August has its own particular feeling - long days starting to soften at the edges, the body carrying the weight of a full summer, the calendar somehow both crowded and winding down at once. We've been feeling it too.

So this week, we wanted to share a few things we're doing right now to make this summer sacred. 

We're scattered across the country right now, and it's kind of wonderful. 

Peter and I were back in Montana recently having a magical time with our family - wide sky, mountains, the comfort that comes from going back to the place you grew up. Another member of our team is in Chicago visiting old friends and family. Half our staff seems to be somewhere other than home this week. Travel does something to us that's hard to name - loosens the routines, makes the familiar strange again, reminds us that the world is bigger than our to-do list. We always come back changed in some small way.

We've been in our gardens. 

There's something about August that makes you want your hands in the dirt - harvesting what you planted in spring, pulling what didn't work out, noticing what surprised you. It's a beautiful, grounding kind of productivity, the kind where you look up and an hour has passed and you feel genuinely restored. Several of us have been out there in the early mornings before the heat sets in, just tending things.

And when the heat gets serious, we've been escaping to the Sanctuary. 

If you haven't been, our Boulder Sanctuary is one of the best-kept summer secrets we know - cold plunge, cedar sauna, salt room, cedar hot tub, and forest showers, all tucked into a space that feels magically detached from the world outside. There's something almost alchemical about moving between the heat and the cold in August - your nervous system resets, your skin wakes up, and you walk out feeling like yourself again in a way that's hard to get anywhere else. If you're near Boulder this summer, come visit us. It's worth it.

Our therapists have been keeping Muscle Melt close - and so have their clients. 

This time of year, people come in carrying a lot in their bodies. Our therapists have been massaging the Muscle Melt Concentrate in during bodywork, and the difference is real - 37 botanicals working with the hands to ease deep tension, soften tight spots, and help the body actually let go instead of just holding a little less tightly. Clients leave asking what we used. 

If you want to bring some of that home, the Balm and the Patch are perfect to carry with you everywhere the summer takes you  - same botanical philosophy, perfect for the spots that need attention between sessions.

And Steady has been a lifesaver on the other end of those big summer weekends. 

You know the ones - so much fun, so many people, so much going on - and then Sunday night arrives and you feel like you did a little too much. Steady calming balm is what we reach for when we need to come back to ourselves. It's calming without being heavy, grounding without making you groggy. More than anything it helps the nervous system remember what it feels like to settle. Summer is worth saying yes to - Steady helps you recover so you can do it again.

And honestly? We've been making ourselves go slower. 

The spa clears the way for other people to do that, but we're practitioners too, and we can forget. This time of year we try to build at least a few minutes of stillness into the day - a foot bath, an evening walk, extra cuddles with our kids. Even a game of Pictionary. We're filling this summer with as much sweetness as it can hold.

What's been filling your hearts this summer?  Hit reply and let us know. We read every email that comes in.

With love,

Briana and the Dragontree team