As we head into the summer season our calendars fill up with barbecues, farmers markets, fresh seasonal produce, days at the park, and lots of outdoor activities. It’s easy for healthy habits to fall to the wayside as we tend to allow for less time for sleep, we eat later in the evening and spend a lot of time in the sun. In Chinese medicine we look at the summer season as a time of expansion, activity, a time for growth, and find ourselves full of yang energy.
Summer is the most yang time of the year and is full of abundance just like our calendars. Chinese medicine is rooted in prevention, and living according to the seasons is part of the core principles which help our bodies remain in balance. Understanding what the summer season embodies helps us to find this balance and live in harmony. We seek to find this delicate balance and cultivate this energy but we must be ever mindful, as the season can easily send our bodies into excess.
According to 5 element theory, the summer is ruled by yang activity, the color red, the emotion joy, and the heart and small intestine organ systems. Growth, joy, and spiritual awareness between the heart and mind are the focus during this season. It is important to nourish the qi and regulate the heart because the heart fire is strongly linked to our spirit and the emotion joy. This is the time to focus on emotional healing to be free of not only emotional pain but physical pain too. When the fire element is in balance, the heart can properly do its job by governing and circulating the blood and ensure proper breakdown of food in the small intestine.
Physically during the summer season, our qi sits at the surface, the pulse will be full and vibrant. We may sweat more easily as sweat is the fluid of the heart and when in excess it may scatter the qi and weaken the mind. Using daily practices according to the summer season will help to keep us in balance. Symptoms that may arise at this time include profuse sweating, excess body heat, a parched mouth or tongue, constipation or loose urgent stools, and heart palpitations. To help diminish these symptoms proper care must be taken to drink plenty of fluids and water, wake early, rest midday, stay up later in the evening, indulge in cooling, yin, and moistening foods to balance the heat. Moistening yin foods will enhance the lung function and will help to maintain normal lung function and restrain excess sweating. This is the ideal time to indulge in raw vegetables, more cooling foods to clear internal heat and reduce bitter flavors from your diet. As much as possible, avoid hot, greasy, and spicy foods which generate more heat. My favorite foods to enjoy during this time are watermelon, strawberries, produce from the garden like lettuce, asparagus, and spinach.
I am really excited to see what growth and abundance this summer season brings to my life and my garden! Happy summer, be well!