Sustain Your Summer Energy with These 5 Refreshing Tips

Summer can be expansive and energizing! Sunny days bring warmth and vibrancy to our souls and to the nature around us.

And sometimes all that heat and intensity from summer fire can be depleting.

You know….the late day laziness, increased irritability, and heightened stress from juggling work with kids home and vacations to enjoy (vacations which are meant to reduce stress but often cause us to overextend ourselves).

How can you maintain balance and motivation through the hot summer months? If you start running on empty, how can you restore and nourish yourself so you can remain steady in the heat?

Here are 5 ways to show yourself some summer lovin’ so you can protect your energy, avoid burning out, and thoroughly enjoy this beautiful summer.

1. Start your day in a slow, cool way.

If you don’t naturally wake with the rise of the sun, start getting to bed a little earlier and setting an alarm to go off just before sunrise. You’ll have a couple of hours to spend before the heat really kicks in.

Gift yourself this cooler time of day to gently stretch into the morning…literally.

• Practice a gentle yoga, stretching or mobility routine.
• Go for a walk.
• Sip on some lemon water or green tea for an energy boost.
• Meditate with a cooling breath exercise: pull your lips into a circle, curl your tongue like a straw (if you can, but it will still work if you can’t), and breath in slowly through this cooling tunnel and out through your nose.

What other practices would feel really good and cooling for you in the mornings?

This also might be a good time to tackle a few tasks that require strong mental focus, even if you’re not a “morning” person. During the summer, the heat of the day usually slows down the mind and the body. It’s best to get important things done early.

2. Energize your mind, body and spirit with cooling, hydrating foods and drinks.

Enjoy fresh fruits and veggies, especially melons, peaches, berries, pomegranate, cucumbers, leafy greens, tomatoes, celery, zucchini, bell peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots.

Is your mouth watering now?

• Don’t shy away from soups in the summer. Cold or warm soups can be extremely satisfying and nourishing even on warm days.
• Mix up smoothies with some items from that fruit and veggie list above and add hydrating yogurt.
• Add some ice to your smoothie to create a devine sherbert or ice-cream like bowl and top with sliced almonds for some crunch.
• Experiment with flavored waters (using berries, citrus or other fruits and cucumbers) and herbal teas, such as peppermint, hibiscus or rose.
• Try coconut water plain or with some lime.
• Experiment with herbal teas such as cooling peppermint, bright hibiscus or energizing green leaf tea. Herbal teas–with their beautiful colors and sensual aromas–offer your body, mind and spirit a little happiness from a cup.

And don’t skip breakfast. Protect yourself from midday slumps and late day snack attacks by starting your day with a nourishing breakfast of whole foods, including some healthy fats, carbohydrates and quality protein. You’ll avoid a late morning crash that often stirs unhealthy cravings mid-afternoon, which then kick in the lazies.

If you don’t like having breakfast early in the morning, or if you’re practicing intermittent fasting, it’s fine to eat a little later. Just commit to making your first meal super nutritious. When you experience the terrific benefits, you’ll more likely make equally healthy choices for lunch and dinner.

Try different foods and see which ones make you feel good and give you sustained energy.

In my Summer Rejuvenation Recipe Guide you’ll find 6 luscious summer soups, 5 scrumptious smoothies, 10 hydrating drinks, plus tons more recipes for dairy-free milks, snacks, treats, dips, sauerkraut, salad dressings, and perfect protein packed summer meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

3. Protect your afternoons.

Your body warms up naturally during the afternoon. Midday is not the best time for intense workouts. Cardio workouts are good for mornings; weight training is good for evenings and might even help you wind down better at bedtime. You could go for a walk outdoors early or late in the day.

Midday isn’t a good time for intense work tasks or meetings either. These are better to schedule in the morning when you’re less likely to feel irritated by too much heat.

Keep your lunch light and nourishing, and take a 5-10 minute rest after you eat, or go for an easy walk if you’re near a shaded area.

Take a couple water breaks where you actually stop what you’re doing to enjoy a full glass of water. Flavor it (and make it pretty) with some citrus slices, berries or cucumbers. Gaze out the window while you sip and let some sunlight refuel you for the rest of your day.

Whenever you start to feel agitated, take a few deep cooling breaths by curling your tongue and inhaling like your sucking through a straw, exhaling through your nose.

If you start to feel like you’re dragging, try a quicker breathing technique: inhale slowly through your nose, and release five quick exhales through a big smile, sort-of saying “hee-hee-hee-hee-hee.” You might feel silly and start to laugh. It worked!

Use citrus scents to liven up your afternoons. Burn citrus candles, diffuse citrus essential oils, simmer citrus peels in some water on the stove top, or peel and eat an orange or grapefruit. Add a touch of vanilla to your candle, diffuser or simmering water and take yourself back to your childhood dreamcicle days.

Remember those? Mmm….

These small acts throughout your day will reset your nervous system and replenish your energy. So stock up on items you need to make sure you’re always set to honor your body, mind and spirit needs all day.

4. Protect your productivity.

The heat of summer can bring on irritability, restlessness and/or burnout. Your brain can feel more scrambled and scattered. It can be harder to stick with anything.

Reclaim your focus and restore clarity with these simple practices.

Try Gotu Kola tea. It has cooling properties that can help regulate your body temperature and it enhances cognitive function. Win-win! You might want to add some chamomile or lemon balm for flavor or squeeze in some fresh lemon or lime juice. If you want stronger effects you can purchase Gotu Kola in tincture or capsule forms.

Chewing fennel seeds after a meal can aid digestion and help you avoid bloating. It’s refreshing scent and tingle in your mouth can perk you up, too, so you can get back to work feeling refreshed, not sluggish.

Schedule your most focused work in the morning or early evening. Let natural sunlight into your workspace while it’s not too strong and will energize you, not deplete you.

Eat a light lunch without distractions so your mind has a chance to restore. Choose cooling foods for lunch, such as minty rice, coconut yogurt, fennel and cucumber salad, citrus marinated fish, chicken or chickpeas.

Rest your eyes throughout the day with regular screen breaks. Try gazing out a window at the horizon or something nice in nature. If you have no window view, keep a picture or piece of art in your workspace that allows you to get lost for a few minutes. Or opt for a short catnap if you like.

Short walks in the shade can energize you. But don’t think of this as a workout; don’t let yourself get overheated if you need to get back to work.

Work on mindfulness and being present so that summer heat doesn’t hijack your mind at the times when you need clarity most. (Read my guide to laid-back mindfulness and meditation here.)

5. Honor restful evenings.

You know that a great day starts with a good night’s sleep. Good sleep will help you endure all the things: an early rise time, work challenges, needy children, sticking with healthy food choices when there’s crap all around you, meeting all of your daily goals and beyond.

Too much heat during the summer months can leave you feeling tired but restless and scattered at the end of your day.

Help your body and mind wind down with pleasant, calming evening rituals. Do what you can to make your evenings full of rhythm and relaxation, not more hustle.

• Get pressing things done before the sun goes down.
• Let your devices shut down with the sunset to allow yourself ample time to disconnect before your bedtime.
• Enjoy a foot soak or massage with lavender and orange essential oils, both helpful for relaxation and sleep. Peppermint can feel invigorating at first and then relaxing as it boosts your circulation.
• A warm or cool bath with epsom salts or magnesium oil or flakes can help to induce deeper sleep. Chamomile essential oil or tea bags in your bath can be very soothing for your mind and body as well.

Summer Self-Love

How will you sustain your energy with some summer self-lovin’? Need some more ideas?

Grab my FREE Summer Rejuvenation Guide and Summer Rejuvenation Recipe Guide here.