Midsummer Night Sweats
A check-in on joy, burnout risk, and what I'm carrying through the rest of the summer.
It’s time to take stock of of what you’re carrying into the second half of summer.
You don’t have to cancel all your plans or escape to a tropical oasis. Just make time to sit and reflect (something MOST people avoid doing) on what this summer has offered you—both the hard and the joyful.
Saturday is 8/8—the Lion’s Gate portal—a moment we’ve been building towards since 7/7. And even if you’re not in this kind of out-of-this world kinda thing, you’re still going to feel this moment on the calendar. The energy is rising. Things are boiling up to the surface. Old, crusty layers are peeling off [like your dry, sunburned skin] whether you want them to or not.
FYI, the Lion's Gate happens every year on 8/8, when a specific cosmic alignment opens up what us woo-woo people describe as a “portal” for clarity, release, and new beginnings. Don’t think of it as a mystical event, but rather as a natural invitation to be honest with yourself. What's working? What isn't? What are you ready to leave behind, and what do you actually want to walk into next? You can embrace it, or get dragged along for the ride.
I’ve been feeling it since the beginning of summer…this vortex of truth swirling around me, showing me what I’ve been avoiding—while I try to grab hold of something (anything!) to feel an ounce of stability, again.
So here’s my honest midsummer check-in. The blissful moments and the parts that knocked me down. What I’m keeping and what I’m leaving behind.
What’s Been Hard
Camp Life
This past year we decided to homeschool, and one of the biggest changes we noticed was how our mornings were able to slow down. No rushing to the bus, no cramming fried eggs into bellies, no crying or screaming (mainly from me).
But summer camp was the reminder that we made the correct choice for the lifestyle we crave for our family. These last six weeks were brutal. I was waking up an hour earlier to get lunches packed, the kids were waking up 45 minutes earlier to get dressed and eat something before we were driving 15 minutes to the camp bus stop—only for the kids to drive another 45 minutes to camp.
Then it was undoing everything—wet clothes and towels, lunchboxes, and all the rocks Beau collected—in the evening. By the time the kids were fed, bathed, and put to bed… I merely had time to prep for the next day before I collapsed on my pillow.
Don’t get me wrong, I know this is some first world complaints. We absolutely love camp—my husband went there as a child, as well—and we feel super grateful to have the opportunity to send our kids somewhere fun, safe, and completely outdoors. And it can also be true that our daily routine and flow (and moods 🤪) were thrown off for a month and a half, and now we are attempting to recover… back to baseline.
The Identity Sloughing
This one is harder to describe because it doesn’t look like suffering from the outside. It looks like growth…well, because it is. But growth and grief can exist in the same body. And until you go through it yourself, shedding an identity feels like losing your lucky childhood socks…you’re entire world might crumble even though they’ve been too small for a while.
The labels I’ve carried for the last ten to twenty years—coaching titles, certifications, all the neat little boxes that made me easy to understand at a dinner party or to my family—I’m putting them down. They were the things I needed to get me through decades of seeking clients and partnering with studios, but now I can feel that the most authentic version of myself has been hiding behind them.
Personal trainer, yoga teacher, and holistic health coach are easy for others to digest… accept. But as I’ve moved through 2025’s deep shedding (year of the snake) and the first half of 2026’s becoming free, I’m no longer available for labels that limit my multidimensional, deeply intuitive power. I am learning to accept me.
Funny thing, my business mentor keeps saying, “burn the boats.” It’s scary, but I’m getting there—at my own pace—one boat at a time.
The Burnout Signals
I knew exactly what was happening before my body started breaking down. There were signs—reaching for an afternoon caffeine bump, craving chocolate at night, hot flashes, moodiness and snapping at my family, and feeling like I was rushing to complete every task [little or big] throughout the day. I was barely keeping it together.
I was using every bit of energy—my own or supplemented—to maintain an effortlessly flowing home space and work output, but my body felt like I was entering early perimenopause, having a nervous breakdown, and getting mono all at the same time.
Overthinking.
Hot flashes.
