The Softening Hour

I watched the most beautiful sunset of my life in Costa Rica and even now, remembering it fills me with gratitude and so much joy.

It happened in that hour when the day begins to let go. The sun lowered toward the water and everything softened with it. The waves had been crashing all afternoon and now they turned to watercolour, the swell rising and then rolling in, each one softening and blurring into the next. Even their sound gentled. The sky was every pastel at once. Peach melting into gold, into pink, into mauve, the whole of it blending together as though it had been painted with a wet brush.

The air was so warm and nurturing, infused with the softness of the sky and the water. You could smell it, the heat of the whole day slowly melting down into evening. The sand still held the warmth of the afternoon under my bare feet. Out in the salty waves my friends and family were leaping and laughing, their shapes dark against all that colour and a few surfers sat out on their boards in black silhouette, waiting on the swell. It was amazing.

It was not an ordinary moment. It was an extraordinary one. But the real gift wasn’t only the beauty in front of me, it was that I was present enough to receive it. To stand still and notice. To let it reach me all the way through and genuinely nurture me.

This is what I want to inspire in you this season. That feeling. The one that arrives when you let yourself be fully where you are.

 

The Doorway In

I got my taste of summer a little early this year, there on the Costa Rican coast, while back home the season was still only thinking about arriving. Now it’s here for the rest of us, and there’s a wisdom in the turning of the seasons I’ve always been drawn to. Nature inspires and grounds us, and the more we listen, the more she guides us. Each change of season feels like an open door, an invitation to change something in ourselves too.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, summer is the season of fire and of the heart and its emotion is joy. I feel every bit of that, in this season and in my own life right now. I’m moving through perimenopause too, a tender, changing season in my own body, the kind that asks you not just to feel everything more keenly, but to acknowledge it and let it shape who you’re becoming. I’m even learning how to carry this feeling forward into the rest of the year, though honestly, I’m still figuring that part out.

And here’s what I keep realizing: summer isn’t asking us to be gentle with ourselves. It’s asking us to step out of our comfort zone, to let the joy flow and the senses reach us, to feel the heat and let it move us. It wants us freer than we usually allow, ready to do the dance, so to speak, and feel genuinely alive.

Because the same sun that heats you up is the one that softens you, the way warmth melts something solid, like wax, until it flows and then settles into a new shape. That’s the full arc of summer as I feel it now: to burn bright, cool & soften and come back, transformed. I think that’s what summer is really for and maybe the whole beauty of it.

 

Mind: Loosening the Knot

Even as everything else gets brighter and bolder, your mind deserves chill. Summer is not the season to optimize every hour. Some of them are meant to stay gloriously unplanned.

It’s a real shift of mindset. We can’t relax until we loosen the knot. Let the lists wait and the schedule ease. An hour outside or a meal that lands a little late, won’t break a thing.

I’m noticing this in my own life lately. The spring cleaning has calmed down. The evening walks have grown longer. I’m less worried about getting every meal at exactly the right time. And the birds have become my favourite soundtrack, with a little help from the Merlin app, a fabulous free little wonder from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that listens alongside you and names every bird you’re hearing. Download it, you won’t regret it. It turns a walk into something enchanting (and fun!)

The long days play a part too. All that extra evening light is a gift, but it gently nudges your internal clock later, so most of us fall asleep later and sleep a little less in summer than we do in the dark months. That’s normal and seasonal, not a problem to solve. What helps is giving your eyes real darkness once your night winds down.

Body: Cool the Body, Not the Fire

The moment the heat arrives, my body wants lighter food and yours probably does too. This is the season to build your meals around what’s cooling and full of water.

In summer, our digestion runs a little more delicate. The sun heats us from the outside and the body responds by drawing warmth out to the surface to release it. That pulls some energy away from where digestion happens, which is why heavy or icy food can sit harder this time of year. The kinder move is to reach for cooling foods rather than ice-cold drinks, which can dull your digestion right when you want it working well. Cool the body, not the fire.

Salads become the main event, not the side. The trick to a salad you actually crave is to treat it like a canvas. Start with a generous base of leafy greens or fresh herbs, then pile on whatever sings to you:

• Cooling vegetables: cucumber, celery, fennel, shaved zucchini, radish
• Juicy fruit: watermelon, peaches, berries, citrus segments
• Plant protein: chickpeas, white beans, edamame, or a sprinkle of hemp hearts
• Good fats and finishing touches: avocado, olives, toasted seeds, a crumble of feta, a generous drizzle of olive oil
• Fresh herbs by the handful: mint, basil, dill, cilantro

Watermelon and cucumber are basically hydration you can chew and a watermelon & mint salad with a squeeze of lime and a little crumbled feta makes a perfect summer lunch. You can nourish your skin from the inside too, with the same colourful, antioxidant-rich foods we keep coming back to. Mint earns a place in nearly everything this season, since it cools you from the inside while it settles the belly and it pairs beautifully with fresh peas too. And pesto is a summer love, tossed through gluten-free pasta and folded into a big salad.

And don’t forget the sun itself. A little daily sunlight is how your body makes vitamin D, which your mood and your immune system quietly depend on. Soak it up gently in the morning and late-afternoon light.

