August is More Slump than Humps – how to get over the karmic sludge of the end of summer

Greetings!

No, it’s not your imagination. August is a drag, man. I mean really draggy.  There’s a strange dead energy about this month and some say it even causes sadness and depression. Seasonal Affective Disorder works both ways and isn’t just for Christmas.

The roads are quieter, the shops are selling the limp summer weeds of fashion making us wait for the glories of Autumn glamour and the air’s as stale as a motivational poster in the dentist’s waiting room.

It’s hard to get motivated, to feel moved to start something new when it’s not inflation but deflation that feels like you’ve had the stuffing knocked out of you.

August is the new February. A month of wading through tedium treacle until the freshness of the new season allows us to inhale with hope and vigour. In meantime we suffer the foggy pre-med drowsiness of a month of bum days.

If the old ennui is swaying in your hammock think micro-tasks and treats to bridge the fulcrum until the “new term” high of September releases its tide of momentum.

Micro-moments for late summer magic

Now’s not the time for big goals but micro targets done long and languidly to create highs in these dazy, lazy days of summer.

Here are some things I am turning to:

• Making my own preserves such as chilli oil (see pic below) from scotch bonnet and red chillis grown in my garden
• Doing mini workouts – stretches outside, barefoot dew walks in garden, sunset gazings
• Enjoying no-rush days and taking time to relish journeys
• Add romance to these late summer days – eat and drink from your best plates and glasses, wear your best stuff, add flowers to your weekly shopping list
• Languid lunches with lovely friends
• The transgressive feeling of lying on the bed doing long guided meditations
• Spending time cooking fresh produce meals
• Reading a book during the day – wild, I know!

In fact, that’s about all I can come up with as my mint julep on the stoop is calling and I am heading for the chaise longue. Tell me, what are your micro moments to get you through the month that time and tide forgot? Wake me up when you’ve done your list. Email me.