High energy followed by crashes.
Numbing behaviors.
Zero tolerance for anything annoying.
Variable diet—starving all the time then no appetite.
General malaise.
And do you want to know the craziest symptom? It is the crutch that kicks in any time my self care is non-existent and my metaphorical “cup” has been drained empty:
Online shopping. Browsing. Adding to cart. Removing from cart. Finding the same style on another website. And eventually buying lots of things I don’t actually need.
It’s like I’m rewarding myself for keeping it together enough to be a mom, wife, and coach…and filling the empty space in my chest where self worth used to live.
Burnout is no joke. And wellness coaches—with two decades of experience helping others overcome burnout—are not immune.
Now, the fun stuff…
What Brought Me Joy
A New Hobby… or Two
I’ve been getting back into skateboarding for the last year or so with my longboard, penny board, and barefoot cruiser… but I decided to add a new board to the mix by gifting myself a brand new surf skate for my 39th birthday. Yup, I’m the almost-40 mama who is rolling up and down the street and up neighbors’ driveways during her breaks between client calls.
Not gonna lie, this surf skate my new favorite vehicle and I’m loving how different it feels: how the trucks rotate and move, how it gets more unstable with speed, and how I can actually generate speed on a flat surface—not very well, right now.
Oh, I did say, “…or two” and I wasn’t lying about another hobby. I spent most of my life as an athlete, and felt like I was missing something, until recently. I picked up a new sport, for which I go to practice twice a week and feel like a complete newb (I’ve already cried twice in 2 months), but have been challenged in a completely new way and have learned so much about myself and how I deal with the newness. For now, I’m keeping the details to myself [and those who witness me participating each week]… but I will most definitely be sharing more of my journey in my paid posts!
Nightly Journaling Ritual
I came back to journaling this summer through necessity. Thoughts and conversations were swirling in my head—I was having full-blown arguments with no one in my mind and analyzing them. It was driving me nuts [and wrecking my sleep]. I needed to get it out!
So I started writing. Pen to paper without a prompt or plan. I wrote for pages and pages that very first night, and once I closed my journal I felt an endorphin rush like I had just completed a yoga class with a full 5-minute savasana. I felt free.
What I didn’t expect was how much the journaling changed the way I communicate.
When I actually completed the ruminating thoughts on paper instead of letting them loop endlessly in my mind, taking every possible exit and and arriving at every possible outcome, something settled in me.
I stopped projecting.
I stopped reacting.
I traded victim-mindset for more self compassion, and gained the capacity to show up for the people I love with more of myself and less of my brain noise.
Needless to say, I’m keeping up with this nightly ritual.
Finding Joy in The Everyday
The biggest shift this summer: I never waited for something big to feel good.
No expensive family trips, no hosting over-the-top parties, no large purchases. Just 2 minutes of morning sunlight and birds chirping. Snuggling with my babies for an extra 5 minutes before the camp craziness. Singing along to music in the car. Playing one of my many instruments. Taking 10 minutes to practice carving down the street on my board. Reading a book JUST FOR FUN.
Joy has been more subtle this summer. And yet, it’s never felt more real.
What I’m Taking Thru The 8/8 Portal
The Lion’s Gate is on the horizon. This is the moment where you decide what you’re taking with you and what you’re leaving in the heat of summer. If it’s unclear to you right now, no worries. Allow yourself to open to the whispers of your inner voice that sneak in while you’re driving, showering, cooking, or just randomly throughout the day.
I know what I’m leaving:
The pattern of feeling like I’m keeping up—home, clothes, fitness, food, trips, financial status.
And I know what I’m carrying forward:
Self worth. I am worthy of being seen as my most authentic self, no matter how different she is from the crowd.
The second half of summer is ours. Let’s go.
If this landed for you—send me a message and tell me what your midsummer has felt like. I’d love to know.
And if you want to come deeper into this work with me—the personal stories, the ancient beauty experiments, the tools that have been carrying me through this journey—the paid space is where all that lives.
Thank you for reading! Here’s a little gift from me →
xo, Meli