When the midday sun is at its peak (a glance at the UV index on your weather app will tell you), protect your skin. A mineral sunscreen and a good hat do the job beautifully. I also find a light scarf tucked in your bag is easy to pack and lovely draped over your shoulders or anywhere else that wants covering.

And then there’s this ritual worth looking forward to all summer.

This drink found me while travelling. It began in Costa Rica with my friend, who had some dried hibiscus in her cupboard. She told me a friend of hers had picked and dried the flowers herself. In Panama, hibiscus seemed to grow everywhere, so much so that I used the blooms in some silk botanical printing. And by the time I reached Palm Springs, where it hit a genuinely insane 45 degrees, I was making a big pitcher of it every single day for me and my girlfriends, filling an icy travel mug to the brim each time we headed out the door. It was the thing that kept us hydrated and alive in that heat.

 

N.J.’s Sunset Hibiscus Iced Tea

Cooling, deep rose in the glass and it pours like a sunset. Caffeine-free, so the whole family can enjoy it and it won’t touch anyone’s sleep.

• Brew it strong. Steep a generous amount of loose hibiscus, or a hibiscus-forward blend, in about 4 cups of just-off-the-boil water
• Let it sit and steep for a good long while, anywhere from a couple of hours and up. The longer it goes, the deeper and richer the colour and flavour
• Strain, then stir in a little local honey while the tea is still warm. Melt the honey first in a splash of warm water so it blends in smoothly instead of seizing up against the cold later
• Add fresh-squeezed lemon, or a couple of my trusty lemon cubes
• Top with filtered water to taste, then pour over plenty of ice
• For extra colour and a pretty tartness, add a splash of cherry or cranberry juice

A quick note on the tea itself: you can use plain loose hibiscus, or a hibiscus-forward blend, which simply means hibiscus as the star, usually mixed with berries or other fruit for a little extra depth.

And it’s genuinely good for you. Hibiscus has been sipped as a cooling refreshment across hot climates for centuries. It’s naturally cooling and refreshingly tart and that deep ruby colour comes from antioxidants, the same plant compounds that make berries so rich. It’s high in vitamin C, a quiet friend to your skin and your immune system and with no caffeine, it hydrates you rather than depleting you. Summer in a glass.

 

Spirit: The Season of the Heart

This is the season to follow your heart, an opportunity to gently come undone.

Summer draws something out of us that the quieter seasons keep tucked away. The pull to be inspired and moved, to be freer than usual, to say yes to the swim and to the late dinner. Summer is permission to come alive out loud.

And this is the season of easy connection. Connecting with friends, nature, or time, an evening with nowhere to be. Underneath all of it runs that same quiet invitation: to relax into yourself.

I find this in my own yoga practice. On the mat, I move and breathe until I’m warm and awake, then let it all settle into stillness. It’s the whole arc of summer in one practice, the rising and then the softening.

If you want a simple place to begin, try a supported heart opener. Lay a bolster lengthwise along the floor, lie back over it so it runs the length of your spine with your head supported at the top, and let your arms fall open to your sides, palms turned up. Rest there for five to ten minutes with slow, easy breaths. It opens the chest beautifully and lets the heart turn upward, exactly what a season of fire and the heart asks for. If you don’t have a bolster, a stack of folded blankets works just as well. And Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani) is a lovely alternative for similar nervous-system magic.

 

Your Next Steps

Summer is a long and generous season. There’s no rush and nothing here to perfect. Start with whatever calls to you:

You’ll need:

• Watch a sunset all the way down, with no phone in your hand
• Do one thing purely because it brings you joy, with no other reason needed
• Let yourself get heated up and a little uncomfortable and fully alive, then let yourself cool, soften, and flow
• Build one salad that genuinely excites you and eat it slowly
• Brew a jug of iced hibiscus tea and keep it icy cold and ready to go

The Endless Summer

I keep returning to that sunset in Costa Rica. The way the light let go, softening after a bright, burning day. The way the waves stopped striving and relaxed into themselves.

That’s the whole invitation of this season, as I feel it now. To let yourself burn bright, feel everything and then to let the same warmth soften you to the distilled essence of yourself.

And you don’t have to fly anywhere to find it. Some of the most show-stopping skies in the world happen right here over the prairies, the kind of summer sunset that stops you in a parking lot and refuses to let you look away. The invitation is the same wherever you are. Step outside and let her reach you.

I’m practicing this right alongside you. Some days I slow right down and soak it all in. Other days get busy and I simply remind myself to look up and catch it. But the sun keeps setting and there is always another chance to stop and watch.

Wishing you an endless summer of your own.

Warmly,

N.J.

P.S. My online shop is finally open and I could not be more excited to share it with you. To celebrate, I’m offering 15% off as a little summer welcome with the code SUMMERWELCOME, good right through the end of summer. A couple of my own favourites are waiting in there: the cooling Peace Labs Peace Balm, the very roll-on I tuck into my carry-on and the B, Halfmoon eye pillow, so calming for the nervous system and a gentle cue to wind down when the long summer evenings stay light. Come have a look whenever you like.