It’s the peak of summer, and our bodies are naturally flourishing thanks to the extra yang the sun is supplying. Now is also the best time for us to prevent disease that comes up in the Fall and Winter. We do this by harmonizing health with Summer.
Take Advantage of the Yang Season
According to Classical Asian medical theory, we build up yang (physiological fire) from our food and environment during the summer, the most yang season. Our insides are then warm enough to supply our immune systems in the colder months to come. How is that done? Well, eating all the fresh fruits and vegetables that are plentiful right now. Get all the bright colors in your diet. And get out into the sun! Spend some time outside each day, preferably with no clothes on! I don’t know how you are going to manage that, I’m just saying do it.
Try Some Spice to Harmonize with Summer
It’s also a time to eat mildly spicy foods and drink warm beverages. This may seem counterintuitive, but it’s actually a means of harmonizing with the environment. Ever wonder why people living in the hottest climates eat the spiciest foods? In West Africa they eat habanero peppers like we eat high fructose corn syrup in the States. It’s 90 degrees at the Winter Solstice. In the Szechuan region of China, the amount of pepper in the food will melt your tongue. Why?? Well, the energetics of fire is up and out, just as the energetics of the Spicy flavor is up and out. It also functions to mildly disperse excessive heat from the outer layers of our system. This is how to harmonize with the season.
Get A Treatment
It’s a great time to get an acu-moxa treatment, to put some yang into the system, especially if you tend to have a colder constitution. Moxa is dried mugwort that is burned over an acupuncture point to warm the system. Even if you feel like you are always hot, that’s often a sign that your yang is weak. It is isn’t rooted below your umbilicus, in your lower dantian. This makes your extremities feel hot while your center is cold.
I’ve also made an after meal herbal beverage that is for sale at the clinic. It has mildly warming and spicy herbs, like cardamom, ginger, and licorice, along with some fermented herbs. Its great in the summer to aid digestion by opening the stomach, and will also helps to decrease bloating.