Summer invites us outward… let’s go!!
The days are long, the sun shines brightly overhead, gardens flourish, and life seems to move with greater ease and abundance. In yoga, summer is often associated with vitality, joy, connection, and the full expression of our energy. It is a season of expansion, but also one that reminds us to balance activity with rest, and enthusiasm with presence.
Astrologically, summer unfolds through the signs of Cancer, Leo, and Virgo. Each sign reflects a different stage of the season’s journey, offering unique lessons for our yoga practice and our lives.
As we move through summer, we can use yoga to align with these changing energies, finding support for both body and spirit.
Cancer Season: Returning Home to Yourself
(late June – late July)
Summer begins under the sign of Cancer, a water sign associated with nurturing, intuition, emotional wisdom, and home.
While summer often encourages social gatherings and activity, Cancer reminds us that true nourishment begins within. This is a beautiful time to slow down enough to listen to your inner world and care for yourself with tenderness.
Like a lake reflecting the summer sky, Cancer invites us to become still enough to notice what is happening beneath the surface.
Yoga practices for Cancer energy
Child’s Pose (Balasana)
A deeply comforting posture that encourages surrender and self-care. You feel cozy against the earth.
Supported Heart Openers
Resting over a bolster or folded blanket helps create softness & openess through the chest while inviting emotional release.
Yoga Nidra
The ultimate practice of replenishment. Cancer season is an ideal time to prioritize rest and nervous system regulation.
Moon Breathing (Chandra Bhedana)
A cooling and calming pranayama that balances the heat and activity of summer. Inhaling through the left nostril and exhaling through the right.
Reflection for the season
What does true nourishment feel like for me right now?
Leo Season: Let Your Inner Light Shine
(late July – late August)
Leo arrives in the heart of summer when the sun’s energy is at its fullest expression. Associated with creativity, courage, confidence, and self-expression, Leo encourages us to step forward and share our gifts with the world.
This is not about seeking attention. Rather, it is about allowing your authentic light to shine without apology.
In yogic terms, Leo season invites us to connect with the radiance of the heart… the place where joy, generosity, and purpose naturally arise.
Yoga practices for Leo energy
Camel Pose (Ustrasana)
A powerful heart-opening posture that cultivates courage and vulnerability.
Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)
Lifting the heart and chest helps embody Leo’s confident, expansive energy.
Lion’s Breath (Simhasana Pranayama)
A playful practice that releases tension, encourages self-expression by activating the throat energy center (Vishuddha), and invites us to take up space.
Sun Salutations
A celebration of solar energy and vitality to light ourselves up from the inside out.
Reflection for the season
What part of myself is ready to be seen more fully?
Virgo Season: Finding Grace in the Details
(late August – late September)
As summer begins its transition toward autumn, Virgo arrives with an energy of refinement, discernment, and mindful service.
After the expansiveness of Leo, Virgo helps us gather the harvest. It asks us to pay attention to the small things that support our wellbeing: our daily habits, routines, and rituals.
Virgo reminds us that transformation rarely comes from dramatic changes. More often, it grows through consistent acts of care repeated day after day.
Yoga practices for Virgo energy
Forward Folds (Uttanasana or Janu Sirsasana)
These introspective poses encourage reflection and grounding.
Standing Balance Poses
Postures like Tree Pose help cultivate focus, patience, and attention.
Mindful Breath Awareness
Simply observing the breath can be a profound Virgo practice, strengthening presence and concentration.
Meditation and Journaling
Virgo energy supports self-study (svadhyaya), one of yoga’s foundational practices.
Reflection for the season
What daily practices help me feel balanced, healthy, and whole?
Living the Yoga of Summer
Summer is often viewed as a season of action and adventure, but yoga reminds us that true vitality comes from balance.
Cancer teaches us to nourish ourselves.
Leo encourages us to shine.
Virgo helps us integrate what we have learned and prepare for the next season of growth.
As the sun moves across the summer sky, perhaps the invitation is to become more present to the fullness of life already unfolding around us.
Feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. Listen to the hum of bees in the garden. Notice the abundance of colour and life all around you.
Then ask yourself:
How can I fully inhabit this season by truly living it?
In yoga, as in nature, every season carries its own wisdom. Summer’s lesson may simply be this: open your heart, trust your light, and allow yourself to bloom.
We look forward to practicing with you online and in the studio throughout this summer season ahead!
By Leah Marie Serna, E-RYT 200, yoga practitioner, meditator, and co-owner / yoga instructor at Studio Nine. She teaches the Monday Move to Meditate classes, the Tuesday and Thursday morning Foundations & noon Flow classes and Wednesday Yin & Kundalini classes. She also serves as the yoga studio manager.