A message regarding ( 大暑) the Great Heat

This is a message ro all regarding ( 大暑) the Great Heat.

In Chinese medicine, this is the peak of summer, when the body's Yin has been drawn on for the longest.
The intense heat dries out and drains the energy.
However, with Great Heat the fall approaches. The Chinese Classics state:
“The cassia moon opens at midnight; fireflies light the empty hours.
Melons and fruit set out for the visiting scholar. The classical books wait for the wind to turn the pages.”

In summary:

This is the season when Yin runs thinnest. The body has been giving and enduring the summer heat for weeks. The patient who shows signs of depletion now, the dry mouth, the restless sleep, the irritability that did not used to be there, is signaling that the reserve is low. The work in this season is restorative, not heroic.

Body practices for the summer:

Enjoy energetically cooling foods over icy ones or iced water and drinks. Watermelon. Cucumber. Mung bean. Find midday stillness. Draw an evening foot bath three times a week and use your favorite essential oil. Partake in a long meal with friends after dark when the heat has lifted.

The body keeps the score of the season as much as the calendar does~~slow conversation in the cool of evening is its own restoration.

Pass this message to a parent or a grandparent who endures the heat quietly. Together, old age and the heat of summer carry aspecific cost.

Original post by Dr. Xuelan Lan
Modified slightly by Dr. Denise Andert