I had an experience recently as I sat in the quiet of the morning. As I settled in, I looked across the room and my eyes rested onto a drawing by my seven year old daughter. I've kept this one on our mantle because it feels too special to put away. She colored it on a large, sturdy tri-fold poster board, so it stands upright, bringing a burst of color and love into our living room.

On it, in bright pastels, she colored an oversized rainbow-colored sun and next to that a large, brightly colored blue crescent moon. She filled the sky and ground with large pink hearts and sparkly yellow stars. On the horizon line she carefully drew jagged purple and white mountains dazzled with one large multi-colored flower. She wrote the words "I love you sunshine" multiple times and "you're the best" on the image. As I looked deeper at this artwork, I felt like she was really onto something.

This drawing and its essence brought me to the Gayatri Mantra, which in yoga is an ode to illumination, to Savitur, or the sun god. On the heels of the summer solstice and the full strawberry moon, the theme of illumination felt appropriate.

The Gayatri Mantra, in its essence, means: May my mind be filled with light. May I see clearly. May wisdom guide my thoughts, words, and actions.

To further break it down, it means that we acknowledge all of life, the vibration pulsing through all that is. We acknowledge the different dimensions of existence: the physical world, the inner world, and the greater spiritual reality. We honor the radiant light of the sun—not just the physical sun, but the divine source of life, wisdom, and consciousness. We meditate on that pure, illuminating light, and ask that it may inspire, guide, and awaken our minds.

This place of illumination, shared by the Gayatri mantra and through my daughter's artwork—of seeing beauty and goodness, of giving thanks, of touching inner and outer radiance—is at the heart of yoga. While I know that life is often full of pain and at times it isn't even remotely possible to experience joy, I believe that yoga helps us notice when we are living from a sense of ego and separation, which clouds our judgement. Awareness is the first step toward change and illumination.

This month, as we dance with the extra light of our Montana summer, take a moment to embrace the sun and extra illumination both outwardly and inwardly. If life is extra hard right now, meditate on the fact that we all have an inner radiant sun, a light-filled, harmonious place, possibly filled with "I love you sunshines." Spend time meeting that place in yourself and others.

With warmth and light,

Holly