The Summer Solstice Is Here - And It's More Than A Cosmic Event, It's A Wake-Up Call
On June 20, the summer solstice will arrive, ushering in the longest, brightest day in the northern hemisphere. As the sun ascends to its highest elevation, a mirage takes place. For three days, that great ball of fire appears to hover in place in the sky.
Fittingly, solstice is actually derived from two Latin words: 'sol' which means 'sun' and 'sistere' which means 'to stand still.' There's an invitation encoded in that name. Can we stand still for a few days? In a year dense with noise—protests in the streets, algorithms in overdrive—any break in the action might seem like denial or, worse, defeat. But we're not talking about freeze in the fight-or-flight sense. The solstice creates space for a purposeful pause, one that allows us to gather our inner strength.
We also have an opportunity to sit in our emotional truth. Cancer season begins with the summer solstice each June, bringing a soulful sensitivity to the world. A gentle reminder streams in with the solstice: There is strength in our softness and our willingness to care.
Fittingly, some of the most quietly commanding figures in modern history happen to be Cancerians, including Malala Yousafzai, the Dalai Lama, and Nelson Mandela. While they fought for different freedoms, they have this in common: Each one stood still and firm in their fight for human rights.
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Malala Yousafzai, born July 12, survived a targeted attack from the Taliban for standing up for girls' education. She went on to become a global voice for empowering women and girls. Since 2013, her birthday has been honored as Malala Day, an annual international celebration focused on education advocacy.
The Dalai Lama, born July 6, has modeled stillness as a source of strength since his exile from Tibet in 1959. Through his gentle teachings on compassion and unwavering commitment to peace, he's reminded the world that the refusal to retaliate with violence can be as impactful as protest.
Legendary South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was born on July 18. After enduring 27 years of imprisonment, he became the country's first Black president in 1994. In the spirit of standing still, Mandela refused to be conditionally released from prison on certain occasions, choosing instead to uphold his principles.
As the sun pauses at its peak this solstice, we're reminded that growth doesn't always look like motion. Sometimes, it looks like standing your ground or waiting for clarity. Like gathering light before the next season. It isn't inertia—it's calibration. The world will keep spinning, the headlines will keep coming, but for a moment, we're invited to take a cue from the cosmos: to be still, feel deeply, and choose our next step from a place of rooted knowing. The sun will move again, and so will we, but not before we take a breath.
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Ophira and Tali Edut (The AstroTwins) are among the most sought-after astrologers and intuitive advisors of our times. As the longtime resident astrologers for ELLE Magazine and the authors of over 20 books, they are the advisors to a roster of CEOs, celebrities, global leaders and successful entrepreneurs. They've read charts for celebrities the likes of Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, and Emma Roberts. Their new book, The Astrology Advantage (Simon & Schuster), introduces The AstroTwins' revolutionary I*AM System, which simplifies the birth chart into three archetypes: Innovator, Authority, and Maven. On television, The AstroTwins have appeared as guest experts for Bravo, MTV, 'Good Morning America,' and the 'Today' show, and created the first streaming reality TV dating show based on astrology, Cosmic Love (Amazon Prime Video, 2022). Their work on the subject of 'spiritual technology' as an essential tool for business success has been featured in Fast Company and at leadership conferences around the world. Ophira and Tali have taught thousands of people their methods through their online platform, and at their signature retreats. Graduates of The University of Michigan, Ophira and Tali grew up in Detroit and currently live in New York and Seattle.
