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‘Fire’ Energy of Summer: Arriving Early This Year
It’s clear to me that Summer’s ‘Fire’ energy is starting to come in already, I’m already seeing more Heart/Kidney imbalances, ranging from panic attacks to discomforts like puffiness or swelling in the feet and ankles — and it’s so early to be seeing things like that.
It’s mid-May, how is the seasonal energy affecting health?
People are starting to complain about heat-related symptoms … so it’s pretty clear the ‘Fire’ energy of Summer is starting to come in early. I’m already seeing more Heart/Kidney imbalances — ranging from panic attacks to discomforts like edema (puffiness or swelling) in the feet and ankles — and it’s so early to be seeing things like that. And what makes it all the more noticeable is that these symptoms are happening in people who are not prone to these conditions in other seasons of the year.
To me this is an indicator that the Fire energy this Summer will be more intense than usual. And what it should be telling you is that now is the time to prepare your body so it can minimize, or avoid, the health problems that arise in Summer — a time when the ‘Fire’ energy is pulling hard on your body’s Heart and Kidney systems.
What do you mean when you say the energy this Summer will be more intense than usual?
Energetically, all of the seasons and their specific types of energy — Fire in Summer, Earth in Late Summer, Metal in Autumn, Water in Winter, and Wood in Spring — have been more intense than normal over the past two or so years.
How do you measure this ‘intensity’?
The main way is by noticing how intense the symptoms are in the people I treat. For example, I’m expecting this Summer to be intense energetically — specifically regarding how the body’s Heart system is affected — because ordinarily Heart-related symptoms wouldn’t be showing up in early May, but they have been.
The seasonal energy should just come in somewhat unnoticed in the six or so weeks leading up to the solstice, and only when the season is fully upon us should the body start to show the normal symptoms of the season.
How do I know if I’m more likely to experience Heart- or Kidney-related issues in Summer?
The likelihood of experiencing health problems in Summer is relatively low if your Heart and Kidney energies are balanced. And ‘balancing’ is what Oriental Medicine does.
If you’re not getting periodic acupuncture treatments and taking Chinese medical herbs, you can get a sense of how balanced your Heart and Kidney energies are by spending some quiet time with yourself to get a feel — physically and intuitively — for what’s going on with your body. After you do that, take a look at the Five Element Chart on this page and see which aspects of the ‘Fire’ and ‘Water’ energy (if any) relate to how you’re feeling.
Important: Keep in mind that the Five Element Chart is a generalized representation of the Five Element Theory.
When referring to the Five Element Chart, if you sense you have a health issue, it’s essential to see a medical doctor and/or an Oriental Medicine practitioner
The fact is ‘Fire’ energy affects everyone uniquely at any given time. But if you can recognize and sense the ‘Fire’ in your own body, you can begin to notice some of its general effects on an unbalanced Heart-system. For some of us it’s a simple matter of blood pressure, for others it’s more complicated.
What does it mean to be ‘balanced’? How do I know when I have balanced energy?
Well let’s take Wood energy, which is predominant in Spring, as our example. The ‘balanced’ trait of Wood energy is Kindness; so feel in yourself: Do you feel an abundance of Kindness in yourself? Do you predominantly experience Kindness in the world, in the society where you live? How much Kindness you experience in yourself only you know, but in the world today it’s easier to come across fear, anger, and hatred than Kindness.
So you can see from that, if you’re looking for ‘balance’ in Spring, look for Kindness — inside yourself and out — and if you don’t find it you know you’re not in a balanced place.
What does ‘balance’ look like in Summer’s ‘Fire’ energy?
The balanced side of ‘Fire’ energy is ‘Joy’ and ‘Courage.’ So if a challenging opportunity arises this Summer that asks you to try something you haven’t done before, if you feel ‘joyful’ that this opportunity has come to you and feel the ‘courage’ to take it on, that would be an example of balanced Heart/Kidney energy. On the other hand, if you feel anxious about trying something new and different, and are overly concerned about whether you’ll do well at it, that’s an example of Heart/Kidney energy in need of balance.
And although this kind of situation can obviously arise any time of the year, in the Summer — the time of the ‘Fire’ energy — it’s more likely for these emotional traits of the Heart and Kidneys to surface.
So here we are now, late-Spring, still at peak Liver energy, with “Fire” energy coming in on top of that … what’s a person to do?
Start by beginning to carve out a space in your busy schedule where you can feel some peace. Learn and practice techniques that enable you to calm your mind. Too many people today are being tortured by what’s going on in their own heads — not to mention everything that’s going on around them.
Spring is probably one of the worst times for this because, as you can see on the Five Element Chart, ‘mental activity’ is the trait associated with the Wood energy of Spring. Being more moderate in your daily life brings some relief from stress and tension, and as a result, more calmness and Kindness … in a word: Balance.
So Oriental Medicine treatment will help me balance my energy and feel calm?
Oriental Medicine is an ‘energy balancer.’ All of the Eastern medicine is about balancing the energy, all of it; so do as much of it as you can.
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