FIRE ELEMENT the Transformational Phase of the Summer in Chinese Medicine

Summer Heat! the Fire Element - According to Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture

How does this particular season affect us both physically and emotionally?
What does this Chinese medical theory offer us to help us understand ourselves and the world around us.

According to Chinese Medicine the human body is a micro cosmos of the macro cosmos - the Earth the Universe.
From the Classic The Nei Jing from 200 B.C. The Inner Classic comes this description.

FIRE
"from the South there comes extreme heat. Heat produces fire and from the fire come the bitter flavors.
The bitter flavor strengthens the heart; the heart nourishes the blood and the blood enlivens the stomach. The heart rules over the tongue.
The supernatural powers of Summer create heat in Heaven and fire upon the earth. They create the pulse within the body and the heat within the viscera. Of the colors they create the red color and of the musical notes they create "chi" and they give the human voice the ability to express joy. Of the Orifices they create the mouth with its palate; of the flavors they create the bitter flavor and of the emotions they create happiness and joy"
The HEART organ system refers to the Heart organ itself and the Small Intestine is its associated "hollow" organ. The concept of hollow refers to all the organ systems that have the ability to store some substance such as the gallbladder stores bile and the bladder stores urine. There are five "hollow " organs. Gallbladder, small intestine, stomach, large intestine, bladder.
According to the "Nei Jing" the Heart is considered the "Supreme Ruler", like a King it is responsible for everything within its Kingdom; it "rules the blood and the blood vessels". The Heart organ itself has the function to move the blood throughout the body. It also has the function to "house the Spirit". It has the task of controlling the emotions with reference to excitability and thus keeping them even. This "Housing of the spirit" refers in particular to sleep. At night when the Yin is at it's peak, meaning its deepest time; the spirit should rest in the depth and safety of one's heart. When the (Chinese) heart is weak, it may be unable to "house" the Spirit and insomnia may occur

FIRE:
The HEART belongs to the summer and reflects the element FIRE According to the Chinese clock the peak time for the
HEART organ system is from 11AM to 1PM and the SMALL INTESTINE from 1PM to 3PM. Heart and Small Intestine meridians running to and from the tips of the pinky fingers on both hands belong to the Heart and Small Intestines respectively

The heart controls the spirit.
The HEART "opens" into the tongue
The color of the element fire is red.
The corresponding human sound is laughter
The taste that corresponds to the element fire is BITTER
The smell is SCORCHED
The weather condition or the climate associated with HEART is heat. The emotion is a sense of joy, excitability, happiness -
there is also the emotion of arrogance and vexedness when the heart is in disharmony
The psychological ability furthered by the heart is for grief and sadness
the Heart controls the SPIRIT

As with the other organ systems there seems to be preponderance of heart disharmony in the summer - in the heat, when
the heart has to work harder to keep internal body temperature even and when the pace of emotional involvement is so accelerated.


Does the summer - the Fire not blow by so very quickly? - Sometimes, both the heat and the speed leave us breathless!
It helps us to remember this element when we threaten to become impatient with fellow human beings who may not be able to deal so well with the heat, the internal Fire! - people who become too excited and maybe extremely vexed and irrationally disturbed by extreme heat. Of course imbalances in the circulatory system and the heart itself become more common place in the summer.
We can take cooling baths in room temperature water (Or cold)
We can eat cooling foods: cucumber, salads, steamed veggies made into salads (room temp) drink more water
We can develop more kindness toward others and ourselves - We can slow down and breathe more consciously
We can avoid pushing ourselves too hard in the heat!

Stay cool inside and out - take care !