So let's talk about living in harmony with the season, and some strategies for beating the summer heat...
Summer According to the Classics
Chapter 2 of the Su Wen gives us advice on how to live in harmony with the seasons. Here's what it has to say about summer:
The three months of summer, they denote opulence and blossoming. The qi of heaven and earth interact and the myriad beings bloom and bear fruit.
Go to rest late at night and rise early. Never get enough of the sun. Let the mind have no anger. Stimulate beauty and have your elegance perfected.
Cause the qi to flow away, as if that what you loved were located outside.
This is correspondence with the qi of summer and it is the Way to nourish growth. Opposing it harms the heart. In autumn this causes jie and malaria, and there is little to support gathering.
Summer is a very yang time of year, so it's appropriate to be active. Get up early and stay up late. Go outside and let your qi flow.
If your pulse feels Surging (洪脈 hóng mài) and overflowing, that's ok. That's just the influence of the season.
Su Wen Chapter 18 actually describes the pulse of summer as being "hook-like."
But Qi Bo explains:
Huang Di: In summer, the [movement in the] vessels resembles a hook. How can it be hook[-like]?
Qi Bo: In summer, the [movement in the] vessels is a heart [movement]. The South is fire; this is whereby the myriad beings abound and grow. Hence, when this qi comes, it is abundant; when it leaves, it is weak. Hence, it is called ‘hook[-like].’
This description of "arriving abundant but leaving weak" matches our more modern pulse image Hong Mai. So we say that the pulse will be Surging in the summer.
But even though the Nei Jing tells us to "never get enough of the sun," many areas are experiencing heat waves.
This is a normal time of year to be yang and warm and active, but we still need balance. Too much heat can be damaging.
How can we protect ourselves from getting too much summer heat?
Cooling Foods from the Materia Medica
Remember, summer-heat is one of the six environmental qi, or one of the six external evils. It's basically heat that happens during the summer.
(You can think of this as being similar to heat stroke or sunstroke.)
Luckily we have some foods that can help you beat the heat:
西瓜 Xi Gua - Watermelon
Xi Gua (citrulli fructus) is cold, sweet, and bland.
The cold temperature counters heat, the sweet flavor generates fluids, and the bland nature facilitates urination. So Xi Gua is especially useful for summertime heat with significant thirst, dark scanty urine, or dry heaves.
绿豆 Lu Dou - Mung Bean
Lu Dou (phaseoli radiati semen) is from the Heat Toxicity category and it also clears summer-heat. It's especially useful when thirst is an important symptom.
Bensky says you can make it as a tea, but I usually just make it in congee.
白扁豆 Bai Bian Dou - Hyacinth Bean
Bai Bian Dou (lablab semen album) is another type of bean, this one from the Tonify Qi category. It's used for summer-heat dampness with diarrhea or vomiting.
荷叶 He Ye - Lotus Leaf
He Ye (nelumbinis folium) is also from the Heat Toxicity category and is especially useful for summer-heat with diarrhea.
You can get lotus leaf in Asian grocery stores, but you can't really eat it (it's too tough and fibrous). You would usually wrap other food in lotus leaf and steam it, or you can make it as a tea.
But Don't Overdo It!
When it gets really hot, it can be tempting to drink a lot of cold beverages and seek out cold places. But remember we have to stay balanced! It's actually possible to contract wind-cold during the summer months.
This is what the formula Xiang Ru San (elsholtzia powder) is for: cold contracted during the warm summer months. Because the pores and interstices are open, you are more susceptible to sudden drafts or exposure to cold.
So beware of strong air conditioning!
Hopefully that gives you some ideas for staying cool this summer!
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