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Forbes
10 hours ago
- Forbes
15 Enlightening Books About Spirituality
Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama (center) presents a copy of book to a monk during ... More the inauguration of the International Conference on 'Mahayana Buddhism. We're constantly moving, scrolling, optimizing and performing, but rarely pausing long enough to ask what any of it means. These 15 powerful books about spirituality offer roadmaps, influenced by ancient traditions and modern wisdom, pointing toward love, suffering, belief and the meaning of it all. Some explore the meaning of life and others tackle grief, death or healing. A few offer hard-won wisdom on how to live with presence, compassion and clarity. Top Books About Spirituality While religion often answers through doctrine, spirituality tends to ask through experience. The books on this list span that spectrum. While some draw from Eastern mysticism, others from Western theology, and several combine both. Other could be shelved in 'self-help,' but their impact reaches deeper and is more transformative for how we think about being human. This list doesn't aim to be definitive but aims to be useful. It is subjective and therefore non-exhaustive. One of the world's most respected spiritual texts, Tao Te Ching remains widely relevant even now. More than two millennia old, the ancient text remains one of the most radical spiritual bodies of work ever written. In just 81 short verses, Lao Tzu sketches a worldview where effortlessness is strength, humility is leadership and being still is the greatest motion. The Tao, or 'The Way,' is less a destination than a current, something that a person yields to, not conquers. Its paradoxes go against the logic of ambition, which makes it an enduring counterpoint to Western models of striving. This is not a book you master; it's one that masters you over time. Who should read this book: Anyone trying to understand the nuances of power or readers drawn to wisdom that emphasizes simplicity over struggle. Where to read: Simon & Schuster The Bhagavad Gita begins on a battlefield, but it's really about an internal war, the one between duty and internal conflict, fear, soul and ego. The story itself is told as a dialogue between the warrior Arjuna and the god Krishna; Arjuna is paralyzed by the idea of fighting his own kin. Krishna responds not with comforting platitudes but with spiritual fire: do your duty, without attachment to the outcome. The Bhagavad Gita is compact. It skips theological debates and cuts straight to existential clarity. It distills Hindu philosophy into a dialogue about fear, identity and the soul's calling. The primary message here is one about courage, detachment and the eternal self, which has resonated far beyond its cultural origins and shaped great thinkers from Mahatma Gandhi to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Who should read this book: Anyone struggling with an ethical dilemma, trying to understand Eastern philosophy, or looking for guidance on living fully. Where to read: Simon & Schuster Paramahansa Yogananda's spiritual memoir introduced millions of Westerners to Eastern mysticism through stories that read like fiction but are presented as lived experience. The Indian yogi's journey from childhood meetings with saints to establishing the Self-Realization Fellowship in America bridges two worlds with clarity, while making the wisdom of ancient Vedantic teachings accessible to modern minds. Few memoirs bridge East and West as seamlessly as Yogananda's spiritual classic. More than a biography, it's a gateway into the mystical traditions of India, yet is translated for the analytic Western mind. Yogananda doesn't preach belief; he advocates experience. What results is less a chronicle of his life and more a user's manual for spiritual awakening. Who should read this book: Skeptics who are curious about mystical claims or anyone interested in the meeting point between Eastern spirituality and Western science. Where to read: Barnes & Noble People take part in a yoga session at Namo Ghat to mark the International Day of Yoga, in Varanasi, ... More India. Ram Dass' four-sectioned book Be Here Now follows the then Richard Alpert, a Harvard psychology professor who left his academic life in search of something more meaningful. Alpert was already successful, yet when he and Timothy Leary began their psychedelic research together, the research only heightened Dass' spiritual restlessness rather than resolving it. What followed was a trip to India that converted Alpert into Baba Ram Dass, a 'servant of God.' His encounter with Guru Neem Karoli Baba represents the moment when Western psychological training meets Eastern spiritual beliefs. The book is part autobiography, part free-form, while offering a manual that includes yoga, pranayama and meditation techniques. Who should read this book: High achievers who've checked all the conventional boxes yet still feel something important is missing. This also applies to those who are navigating a major life transition or an existential crisis and are seeking clarity. Where to read: Penguin Random House Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now offers a spiritual route from the mental prison most of us live in without realizing it. Tolle's central insight cuts through decades of self-help noise with surgical precision: our suffering isn't caused by our circumstances but by our relationship to our thoughts about those circumstances. Tolle shows how the voice in our heads often analyzes everything to create a parallel truth that only exists in our minds. By learning to step back and accept things as they are, Tolle argues that the hard parts of life can become more manageable. The book also uses Eastern wisdom traditions while referencing mysticism. Who should read this book: Anyone trapped in the cycle of overthinking will find relief in Tolle's approach. Where to read: Namaste Publishing Decades before anxiety became a public health issue, Alan Watts anticipated the crisis. His central premise is that modern life's obsession with certainty in the financial, emotional and spiritual, is itself the root of chronic unease. It's a prescient work for a generation