Summertime And The Livin's Easy
Summer is upon us. Gasp. That's right folks, June 21 is the official first day of summer. My thoughts are oscillating between "I love summer" and "where did spring go?"
Like fall, winter, and spring, summer has its own set of rules according to *Chinese medical traditions.
The heart is the corresponding organ for summer. The heart controls the blood vessels and serves as a pump to move blood throughout all systems of the body. The heart's corresponding emotion is joy, it's element fire, and it's color red. It is not uncommon to feel more joyful during this season. That's great. Share it. Even with strangers. The element fire is hottest of all of the elements and it gives one the desire to move. Go with it. Get your heart rate up and burn some calories. As for the color of the season being red, consume some cool, red foods.
The heart manifests in the complexion. Getting enough exercise and eating plenty of fruits (particularly red-colored) and vegetables can give a person a nice, rosy glow.
I address patients differently according to seasons according to what is recommended with respect to Chinese medicine. For summer, this is my short list of advice:
- Get some cardiovascular exercise. Remember that the heart is a muscle and can become flabby due to lack of exercise. It is imperative to exercise your heart to move blood and qi and also keep your blood vessels toned.
- Do yoga exercises that focus on drawing your shoulders back and opening up your chest. If you ever wanted to start practicing anusara yoga, this is the season to do it.
- Eat red foods. Apples, raspberries, strawberries, watermelon, goji berries (gou qi zi) and red grapes are nice.
- Drink herbal teas that cool internal heat. Peppermint is my favorite.
- Stay hydrated. The general rule of thumb is to drink one ounce of water per two pounds of body weight. It is okay to step it up during summer. Sip water throughout the day and please don't wait until you're thirsty to do so.
- Last but certainly not least, get some acupuncture treatments. Move blood and qi with acupuncture. It's so simple but powerful.
Happy summer and thank you for reading.
Tamara ZumMallen
*Chinese medicine is addressed as Asian medicine as of late. In all of my years of training, I was taught to call it Chinese medicine. Therefore, I will continue to address it as such until I'm told I may not.
I agree! Asian medicine just doesn't sound right! what other teas cool internal heat?
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hi! I miss you! I just tried a new acupuncturist out here... was only OK. it was a guy and he tapped the needles in but then pushed them in as well. kind of painful! he only does one side of the body (face up) and only a few points so even though he charges a bit less you are actually getting less done as well.
I just bought a new book on Amazon.com you might like: Portable Reiki. it includes self-treatments. the author is a woman in England called Tanmaya Honervogt and I've seen her other Reiki books at the bookstore and they all look really good.
Ellen
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