  1. Ankle biters (18 each side)
  2. LBCs (36 reps)
  3. American hammers (18 each side)

I learned from some research about the Summer Solstice that 108 is an auspicious number that is attributed with the day of the Summer Solstice.  (My dad did 108 sun salutations this morning, but I wasn’t super excited about that so instead we did 4!)  I tried to incorporate 108 in another way – so in the strength part of the workout, each 12 minute set included 108 reps of strength exercises and our core set included a total of 108 reps as well.

At the end, I shared a little interesting tidbit about the Summer Solstice and also a COT –

Per the Almanac website, the June solstice occurred on Tuesday, June 21st at 5:14 am EST.  The solstice marks the official beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring when Earth arrives at the point in its orbit where the North Pole is at its maximum tilt (about 23.5 degrees) towards the Sun, resulting in the longest day and shortest night of the calendar year.  By longest “day”, this means the longest period of sunlight hours.  On the day of the June solstice, the Northern Hemisphere receives sunlight at the most direct angle of the year.

COT – snippet from this blog post – https://www.swiftpassportservices.com/blog/finding-balance-summer-solstice-winter-solstice/

In All Things, Balance – An important thing to remember at each solstice is that when we are experiencing the longest day of the year in the north, the southern hemisphere is experiencing the shortest day of the year, and vice versa.  In that way, the solstice is an excellent reminder that things that seem pushed to one extreme or another can actually have a hidden balance within them.  The solstices are also a reminder for us to find balance within ourselves and to respect the fact that we live our lives in cycles – everything must end, but it will always begin again.

Happy Summer Solstice!