In the Taoist tradition, there is an idea that each season is associated with a specific element. The element of summer, which is just coming into its own, is fire. How will this knowledge help us to spend the summer to our advantage?
The element of fire, according to the Taoist system of the Five Elements, “manages” the health of the heart and small intestine. It would seem, how are these two organs connected? One controls blood circulation, the second is responsible for the digestion of food. According to Taoists, energy literally flows through the body, and this season it circulates especially actively in the two above-mentioned organs.
A sign of physical, emotional and energy health of a person is the normal flow of qi and its uniform distribution throughout all organs. “Distortions”, in turn, are fraught with big troubles.
Overshoot and Undershoot
What happens when the small intestine lacks energy, lacks “fire”? On the physical level, this manifests itself in poor absorption of nutrients into the blood, a sluggish metabolism, and a tendency to gain weight. Any ailment, according to Taoist doctors, also affects the emotional sphere, therefore, with a lack of qi in the intestines, a person will have difficulty perceiving new ideas, knowledge, beliefs (literally, “not digesting” new information).
If the heart suffers from a lack of energy, then a person can experience a variety of ailments associated with the cardiovascular system, from problems with blood pressure to heart failure. From an emotional point of view, this manifests itself as a loss of motivation, a refusal to take responsibility, apathy.
By the way, the reverse situation is also possible with the region of the heart – an excess of energy. In this case, a person suffers from constant nervous tension and anxiety, which manifests itself in a “verbal mishmash”, in a mess in thoughts and feelings, and a tendency to hypercontrol.
If the fire in the body is balanced, then a person easily copes with various undertakings, develops and is able to experience the main “fiery” emotion – joy that warms the heart.
balance the fire
What gives us all this information?
Firstly, if you suddenly feel that with the beginning of summer you are not ready to study, learn new things, and any initiatives only cause you irritation – know that this is a seasonal feature. It is not you who has become a different person, this summer has come into its own, and in order to “adjust” the ability to learn and the desire for achievement, you need to balance the fire. This is done through the cultivation of joy.
To nurture it, remember the warmest moments that happened in your life: what made your heart beat faster? Maybe talking to certain people, or reading certain books, or walking to certain places. It is this leisure that will be especially relevant for you in the summer.
Secondly, summer is the time to pay attention to heart health. For this, from the point of view of Taoist medicine, two factors are especially important:
- Relaxation of the chest area. The more the chest area is clamped, the less space it has for the heart, the more difficult it is for it to perform its function. Therefore, relaxation practices, such as Qigong Xing Shen Juang, are essential for heart health in the summer.
- Normalization of energy circulation. It is important to remember that, according to the Taoists, energy is carried with blood, which means that in the summer, activities that accelerate blood circulation will be especially important for us. These are any cardio loads that you can afford today: from regular walks to jogging, dancing, swimming, cycling.
At the same time, it is important to remember: if there is no relaxation and the heart is working for wear and tear, the additional load will act destructively on us. In the same way, if you create the necessary relaxation, but do not add energy afterwards, you may experience a feeling of weakness. Therefore, first relaxation, then activity, and the summer will pass with a bang!
What to eat in summer?
According to the Five Elements system, the taste of the summer season is bitter. That is, the most useful for us at this time of the year are products with a “bitter” taste: artichoke, asparagus, celery, leek, swede, turnip, cauliflower, dandelion leaves, radish.
Learn to cook dishes from them, and the body will be extremely grateful to you. In addition, of course, any “bitter” fresh herbs are relevant in summer, for example, parsley, cilantro or dill.