BRING THE SUNSHINE FROM SUMMER INTO FALL AND WINTER

As the summer season comes to an end, many of us tend to feel a little down. The warmer weather, the longer days, and the overall relaxing feeling of summer start to wind down. As a result, we prepare for the fun to end, and we believe it is time to get back to the grind. We may not realize this, but it doesn’t have to be a somber time. In fact, you can keep the good feeling from summer going throughout the year!

While the weather will change, and the back-to-school routine impacts your daily schedule, there is no reason for the experience not to be a positive one. With just a little shift in perspective and some added awareness, you can find ways to feel great long after summer ends.

STAY GRATEFUL

At the beginning of summer, most of us are feeling extremely excited. As a result we have a lot of positive feelings rushing through our body. The cause of these feelings, is usually the thought of all the wonderful things that we believe we can do, or that we intend to do. Naturally we find ourselves feeling so grateful that it’s summer. How often do you run into someone, who when asked how they’re doing, responds with something that demonstrates gratitude? For example, they might say “I’m doing great I can’t complain. I’m just so grateful we have wonderful weather today.” One that I often hear as well is, “I’m just grateful that we have the sun shining and we can enjoy the day.”

Now what’s interesting about those two statements, is that these perspectives are all relative. For example, a cold day in summer may feel like a beautiful day in winter. The same goes for the sun. The sun rises every day, and depending on the weather we will either get sunshine or not. Summer, spring, fall, winter, all have sun. As you can see it is all rooted in our perspective.

That is why it is important to remain grateful throughout the year. While you may want warm weather and sunny days, you can find so many other things to be grateful for. Just taking a couple minutes to be mindful of all that makes you feel good in your life, irrespective of the season, can help you get on the path of gratitude. Once you start feeling grateful, you naturally feel good from within, and your perspective continues to refocus on or be attracted to other things that make you feel good. During the non-summer months when you wake up, you can be grateful for the sun rising, which means you’re one more day closer to summer! Also, make sure to incorporate a quick gratitude routine each day for your children as well. By expressing gratitude as a family, the power of that good feeling grows exponentially, as you all feed off each other’s wonderful energy.

YOU CAN STILL BE ACTIVE

So often as adults, we prepare ourselves for the summer. Many of us like to get in shape for the summer or become a little bit more fit so we can do more physical activities during the summer. The good news is you don’t have to wait until it’s almost summer to be active. The flip side to that also holds true, in that you don’t only need to be active during the summer.

There are a few ways you can stay active during the fall, winter, and spring months. First, make sure you allocate a little bit of time every day to be physically active. This does not mean that you necessarily need a gym membership, however; you just want to make sure you keep your body moving so you release those feel-good chemicals.

The same is true for your children. It is important for their overall mental and physiological health to remain active throughout the year. You may find that it is easier to remain active as a family, than setting aside time for yourself. Often you will likely have more fun being active with your children then by yourself. If you enjoy doing it by yourself that is OH-K too!

For those of you who are comfortable bundling up you can always go outside on a sunny day in the fall or winter, and find wonderful activities to be active. You might find yourself going for a hike, playing a sport with your children, doing a seasonal outdoor activity such as ice skating, or even just playing a game of tag. It doesn’t matter, because you are outside being active. Some people may not like the cold weather, and that is OH-K too. You can be active indoors in a variety of ways. You could go to your community swimming pool to take a swim, Or you could find a place in your home where you could do a great stretching or yoga routine. You can do this with your children as well. If you’re looking for a guide, be sure to subscribe to our free Power Ups to get a free copy of the Yoga With Your OH-KS Buddies eBook for free today. With just a little bit of effort, you can discover a whole host of options to be active outside of summer.

MAKE SURE TO FIND YOUR CALM

As we previously mentioned one of the reasons many people do not look forward to the fall, winter, and spring seasons, is because of the hectic schedules that we all seem to have. In addition to getting our children back to school, we are also busy getting them to extracurricular activities, as well as our own jobs and household duties. So often it can feel as though we do not have enough time in the day to do anything for ourselves.

Being mindful of the fact that we need a little bit of time for ourselves allows us to bring our mind and body back to a level of calm each day. There are multiple ways in which you can take some time to practice mindfulness. You may simply sit in a quiet area at your home while everyone is asleep, and take a few deep breaths and do a few affirmations to remind yourself that you in fact are in control of your thoughts and feelings. As a result, you will shift your focus and awareness back to those things that make you feel good.

Others may find it easier to wake up a little early in the morning before anyone is awake, and take a few minutes to do a meditation. While there are varying ways to meditate, simply taking the time to start your day with a little bit of mindful mediation, you can go into your daily routine feeling calm, collected, and ultimately good.

You have shined so much light into this world these past few months, and you don’t need to stop. Just because summer is coming to an end, it does not mean that you need to stop feeling good. You now have the practice of feeling good for so many days, therefore, you are already capable of feeling good on your own. You’ve already known it, but now you are aware of it too!

Founder/CEO
OH-KS

Rachna Patel is the founder of OH-KS Corporation, a company that creates one-of-a-kind programs and materials, to help children ultimately become happy, healthy, confident, have a strong growth mindset, and so much more. To learn more about the latest products from OH-KS, you can visit their website at www.OH-KS.com