Image: NATIVE FAMILY, Joseph Lycett, c.1819, watercolor. National Library of Australia.
In Chinese Medicine, the fire element greatly influences a great many functions of our body and mind, most notably the digestive and metabolic processes. Due to it’s complexity, this is more of a poem:
O, Fire! Outside you are the radiant sun, self-sustaining combustion that warms our great Earth. Within, you are the great power of self-arising awareness and the dominant force in digestion and metabolism.
In balance, you bring beauty and clarity to the mind, and life and spirit into our eyes. Your great power helps creates stomach acid, bile, and metabolic force to transform and transport within our bodies. You are the impetus behind daily rhythms of hunger and fasting,
You can warm, heat, burn, and scorch. You do this to the land, and you can do this within us.
We, like all plants and beings, need the sun. It is our own process of photosynthesis. Without the sun, we physically get depressed and lack motivation and vitality.
The fire element rules the heart and small intestine in Chinese Medicine, for fire is clarity, digestion, and the ability to discern what is good for us, and what is not.To keep your fire element happy and balanced this summer:
• Favor a squeeze of lemon and herbs like mint and thyme in your daily water intake
• Eat the fruits of the season, including melons, sweet peaches, cherries and apricots. If you lack digestive power, sprinkle a little cayenne pepper on your melon.
• Take time in the morning and evening to not rush. Don’t start your day rushing and with coffee- this will exacerbate the wind element, which loves to provoke fire into a fury.
• We create vitamin D in our bodies only from skin exposure to the sun. An effective sunbathing prescription is to expose 60% of your body surface area for 15-20 min, 3x per week (courtesy @DoctorBlossom).
• Connect with others, even around an outdoor fire (or bbq!). There is no more ancient activity in human history than being together in community around a fire or a meal. It is deeply balancing to us.
If you already run “hot” or need help balancing this summer, don’t hesitate to call me or book an appointment. I have many strategies to “cool you down” and restore a sense of balance into your life—you’ll need that to enjoy summer to it’s maximum.