Welcome to High Summer!

This is actually one of my favorite times of the year. High summer is a name I have given this moment in the Northern Hemisphere when the early rush of summer ball games and vacation plans have settled, Nature is all-out with gardens, forests and fields bursting in full flush, the days are hot and long, the cicada noises at night fill our ears, their music a lullaby reminding me of all the summers that have gone before. The Sun is bright and it’s a relief to sit in the shade on a screened porch in the evening. It’s the image conjured up by those old Country Time Lemonade commercials that made us feel the endless possibilities of a long beautiful summer. High summer is the pause before the downhill rush of ‘back to school’ flow begins.

High summer is really a month or more long I think, but it often feels like just a brief moment. Already family and friends are asking themselves how can it be the end of July? Where has the time gone? Everyone I know, including myself, is preparing to send their children back to school. Only the sand in the suitcase, peeling tan lines, and social media pictures are left to remind us we did actually have a summer.

Do not fret though, we can show you where the time has gone, and while you can’t get that time back, we can teach you how to slow it down for the future so that come December, you are not asking yourself, ‘where has the year gone?’ 

We believe it is simply that a dysregulated nervous system cannot be present to an individual moment.  The two are mutually exclusive. Undoubtedly, you have heard a lot of noise lately about both the “Art of Being Present” and “nervous system dysregulation” but maybe not necessarily mentioned in direct relationship to each other.  

Yes, “dysregulated nervous system” is getting a lot of airtime these days and rightly so, understanding this is the medicine we all desperately need right now. Busyness helps you feel in control, it distracts a brain that is filled with anxiety, it fills the time so that our minds do not have time or energy to really look at and feel our overflowing emotional reservoirs (see Nicole Sachs’ work and book Mind Your Body). 

Unfortunately, the opportunity cost is quite high, and it comes in the form of us questioning ‘Where did the summer go?’ A dysregulated brain hyperfocuses on what it thinks is keeping you safe, this is its number one job. This can mean anything from over-preparing to overscheduling (FOMO) to procrastination and burnout. Our memories are full of things like to-do lists, worries, and critical inner voices that crowd out the joy, wonder and curiosity of day-to-day living. 

Besides busyness, think for a moment about the different ways our bodies are telling us we are going too fast. Our bodies are showing us, pretty clearly if we are honest, that most of us are in a near-constant level of nervous system activation whether it be fight, flight, freeze, fawn or faint (did you know there were so many activated states?). The reasons for this are myriad and a topic for another post. Common body complaints indicative of nervous system activation are having a slowed gut, elevated heart rate and blood pressure, insomnia, stiff joints, vertigo, brain fog, sensations akin to ADHD, inability to focus, panic attacks, auto-immune disorders, body pain, headaches, heartburn and so many more. At Partnered Healing, we can teach you how to dialogue with your own body and understand the messages that are important to your unique healing journey. 

High Summer is a perfect time to remember that Nature shows us exactly how to slow down, savor, eat with the seasons, attune, follow surges and rest. 

I know that I do not want to be at the end of my life begging to know where the time went. Instead, I want to think to myself, ‘life had a lot of ups and downs but I really savored it.’ 

Don’t you?

Please continue to follow our socials and blog as Partnered Healing dives deep into Total Reclamation and Embodiment. Reclamation and Embodiment of mind, body and spirit, reclamation and embodiment of time, health and well-being, reclamation and embodiment of all that is our birthright as human beings on a gorgeous planet. We have so much more to share. It’s a big idea, but we are equipped, we’re here for it, and we hope you'll join the ride! 

Written by Jessica Cochran, BSN RN, Integrative Life Coach