Summer, according to the 24 Solar Terms Calendar, begins on May 6. The energy begins to shift, first in the southern parts of the world in the Northern Hemisphere. As we move toward Summer Solstice, the longest day in the year, the yang energy continues to increase. Our own human activities also increase, being outside to enjoy sunnier days and school holidays for most kids.
In the past few decades, the conventional wisdom was to slather on sunscreen. Then we discovered the toxicity of mainstream brands. In recent years, we’ve also been shifting our thinking about sun exposure. Which came first? Toxicity, inappropriate diet, liver congestion, overexposure to blue light or disease? These are questions What Therapy has been diving into, especially as the suggestion to supplement Vitamin D has become commonplace in the past few years.
Here we enjoy ourselves, and in liking ourselves, glorying in our splendour, we can like and give love to others, and in so doing become one with them. Our radiant energy flows outwards, and in others is reflected back to us, and we see the true life within us.
Jonathan Clogstoun-Willmott
Summer, Jonathan Clogstoun-Willmott, continues to write, is “the phase when what we planned comes to fruition, and we see that our creation is good. It is a time of integration and wholeness, all parts functioning together – spirit, mind, and body working together and at peace.”
According to Chinese Medicine, Summer is the Fire Element/Phase and governed by the Heart and Small Intestine energy. Summer is “the eager anticipation of youth to maturity.” (Clogstoun-Willmott 1985). We begin to see the fruits of the trees we’ve planted, the time to take in that sweetness, so full of sunlight.
In the 24-hour clock, each of the twelve meridians and organ energies is most active for two hours in this cycle. This is the one energy travelling through our whole body. According to TCM the Heart meridian is from 11AM to 1PM and the Small Intestine from 1PM to 3PM. In Jin Shin Jyutsu, we work with the peak times so the Heart Function Energy is most active from 12 noon to 2PM and Small Intestine, 2PM to 4PM.
This provides a couple of frameworks through which you can investigate your own energy flow. For example, you can observe the time of the day that you tend to feel tired, out of balance, ungrounded, etc. This can be a starting point for you to support your body.
Note, in either case, the Small Intestine energy follows the Heart energy. Let’s see why this is an important point. Small intestine is about making decisions. It’s deciding what is useful for us and directing what is not useful to be eliminated. So our ability to make aligned decisions comes after our heart energy is activated, harmonized, and flowing.
The Heart is considered the ruler because like a benevolent and enlightened monarch, it is all-knowing and ever-present, sharing its wisdom unconditionally for the good of the whole. Our Fire aspect represents fulfillment: the total expression and integration of our being, the full extent of our expansion, maturation, and development.
Harriet Beinfield, L.Ac & Efrem Korngold, L.Ac, OMD, Between Heaven & Earth
Summer Essentials
For your fun in the sun, check out these tips.
Healthy sun-care tips
Your before 10AM Sun routine.
What are You Feeding the Field?
Learn about your emotional intelligence to understand what you are feeding the field. Read about HeartMath, Human Design, and more.
The Heart, in Chinese Medicine, is believed to be where the spirit resides. A peaceful and calm heart allows us to connect with the greater Spirit, for it to manifest in the right time and place. As love and joy. in our relationships.
Spirit is “the totality of the person’s life force at any given moment and represents the complete outward expression of the Qi through the personality.” (Beinfield & Korngold)
It is easy to step out of our own natural time, when we live in a world regulated by linear and artificial time.
Yet we know and we feel that it is only a construct. We’ve all experienced an expansion of time, when we are in flow. When we are so attuned to the present moment, and absorbed in our craft, the conversation, our presence, being with someone else…
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it….It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.
Mary Oliver, Don’t Hesitate
In Jin Shin Jyutsu, the Heart and Small Intestine Function Energies correspond with the attitude “trying”. This in many ways correlate to an undefined ego/heart centre in Human Design, which has the theme of needing to prove oneself. The Heart and Stomach are also the biological correspondences of this energy centre.
What is “trying”? That’s when we are pushing ourselves to be something or someone we are not, to other people’s expectations, which we may have taken on.
This is also reacting to ancestral wounds, living by other people’s rules, bowing to their authority…Our Heart energy becomes depleted, stagnated, or otherwise disharmonized and it literally hurts our heart!
Try this Jin Shin Jyutsu Self-Help tip : hold your pinky finger whenever you feel the need to prove yourself or catch yourself trying. A few minutes here and there also has a cumulative effect.
People Pleasing
Learn about the Pressures of the Undefined Heart Centre
How does the heart centre relate to people pleasing habits? Find out what Not-Self theme stems from the undefined Heart Centre, an energy centre that is undefined for majority of people.
How Do We Stop Trying in These Times
Practical & Spiritual Ways to Come back to Centre
These times are trying as uncertainty, confusion, and chaos seem to move each day. We’re faced with so much information – changing protocols, rules, and legislation. Are you trying to make sense of what’s going on? Trying to shift into a new normal. Trying to… this energy can push us out of balance. Find out how these powerful energy balancing practices can help.
A HEALTHY CULTURE OF LEISURE AND PLEASURE
When you look at your life and culture, is there room for pleasure and leisure? Are these your mindset? These are not indulgences or luxuries. Really.
Heart Health
Hawthorn
Healing the Heart
Hawthorn is for the heart. It’s for the physical, emotional, and spiritual heart. Find out how Hawthorn helps and has been used in the East and the West.
Hugs
Here’s Why They Are Good For You
Heart Health
This is What People Aren’t Telling You about Heart Health
FIRE ELEMENT
Get Happy
Play with Fire
Agnihotra
Fire as the Answer for Your & the Environment’s Health
Open to Love
From Wrath to Fortitude
Invoking Grace
Understanding the Heart Chakra
The heart chakra is the bridge of the seven major chakras of the body. In Sanskrit, this heart chakra is anahata, meaning “unhurt and unstruck”. With a balanced heart chakra, we experience calm and serenity.
When Being Calm is Uncomfortable
Skeptical of Positive Intention?
LOVE
How to Be a Love Activist
Wisdom from Caroline Myss
Conscious Coupling
Byron Katie on Love & Our Thoughts About Love
Care for the Carer
Decoding Our Emotions
One Kind of Intelligence
Tips on Being Abundant
Self Care
Is Bubble Baths…and It’s Not
What can we learn from Leo Season
Empath
The Solar Plexus and Human Design
Relationships is the Field
Venus Sequence and Gene Keys
GETTING OUTSIDE
Summer is Coming!
Here are Updated Sun Tips
Summer is outside time for most people. Going on hikes, camping, relaxing at the beach…We are beings of light and we need light/dark to activate and turn off biological processes. This is why proper sun exposure is integral to our overall health. Get these tips for our mitochondrial health.
Forest Bathing
The Benefits of Being Outside
Nature
How Much Do We Need?
Movement
Why it makes us a better person
Barefoot Therapy
How Earthing is the Free & Easy Way to Detox
How to Walk Barefoot the Right Way
Tips from Biomechanics Expert Katy Bowman
Walking barefoot has all kinds of benefits. Here are some tips from Biomechanics Expert Katy Bowman on how to prep for it in a healthy way.
Spatial Orientation for Vitality
MOSQUITOES?
Olive Oil Soothing Balm
For Soft Skin and Mozzie Bites
MOSQUITO BITES, ALLERGIES, WEI QI & ADAPTATION
A LOOK AT CISTUS TEA FOR MOSQUITOES & VIRUSES
Speak from the Heart
Do you have an undefined Ego Centre?
