It struck me last weekend -in the most wonderful way -how widely the Summer Solstice was recognised.

Social media was filled with photographs of people gathering before dawn on hilltops, beaches, ancient stone circles and quiet gardens to welcome the rising sun. Others shared breathtaking sunsets as the year’s longest day slowly came to a close.

Something about it deeply moved me.

In an age when many of us no longer organise our lives around the rhythms of nature – when we create daylight with the flick of a switch and often spend more time looking at screens than skies – something within us still responds to these ancient turning points of the year.

It seems we instinctively know they matter.

Perhaps that is because, despite modern life, we remain creatures of nature. We cannot separate ourselves from the great rhythms that have shaped life on Earth for millions of years. We still sleep more deeply in darkness, awaken more easily with morning light, and feel the subtle changes each season brings.

Summer is a beautiful reminder of this.

At this point in the year Mother Nature is generosity itself. The trees are clothed in every imaginable shade of green. Roses spill over garden walls. Meadows are alive with grasses and wildflowers. Bees move busily from blossom to blossom, birds raise their young, and soon the first fruits will begin to ripen.

Life seems to celebrate itself.

Who could stand quietly before such abundance without feeling something stir within?

There is something remarkable that happens when we allow ourselves to pause long enough to truly witness beauty.

Whether it is a Solstice sunrise, birdsong in the early morning, sunlight filtering through leaves, or the quiet perfection of a single flower, something changes inside us.

For a brief moment the mind – usually occupied with plans, worries, memories and endless commentary – falls silent.

We stop thinking about life.

Instead, we begin to experience Life.

Perhaps this is why such moments stay with us.

Wonder is often the first opening of the heart.

It is followed naturally by awe, as we recognise that what we are witnessing is infinitely greater than ourselves. Awe softens into reverence as we begin to honour the mystery before us.

And from reverence, gratitude arises almost effortlessly.

This is why gratitude cannot simply be manufactured through positive thinking.

It awakens naturally when we are truly present.

A complaining mind can be transformed in an instant when it is stopped in its tracks by beauty.

Perhaps you have experienced this yourself seeing vast mountain land,scape or a star-filled sky, hearing a piece of music that brings tears to your eyes, meeting the face of someone you love, witnessing the birth of a child.

At theste times, or a few precious moments we are no longer absorbed in ourselves and our private concerns. We are simply present – present to a wondrous happening. 

The yogic traditions understand these moments as nourishment for what is sometimes called the spiritual heart.

For a short while we are liberated from the narrow boundaries of our personal concerns and reunited with something far greater than us – something timeless, spacious and very much alive.

As awareness settles into the heart, we begin to recognise the wonder that has always surrounded us but which our busy minds so often overlook.

Perhaps this is one of the greatest gifts of dropping into the moment and paying attention to what is actually here.

We are moved to reflect on the wonder of life And the more deeply we contemplate life, the more extraordinary it appears.

The more extraordinary it appears, the more deeply it touches us. And so it continues. 

It is here that another beautiful path of Yoga reveals itself to us.

This is the path of Bhakti Yoga, frequently translated as the Yoga of devotion.

When many of us hear the word devotion, we instinctively think of organised religion, unquestioning belief or worship.

Yet its original meaning is simpler and more universal.

The word comes from the Latin devotio, to dedicate oneself wholeheartedly to something; to offer oneself completely to that which we deem most worthy of our love, care and reverence.

In this sense, devotion is something we already understand.

We speak of devoted parents, nurses, teachers. and friends.

There is no sense of blind obedience here. Rather, there is wholehearted presence and dedication. There is a willingness to keep giving ourselves fully to what matters most.

Devotion in its truest sense, therefore, cannot be forced. It arises naturally when the heart has been touched.

Think again of that Solstice sunrise. First comes wonder and then awe at the miracle of this universe and of the sun – always shining even when we can’t see it/ 

From that recognition we may find a sense of reverence awakening wihtin us. 

And before long we may find ourselves simply wanting to remain there, witnessing in the beauty unfolding before us.

When wonder, awe and reverence are present, then ithout effort our attention is gathered into one place.

Our minds are no longer scattered.

For a few precious moments we belong completely to what we are experiencing.

This, perhaps, is devotion in its purest form.

My own teacher often encouraged us to practice what “the Yoga of a Little”, as advocated by Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh 

Rather than becoming absorbed in only one aspect of Yoga, he encouraged us to cultivate each of its four great paths in small, consistent ways. This is what Swami Sivananda had advocated so that each part of our being is fully strengthened and nourished, He had met some exceptional Yoga masters, he said, who had followed the teachings of the Yoga of a little. 

The Yoga of a little includes – 

A little Karma Yoga through selfless service.

A little Raja Yoga through meditation and the steadying of the mind.

A little Jnana Yoga through enquiry and self-reflection.

And a little Bhakti Yoga by allowing the heart to remain open to beauty, love, gratitude and the sacredness of life.

I have always loved the teachings on the Yoga of a little. It has certainly supported me over the years. 

And the inclusion of bhakti amongst these other three paths,  reminds us that devotion need not be dramatic.

It may be as simple as lighting a candle before meditation, offering a quiet prayer at the start and closing of  the day, chanting a mantra, making a small home altar as a reminder of what we hold sacred,  simply greeting the morning sun with a few mindful Sun Salutations, and simply pausing each day for a moment or to to drink in the beauty around us.

Over time these small acts begin to reshape who we, and what we give our hearts and minds to.

Wonder becomes easier to find.

In tthis approach to bhakti, nature becomes our first teacher. It is nature that reminds and inspires us, awakening us to life’s mystery. 

The turning seasons become our scripture pointing us to Nature’s teaching at any point in time. 

The rising and setting sun becomes a daily reminder that we belong to something infinitely larger than ourselves.

Gradually we discover that the love, joy, aliveness and peace we have been seeking have in truth never been far away.

They hav always been here, waiting beneath the noise of the mind.

Perhaps this is why the sages placed such value on devotion.

Not because the Divine requires our worship but because the human heart longs to remember its relationship with what is beautiful, true and sacred.

When that remembering begins, life itself becomes different.

The ordinary becomes extraordinary, the familiar becomes miraculous. Even a cup of tea enjoyed in stillness, the fragrance of a rose, the laughter of a child, or birdsong drifting through an open window – all these can become an invitation to return to remembrance, to return to the heart. 

When we carry this remembrance with us through our days, over time devotion ceases to be something we practice but istead it becomes the way we meet life.

And perhaps this is the deepest gift of Bhakti Yoga.

In essence, bhakti does not asks us to love something outside ourselves. Rather it softly awakens the part of us that has always known we belong to this extraordinary mystery of the vast web of Life.

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