that increasingly questions what is next. Watts is able to transcribe ancient Eastern wisdom into language that speaks to Western sensibilities. He also shows how our attempts to secure the future actually rob us of the only reality we can ever truly inhabit in this moment. Who should read this book: Philosophers and spiritual seekers will appreciate Watts' ability to make Eastern concepts accessible without diluting their depth. Where to read: Barnes & Noble Khalil Gibran's The Prophet is a poetic yet wise analysis about life's important experiences through the farewell speech of Al Mustafa, a prophet leaving after spending 12 years in the city of Orphalese. When the townspeople learn of his departure, they gather at the temple to see him one last time. Almitra, a seeress, asks Al Mustafa to share the wisdom he has gained during his time with them before he leaves. In response to their questions, Al Mustafa offers teachings on the fundamental aspects of life, love, work, joy, sorrow, freedom, friendship, and death. Gibran's background as both an Eastern mystic and Western artist allowed him to create a work that feels both ancient and contemporary, with language that maintains spiritual insight. Who should read this book: Readers drawn to poetic rather than analytical approaches to ancient wisdom. Where to read: Barnes & Noble Alan Watts makes another entry on this list with The Way of Zen, which traces how an ancient Indian philosophy traveled through China, observed Taoist wisdom and emerged as something entirely new. Watts doesn't just chronicle this evolution; he makes it feel inevitable, showing how Zen Buddhism represents the perfect marriage of Buddhist insight and Chinese practicality. Watts takes away the exotic trappings that often obscure Zen's core while preserving what makes it rather transformative. Instead of presenting another collection of cryptic koans and monastery stories, he shows Zen as a practical approach to living, one that permeates everything from tea ceremonies to martial arts and poetry to garden design. Who should read this book: Anyone seeking to understand Zen beyond Hollywood stereotypes and fortune cookie wisdom will find Watts' scholarly yet accessible approach helpful. Where to read: Barnes & Noble After losing her 16-year-old daughter to an equestrian accident, Martha Hickman decided to write Healing After Loss. The book has 365 brief meditations that guide readers through the unpredictable, messy parts of losing a loved one. Where Hickman doesn't promise grief will end, she demonstrates how it can evolve from devastating intrusion to remembrance. Hickman also offers something rare: permission to grieve messily and indefinitely while realizing that loss fundamentally changes people. At the same time, she does not offer false comfort but writes from the position of someone who knows that some losses never stop hurting; they just become part of who you are. The meditations can be read in any order, making it practical for people whose concentration has been affected by loss. Who should read this book: Anyone dealing with the confusing aftermath of losing a loved one. Where to read: Barnes & Noble Two Nobel Peace Prize winners, the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, spent a week together in the Dalai Lama's home in Dharamsala, India, in April 2015 to celebrate the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday. Leading up to that point, both men had carried decades of personal trauma: the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 during the Tibetan uprising and has lived in exile ever since, while Tutu fought apartheid and witnessed unspeakable cruelties during South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Book of Joy explores happiness as both a philosophical concept and a practically necessary concept. They examine what they call the Eight Pillars of Joy while acknowledging the obstacles that prevent most people from accessing lasting contentment. Who should read this book: Anyone struggling to maintain hope during dark times will find encouragement in this book. Where to read: Penguin Random House Spiritual leader Dalai Lama to blow out candles on his birthday cake as retired Archbishop Desmond ... More Tutu looks on at the Tibetan Childrens Village School April 23, 2015 in Dharmsala, India. Post-World War I Europe inspires Hermann Hesse's 1922 masterpiece. Hesse engages with Eastern mysticism, Jung's emerging theories of the unconscious and European romanticism's authenticity, then welds them into something that feels both ancient and modern. By the time Siddhartha meets the humble ferryman who has somehow cracked the code of existence through simple attention to a river's flow, Hesse has constructed an entire philosophy around the idea that authentic knowledge can't be taught but only lived. The end result is that Siddhartha focuses more on universal spiritual themes and individual self-discovery, drawing from Eastern philosophy and spiritual traditions. Who should read this book: People who are spiritually curious but institutionally skeptical, or readers who are interested in the collision between Eastern and Western thought. Where to read: Penguin Random House In The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama and Dr. Howard Cutler, the two men use millennia of Tibetan Buddhist wisdom and Cutler's psychiatric knowledge to create an ancient contemplative practice filtered through contemporary psychological understanding. The collaboration works because it refuses to treat enlightenment as some rarified state available only to monks. Instead, the Dalai Lama and Cutler study ordinary human struggles, romantic disappointment, professional frustration and family conflict to demonstrate how shifting perspectives can turn suffering into wisdom. Their approach combines rigorous mental training with practical psychology, creating a framework that speaks to both skeptical rationalists and spiritual seekers. The book does not settle for easy answers or spiritual bypassing but instead presents contentment as a learnable skill, developed through disciplined practice. Who should read this book: The Art of Happiness appeals to a surprisingly broad readership, united by their search for something more