What the Solstice Taught Me Without Trying

Apapacho Diaries

Diary entry · Written in the glow of the Solstice

Firs of all what is apapacho?

Apapacho: a word rooted in Náhuatl, the language of the Mexica people. It means to embrace with the soul. Not just a physical hug — but a deep, tender act of care that comes from within. To apapachar is to hold, to comfort, to nurture. It is love that needs no words.

Some dates arrive with a lot of noise. June 21st was one of them.

World Yoga Day. World Skate Day. Summer Solstice. Solar portal. Tonalli. Litha.

And I… celebrated none of it.

No ritual. No white outfit. No candles. No intentions written under the sun.

I just was myself.

I moved. I laughed. I felt. I let my emotions come out without asking for permission. I let myself shine — quietly, privately, without an audience.

And I think that was the most honest ritual I could have offered.

I grew up in Mexico surrounded by nature I didn't know I was already listening to. My grandmother survived with it — the birds, the soil, the food the earth gave. It was a relationship of necessity.

Mine is different.

I nurture nature. I listen to its whispers when the wind dances. I learned to love medicinal plants, cacao ceremonies, temazcal, flor de calabaza, huitlacoche.

Not as survival. As love.

In Mexica tradition, Tonalli is the solar force each being receives at birth. Your essence. Your path. The energy you came to share.

On June 21st I felt exactly that.

Not because I looked for it. But because I allowed myself to just be.

And sometimes that's all the Earth asks of us.

Not to celebrate outward. But to live inward.

Journaling :

When was the last time you honored a moment without needing to document it?

What part of you shines when nobody is watching?

With love and roots 🌺

Written for MoonX by Aritzi Yoga — Honoring lunar cycles through ritual, body and breath.