It is very much summertime here in Minnesota which means it’s FIRE season in Traditional Chinese Medicine. TCM both respects and moves with the seasons in everything that we do: in the way we dress, what we eat, and what health concerns we know we are more prone to. So, what does summer look like in TCM?
COLOR: red ELEMENT: fire EMOTION: joy! ORGANS: heart + small intestine NATURE: yang TASTE: bitter
As TCM providers, we want our patients outside enjoying the summer- biking, swimming, walking the dog- anything that gets you outside and moving! We have so much yang energy in the summer, we need physical activity to balance our yin + yang. TCM observes an early to rise, later to bed shift in the summer- following the pattern of the sun. Summer can bring with it a sense of happiness and excitement, which is no surprise to us, as joy is the emotion of the summer season in TCM.
However, there are a few conditions that come up during fire season, such as insomnia, irritability, depression/mania, heart palpitations, and excessive sweating. We use acupuncture, herbs and lifestyle shifts to help settle that fire element if it gets out of control.
Our advice for you to take the best care of yourself this summer would be:
Wake up early and drink a glass of room temp water with lemon (lemon has a cooling effect on the body)
Take a cool shower or hop in the lake!
Find time to PLAY- get outside and get moving- vitamin D and endorphins are a quick way to embrace the feeling of JOY that comes with fire season
DRINK WATER- staying hydrating is an easy but important way to keep common summertime TCM patterns at bay
Try to incorporate some cooling foods in your diet like watermelon, cucumber, spinach, and mint tea
And if something comes up, come see us for acupuncture, herbs, and ear seeds- we’ve got you!
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