sustainable than fleeting pleasures or pharmaceutical fixes. Where to read: Penguin Random House Pema Chödrön's When Things Fall Apart reads like the book you reach for when life is difficult and advice about positive thinking feels like an insult. The primary message in this book is that spiritual practice isn't about ignoring human messiness but learning to sit with it, breathe through it and somehow find wisdom in the wreckage. Chödrön doesn't promise that meditation will make everything better. Instead, she asserts that it is possible that our human breakdowns might be breaking us open rather than breaking us down. Her 'heart advice' emerges from decades of wrestling with her own struggles, including a messy divorce. This isn't wisdom handed down from a soapbox, but feels authentic because it is from hard-won insights from someone who has learned to work with chaos rather than against it. Who should read this book: Anyone whose usual coping mechanisms are no longer as effective. Where to read: Barnes & Noble Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love is an accessible modern entry point on this list that led millions toward spiritual exploration. It successfully tapped into a growing cultural conversation about fulfillment, privilege and the limits of traditional success for women in the U.S. In Gilbert's memoir, the successful writer abandons her comfortable suburban marriage to eat carbs in Italy, meditate in an Indian ashram and experience personal growth and healing in Bali. The book's three-act structure represents a different approach to healing: sensual pleasure in Rome, disciplined spiritual practice in India and the integration of both in Bali. Gilbert's journey from a painful divorce to hard-won wisdom resonates because she never pretends the path is easy or that geographic solutions automatically solve psychological problems. Who should read this book: People recovering from a divorce or a major relationship change. Where to read: Penguin Random House Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat, Pray, Love and Jayne Brown, a program host at QVC, pose for a photo ... More backstage during the Pennsylvania Conference for Women. This classic, written by St. John of the Cross, a 16th-century Spanish mystic, looks at the inevitable spiritual dryness that seekers often experience before spiritual maturity can happen. St. John of the Cross coined the phrase that has become shorthand for any period of spiritual crisis, but his original work offers something far more sophisticated: a detailed map of the soul's journey through dark times to experiencing growth. This point of view, combined with the psychological insight in the book, anticipates modern understanding of depression and existential crisis. St. John validates that spiritual suffering is necessary while offering hope that such dark times have a purifying outcome. Who should read this book: Anyone experiencing spiritual crisis or doubt, readers interested in Christian mysticism, or those trying to understand how suffering can help spiritual development. Where to read: Dover Publications Bottom Line These 15 books answer humanity's oldest questions and analyze them through different lenses, including ancient Buddhist wisdom, contemporary grief counseling and papal social criticism. They don't share the same doctrine but a recognition that material success alone leaves most people spiritually starved. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) What Is Spirituality? Spirituality is what happens when people stop accepting that paychecks and possessions constitute a complete life. It's the interest in consciousness, meaning and connection that goes beyond material things. Unlike academic philosophy, spirituality demands full engagement of the mind, body and soul, not just intellectual study. Most serious practitioners draw from both established wisdom traditions and individual exploration. What Are The Types Of Spirituality? Religious spirituality includes Christian contemplation, Jewish mysticism, Islamic Sufism and Buddhist meditation. These religions usually offer guidance and communal support while operating from worldviews developed over centuries. Nature-based spirituality finds its identity through direct engagement with the natural world. This includes indigenous earth-centered traditions, contemporary paganism and wilderness practices emphasizing seasonal awareness and ecological interdependence. Consciousness-focused approaches use meditation and mind-training practices as a core basis for their approach to spirituality. Other types include service-oriented spirituality, grounded primarily in compassion, philosophy and creative expression. What Are Good Self-Help Books? Atomic Habits by James Clear offers the most practical approach to behavior change available. Clear's framework explains why willpower fails and how environmental design succeeds, providing concrete techniques for building beneficial habits through tiny, sustainable adjustments. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk changed how people viewed trauma treatment by showing that psychological wounds embed themselves in nervous system functioning. In this book, Van der Kolk uses evidence-based healing approaches like EMDR, neurofeedback, yoga and expressive arts to address trauma's physical dimensions outside of traditional talk therapy. Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab provides training for anyone struggling with toxic relationships or people-pleasing tendencies. Tawwab combines psychological principles with practical scripts for establishing healthy limits across all relationship contexts.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Excavated One of America's Oldest Schools—and Found a Secret Cellar
