Life takes care. I truly believe this. Yet when we look at the endless stories that fill our news media lately – reports of mass displacement, social crisis, war, disease, and widespread suffering – it can be difficult to hold onto this view. 

I know there are teachers who can speak about this from the depth of their spiritual traditions. I cannot, and it is not my place to attempt that kind of explanation.

Within myself, I cannot find any justification for pain, cruelty, or neglect. From the standpoint of my simple understanding, it feels desperate, distressing and unnecessary. I am sure many of you will resonate with this.

Individually also, many of us feel more and more pressed upon by life. 

And yet, there is another way of seeing – a way of seeing where I can meet those teachers.

It arises through the understanding that a shift in collective consciousness may be the only real response to the suffering we see and experience. Only when each one begins the work, and makes the changes within him or herself that we all, for the most part, wish to see in the world at large – then all the unncessaray suffering we see, read and hear about, may finally be eased and relieved.

Such a shift takes time, but the truth is that it is already underway. We are living in a period of great awakening. Never before has so much been available to so many – so much that supports inner transformation. Even amid chaos, something is surfacing.

If you are reading this, and regularly engaging with ideas that invite awareness and personal evolution, then you are already part of this awakening shift.

We are not isolated beings. Like pebbles dropped into water, our thoughts, words, and actions ripple far beyond the boundaries of our individual lives. Every kindness, every harm, every moment of clarity or confusion contributes to the whole. We may do what we do for ourselves, but in truth, we do it for all. We inevitably do it fo all as we are not separate – we are an interconnected human family within a living world.

As Nietzsche wrote:

“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

From our shared chaos, something new is forming. Each of us, in our own way, can contribute to a wider constellation of change –  through each small shift in the way we live, relate, and meet the world.

Life takes care

If I look closely at my own life and surroundings, I see that life does take care. When there is openness and trust, support and answers often arrive just when they are needed most – even within uncertainty. Have you noticed this too? 

This does not mean life always unfolds as we wish. Loved ones pass away. Relationships end. Paths collapse. And yet, even within these experiences, there is often something that can be learned, integrated, and carried forward in a way that supports deeper living.

I think of one neighbour, an elderly woman who smoked heavily throughout her life. She had no family, and her health gradually deteriorated into emphysema and other conditions. She once told me the smoking was the only thing that gave her comfort, even though it was clearly harming her body.

“I can help you with some breathing techniques that may help you”, I once day told her as she leaned on the garden wall between our properties. “I’m breathing enough thank you very much” she said, gasping for breath. 

When she passed away, I was not present. However, on the return from my trip another close neighbour called me in to tell me of her passing. She told me that my neighbour did not die alone in a hospital room. This other neighbour -someone connected with the lady through family friendship –  held her hand, and stayed with her, comforting her as she took her final breaths. She died in her own home, in familiar surroundings, with her small dog nearby and a caring presence beside her.

Life took care of her in that moment so that, in spite of having no close family for comfort, she could pass with some degree of dignity and companionship at the end. What more, I thought, could any of us ask for?

Nature takes care

Nature is constantly showing us that life takes care – if we take time to pause and notice. Through shifting seasonal rhythms, nature provides us with exactly what is needed for sustained balance.

This is one of the central insights of Ayurveda: that nature is not random but is instructive.

We can see this clearly in the natural world around us at the height of summer. As the fire element increases in the environment, heat accumulates both externally and within us. And at the same time, nature begins to offer cooling foods and herbs  – roses bloom, mint grows abundantly, early apples appear, cucumbers swell, and watery fruits and vegetables fill markets and gardens.

This means that as the external heat rises to degrees that can start to impact our wellbeing, cooling means are provided.

This is the kind of natural intelligence that is always working to serve us. When we begin to notice it in simple ways – through the seasonal foods that nature provides, and through the ways that our ancestors have adapted their lifestyle to meet seasonal  environmental shifts – adaptations that we carry forward to this day (summer holidays, winter festive foods), we perhaps also start to recognise it in subtler aspects of life too. Nature is constantly communicating with us for our greater good.

The question is whether we are listening.

