Summer corresponds with the Heart and Heart Protector (Pericardium) which governs laughter, fun, and flourishing of relationships, but can also be a time of mental restlessness and anxiety.  Why is that? It’s a matter of balancing the Yin and Yang of the Heart, which houses the Mind. Yang is rising upward, hot, and active, whereas Yin is restorative, dark, quiet, cool. Being the most Yang time of the year, Yin must be strong enough to hold this very active, hot energy in balance. Typically, if we worked hard through winter and did not rest and restore ourselves enough, our Yin isn’t able to balance the Yang, and yang rises unchecked to agitate the Mind.  

How does this relate to the Heart?  In Chinese Medicine, the Heart houses the Mind, and all emotions are meant to flow through (not get stuck in) the Heart.  The Heart functions best for the body-mind-spirit when it is empty, meaning that nothing gets trapped in it, such as desires or emotions. When emotions get stuck – such as sadness, grief, worry, anger, frustration, resentment, and guilt – the result is a build up of heat and a compromise of the Heart’s ability to house the Mind. Symptoms can include dream-disturbed sleep, insomnia, anxiety and mental restlessness, and a propensity to startle easily.

What can we do to settle the Heart-Mind and soothe the anxiety?  We can do a lot to help clear heat and build Yin within the most Yang season. Besides our Treatment of the Month that targets these symptoms, try some of the following:

  • Work with the rhythm of the sun: Wake earlier in the morning. Go to bed later in the evening. Rest at midday. Try to build in a little rest in between very busy activities, like sitting at a bench by some water, taking a couple of deep breaths, or go for a nice stroll. 
  • Drink plenty of fluids.
  • Add pungent flavors to your diet. Bitter is the taste of summer. 
  • Refrain from anger; keep calm and even-tempered. Breathing techniques can be very powerful, in-the-moment intervention to short-circuit the ‘monkey brain’ that perseverates on things outside of this present moment.  One effective way to soothe the mind is the 4-7-8 breathing technique for anxiety-reduction, click here for more details. 
  • Eat “cooling foods” i.e. celery, cucumber, mint, watermelon. Conversely, stay away from warming, spicy food, or difficult-to-digest greasy or fried foods. Instead shoot for food that has been baked or grilled.  
  • But stay away from intensely COLD foods. Extremely cold beverages or food can actually add heat to the body, as the body has to warm what you ingest to body temperature before absorbing it. And since the body actually ends up overshooting the warming process, extremely cold food creates internal heat. 
  • Lower caffeine intake. During the summer, coffee can be replaced occasionally with green tea, which is still very caffeinated but much more cooling internally.