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: The Williamsburg Bray School is one of the oldest schools in the United States to educate Black students. Archeologists discovered remains of the school on the William & Mary campus in Virginia. Finds include the foundation of the school, a previously-undocumented cellar, and more than two centuries worth of buried artifacts. Few schools can say they're older than the countries in which they reside, but the Williamsburg Bray School holds that distinct honor. The Bray School was also one of the oldest schools in the United States dedicated to educating Black Americans. From 1760 to 1774, head teacher Ann Wager taught both free and enslaved students lessons from the Anglican Church. While the Bray School may seem revolutionary for its time, its history was actually much darker. The school was founded for the flawed purpose of convincing enslaved children to accept their circumstances. Today, the school serves as a key chapter in the history of Black education, yet historians know little about the students who actually attended. Luckily, researchers just discovered a few more pieces of the puzzle: the near-complete foundation of the Bray School and an undocumented cellar filled with centuries worth of artifacts. The remains fall on the College of William & Mary's (W&M) campus in Virginia; excavations were led by the school's Center for Archeological Research. According to a press release from W&M, the remnants of the cellar are sizable, measuring 36 feet by 18 feet. Tom Higgins, an archeologist for the Center, explained in the release that the cellar likely had multiple levels and was dug soon after the original foundation was laid. These recent excavations revealed the bottom of the cellar to be nearly 18 inches higher than previous research found. 'The discovery of this cellar is thrilling,' W&M President Katherine Rowe said in the release. 'The roots of our city and university entwine here. Every layer of history that it reveals gives us new insights into our early republic, from the Williamsburg Bray School through the generations that followed, up through the early 20th century.' Perhaps even more valuable than the cellar itself is the historic treasure archeologists found while digging. The artifacts discovered at the site provide a rich story spanning from the 18th to the mid-20th century. The newly found broken pottery shards, slate pencil pieces, buttons, and jewelry painted a picture of everyday life at the Bray School. According to the release, one of the team's favorite discoveries was part of a broken glass depicting the Roman goddess of wisdom, Minerva. One researcher at the center, Michele L. Brumfield, explained that the glass may have come from one of the school girls furnishing her dorm room, though the researchers say they're hesitant to draw any conclusions because 'it's early days.' Now that these once-lost stories have come to light, some of the artifacts will be displayed as a permanent installation in W&M's Gates Hall. Other treasures will be lent to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and exhibited at the Colin G. and Nancy N. Campbell Archaeology Center once it opens in 2026. In the meantime, there's still much more to be done at the site. 'This is exciting,' Maureen Elgersman Lee, director of the W&M Bray School Lab, said in the press release. 'What else are we about to learn? We are not done understanding the history of the Williamsburg Bray School, the history of Black education. We are not done learning the history of this area, and we are certainly not done learning the history of this country.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Black America Web
a day ago
- Black America Web
Outdoor Afro Offers Swim Scholarship Program To Help Close Racial Gap In Water Safety
Source: PixelsEffect / Getty Outdoor Afro, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reconnecting Black communities with nature, is making waves with its mission to address a long-standing disparity in swim education. The organization has been spreading the word about their Making Waves program, which provides swimming scholarships—or 'swimmerships'—to Black children, teens, and adults across the country, according to a report shared by journalist Phillip Lewis on June 24. The initiative aims to tackle a troubling and persistent issue: Black Americans are significantly more likely to drown than their white counterparts due to their inability to swim. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , over one-third (36.8%) of Black adults say they don't know how to swim, and 63% report never having taken a swimming lesson—both figures well above the national average. Equally alarming, the USA Swimming Foundation reports that 64% of African American children have little to no swimming ability—despite evidence that swim lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by up to 88%, according to a 2023 CBS report. Sadly, these troubling statistics are tied to America's history of segregation, which kept Black families from accessing public swimming pools for much of the 20th century. To close the gap, Outdoor Afro is teaming up with their exclusive partners, programs like Black People Will Swim in New York and Foss Swim School in Minnesota, to provide up to $200 per individual or $400 per family to cover the cost of beginner swimming lessons. 'Our Making Waves program isn't just about learning to swim. It's about reclaiming our relationship with water—together,' the organization stated in an Instagram post shared June 25. Founded in Oakland, California, in 2009 by speaker and public lands champion Rue Mapp, Outdoor Afro has since grown into the nation's leading network focused on Black leadership in outdoor recreation. Since launching Making Waves in 2019, the organization has awarded more than 3,500 swim scholarships. In 2025, it hopes to fund lessons for 2,000 more Black children and caregivers, Lewis noted. The critical scholarship program comes at an urgent time. Since 2019, drowning deaths have risen sharply in recent years, with over 4,500 lives lost annually from 2020 to 2022, an increase of more than 500 deaths per year, the CDC noted. Black Americans, along with American Indian and Alaska Native populations, experience the highest drowning rates of any racial group. Outdoor Afro's approach is more than just access; it's about creating generational change and giving Black families the skills they need to thrive in the water. For more information or to apply for a swim scholarship, visit Addressing The Stereotype That Black People Can't Swim Pool 'Karens' Go Viral SEE ALSO Outdoor Afro Offers Swim Scholarship Program To Help Close Racial Gap In Water Safety was originally published on
