Can you believe this heat? The heat and humidity in the summer are very intense. And it is constant. That is a big factor. People think September is cool, but often it is hotter than August.

Some of the repeating complaints we are getting right now:

• Hot flashes returning with a vengeance
• Increase in headaches
• Irritability
• Feelings of heaviness and lethargy
• Fatigue
• Blood pressure not as easy to control
• Anger
• Depression
• Uncontrollable sweating
• Bright red blood with the menses
• Heavy bleeding
• Shorter cycles
• Longer days of bleeding

Why?

The Weather! Especially if you are already internally ‘’hot’’ or ‘’humid’’ the summer heat will increase that heat and you will be miserable.

And then to make matters worse — this heat injures your body fluids and impairs the normal free-flowing movement of your internal energy. We call this dehydration ‘’yin/essence’’ deficiency. One of the many qualities of ‘’yin/essence’’ is that it fuels the coolant system for your body. When the coolant gets low the heat gets even worse. It can’t move as easily so it gets stuck. Things get more stuck, hotter, more humid, and you feel even worse.

Eastern Medicine is the study of the body’s energy

It is the study of the different energies in your body and how to keep them balanced and moving freely – so you can feel great. When energy doesn’t move it gets stuck. This stagnation causes inflammation (more heat).

Finding relief

You can’t change the weather, but you can learn why it is so bad for you, and what you can do about it to bring relief. Then learn what to do over the winter months so next summer the heat will not affect you so much!

All over Asia, people are very aware of the effects of weather on our health. In fact, they feel weather can be the trigger for many chronic health complaints, even certain diseases. Each season has its own challenges. From now on I will try to keep you aware in advance of what might be coming so you can feel better year-round.

(By the way, Western Medicine is not unaware of weather-related health complaints. A recent study published by the American Academy of Neurology demonstrates that an increase of hot and humid weather patterns will increase headaches.)

So what can you do right now?

Protect your body fluids (foods to build fluid)

Hydrate!

Drink lots of pure water. Add a tiny pinch of Himalayan Sea Salt. The minerals in this salt are electrolytes, helping your body absorb more fluid,

Enjoy fruits like berries and melons. (not so high in sugar). WaterMelon is good, too.

Go to bed a little earlier.

Release tension by easy moving stretches and exercises – maybe do them in the pool!

Be sure to do something that moves side to side allowing your rib cage to massage your liver (Exercise #4 in the Radiant Eight Energy Exercises).

Don’t forget to breathe! When we think a lot sometimes we forget to breathe. That will lock the heat and tension in your body.

You can’t change the weather, but you CAN change the heat imbalance you carry, making you so sensitive to this hot weather.

Protect yourself from the heat with cooling foods!

Drink Cooling Teas: Homemade Celery/Cucumber tea (see picture), Green tea, or Peppermint tea

Make Asian Summer Tea: Goji Berries and Chrysanthemum flowers. This tea is consumed all over Asia in the hot summer months. You can find these ingredients at your local health food store or on Amazon.

Special List of Foods: which helps your body stay balanced in the summer.

Suck ice and sip rather than gulp iced drinks. A full glass of an iced drink actually makes your body hotter inside because your body starts working to compensate for too much cold.

Find a really good herbal formula to use in the hot weather – like Clear Heat.

Herbal formulas change from season to season to help your body adjust to the weather and to heal faster. The herbs you take in the summer are likely not the ones recommended for the cold weather. You will stay healthier if you allow adjustments to help you through each season. In the winter: more cooked foods, hot foods, and more vegetables, especially root vegetables; In the summer – more fruit, less fried food, less sugar (causes a lot of heat). If you do this season to season you will continue to heal and not be forced backward because of a season’s intensity.

If you are one of those sensitive to heat, do not be severe with yourself if you suffer a lot. Keep knowing you are still healing and still moving forward. In the winter your extra warmth gives you an advantage. You are making changes that will help your body for all your future summers.

Learn what you can do to help yourself. Do not look to us for all the answers, ask your body by experimenting for yourself. Which tea works better for you? Can you feel even a little difference after you drink a cup? If you don’t spend so much time in the sun, is it better? You do NOT have to continue through life with all of these symptoms. You can make it better now, and you can make disappear completely in the future.

It is very, very important to help your body through the summer. The heat can really zap your energy.

So please enjoy family and friends and lots of dips in the pool and all the good things of summer, and feel free to reach out to us. We want to help you take care of yourself, and this is a very important time of the year.