From the Editor

Late Summer, according to Chinese philosophy, is a time for gratitude, abundance, harvest, nourishment, giving and receiving, grounded thoughtfulness, Mother Earth,
the mouth and taste.

I've been thinking about how not to miss the precious moment of this Summer--before it's gone!  It seemed easier to do this when I was a child.  I guess what I am really looking for is how to "live" summer...how to "be" summer! 

Then in yoga class I came upon a reflection on the Lotus Mudra (a hand posture used in meditation to express some quality).  Gertrud Hirschi in her book Mudras writes: 

This mudra belongs to the heart chakra and is the symbol for purity.  Love lives in the heart, together with goodwill, affection, and communication.  We are meant to keep it pure and give it unconditionally, like an open flower that holds its chalice open for the insects.  It is their nourishment and gives them warmth on cold nights.  In turn, the insects pollinate it and help it fulfill the purpose of its existence.  We are connected with our fellow human beings in more or less the same way--in both the good sense and the bad--and dependent upon them.  However, the open flower has another message waiting for us.  It opens to the sun, the divine principle, and lets itself be given whatever it needs; and it is given in abundance--it receives much more than it "needs."  We enjoy blossoming flowers because they bear joy, the divine countenance, within themselves, and exude it to us. 

Affirmation:  I open myself to nature; I open myself to the good that exists in every human being; and I open myself to the Divine so that I will be richly blessed.

This Summer I want to open myself to light, lightness, warmth, love, desire, and joy.  I find the gifts of Summer in taking restful pauses to deeply feel the warm sunlight, to hear the insect choruses at night, to see the stars, to smell the honeysuckle, and to taste the canteloupe and marvel at all those seeds inside it!