Summer and inner heat

Summer provides us with a clear example of nature at work in this way. The intensity of summer heat can mirror the intensity we experience internally through the pressure, speed, demand, and overstimulation that modern living can tend to generate within us. Modern day living brings an intensity, just as heat is intense.

In our modern day lifestyles, the mind can be impacted to the extent that it even begins to develop a kind of “pressure cooker” state – feeling ready to implode or overflow.

By observing nature, we are reminded to respond not only to the challenges of a changeful external world, but to these kind of inner challenges that each one of us is bound to meet through the course of our lives.

When we observe intensity internally as well as externally then, we naturally begin to seek cooling, not only physiologically through food, but mentally -emotionally in the ways we meet life. We shift how we live, move, breathe, and rest accordingly. 

For some, physiolgoical and mental-emotional heat or intensity, shows up all too clearly. It is a familiar experience for Pitta types in particular, and this may be exacerbated in the heat of the summer.

Vata types may experience summer differently, through another set of challenges. This type can become more ungrounded, restless, or mentally scattered due to the expansiveness of the season with it’s long daylight hours bringing greater energy and an invitation to more activity.

Kapha types on the other hand may find the lightness and warmth of the season actually serve them well, with little need to adapt and adjust. The qualities of the season can be the perfect antidote to the tendency towards heaviness and inertia that Kapha types so  commonly experience. That said, humidity will challenge Kapha types who thrive more in a dry heat environment. 

Each constitution, therefore meets the same season differently and nature offers varying supports accordingly.

A simple seasonal framework

In my Ayurveda practice, I work with a simple six-fold framework: lifestyle, diet, herbs, breath and sound practices, meditation, and inner enquiry. In consultations, this framework is offered in a personalised format. However, I also draw on it for more generalised seaonal guidance.  

Here are some simple July principles. Be sure to adopt any whilst staying mindful of your own Ayurveda type. If you are not sure about this, you are welcome to book a discovery calll with me and we can have a chat about the best way to adapt the July guidelines to suit your Ayurveda type. 

Not sure of your type? Check my quiz here. 

High summer increases heat, activity, and outward energy in both body and mind. Ayurveda suggests balancing this with cooling, grounding, and softening rhythms that reduce overstimulation.

1. Keep daily life steady and unhurried. Spend time in shade, greenery, and near water. Eat your main meal at midday when digestion is strongest.

   Short afternoon rest can be beneficial in summer. A 10–25 minute pause after lunch helps cool the nervous system, supports digestion, and balances the outward momentum of the season. It is not deep sleep, but a gentle downshift.

   At night, especially during long daylight hours, protecting darkness becomes important. Blackout blinds or an eye mask can support natural circadian rhythm, ensuring the body still experiences true rest despite extended evening light. This stability of rhythm is essential for clarity and emotional balance.

2. Choose light, cooling foods such as cucumber, leafy greens, courgette, rice, coconut, pears, and melon. Reduce chilli, alcohol, excess coffee, and very heavy or fried foods.
3. Cooling herbs such as tulsi and brahmi, along with fennel, mint, and coriander, are traditionally used to settle internal heat and calm mental activity.
4. A simple breath practice can be used daily: slow breathing with longer exhalations, or a gentle cooling breath where the system is softened and relaxed through each effortlessly lengthening out-breath.

   A simple mantra to inwardly repeat is:

   “Shanti, Shanti, Shantih”

   spoken softly, allowing the system to settle.

5. Meditation is best kept simple – resting attention on the breath at the nostrils, returning whenever the mind becomes busy or overheated.
6. A simple enquiry practice could be:

• “What in me feels overheated today?”
• “What would bring simplicity, ease, or cooling?” This is not an analytical  enquiry but an invitation to observe, to notice your inner climate.

The underlying principle is simple: summer expands outwardly, so practice must restore inwardness – cooling body and mind and returning awareness to balance.

Nature is generous and intelligent. In summer especially, she offers not only nourishment through food, but guidance for how to live, if we learn to listen.

For Ayurveda seasonal guidance, I offer 1-1 consultations to give you a personalised seasonal 6-step programme, seasonal digestive resets and seasonal Ayurveda retreats.

Please check the Ayurveda and retreats sections of www.heart-of-ayurveda.com for full details of 1-1 programmes and upcoming events.