Summer

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.

leisure and pleasure photo by Sebastian Staines

Heart Health

Hawthorn for Heart Health stock photo by Taylor Hugh

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
If you have ever had even one amazing hug, you already know hugs are good for you. Now science is backing this up. Find out why hugs are good for you.
A Surfer at the Beach

Heart Health

This is What People Aren’t Telling You about Heart Health
Looking at heart health from a different perspective. Heart health goes beyond diet and exercise. Find out what the Institute of HeartMath has gathered from their decades-long research. There are many other levels to heart health than conventionally talked about.

FIRE ELEMENT

fire element and happiness

Get Happy

Play with Fire
See how playing with the elements fire up your happiness. Certified Coach Michelle Ayn Tessensohn talks about the Fire Element and happiness and how understanding and working with this element supports our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Agnihotra-Fire-as-an-Answer What Therapy

Agnihotra

Fire as the Answer for Your & the Environment’s Health
Agnihotra is an ancient science for modern healing. It’s practiced throughout the world and its ash medicine is sought after many as it’s shown to heal a variety of ailments. Find out what Agnihotra is about.

Open to Love

How ready are you for love? How open are you to love? Rumi wrote back in the 13th century that the key is to remove the barriers we have created to love. Here are some potent ways to dissolve these walls, distances, and other barriers.
wrath to fortitude heart chakra and grace stock photo by Joel Mott

From Wrath to Fortitude

Invoking Grace
Wrath to fortitude : We look at the teachings of Caroline Myss, Cyndi Dale, and David Hawkins to understand power and love.
understanding heart chakra

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.

resilience calm unease ease photo by parker-amstutz

When Being Calm is Uncomfortable

Many people find unease in calm and a lack of stimulation, a sign of poor nervous system regulation. Here’s how to start moving to more ease and build resilience. Tips from complementary health practitioner Antoinette Biehlmeier and TRE® practitioner Diana Ng.
Positive Intention

Skeptical of Positive Intention?

Some people believe in results, not action, and definitely not in trying. Do intentions count for naught? Here are five reasons you may not believe in intentions and one question to ask yourself. It may change your life and your relationships.

LOVE

Be a Love activist

How to Be a Love Activist

Wisdom from Caroline Myss
The season of Summer is ALL about Love. Find out what this means and what a Love Activist is.
Conscious Uncoupling

Conscious Coupling

Byron Katie on Love & Our Thoughts About Love
What is conscious coupling when we look at how we seek love and approval? Looking at Byron Katie’s book I Need Your Love – Is That True?
Care for the Carer

Care for the Carer

Being caring, compassionate, and loving are the strengths of humanity. What gets missed is the mental, physical, and emotional health of caregivers, including the unsung heroes of those who are the primary caregivers for family members. Who’s caring for them?
decoding our emotions

Decoding Our Emotions

One Kind of Intelligence
There are many kinds of intelligence and with more studies in neuroscience we are understanding better the importance of emotions and emotional intelligence. Find out what EQ specialist and co-founder of 6 Seconds EQ Network Joshua Freedman has to share.

Tips on Being Abundant

Abundance comes in many wondrous forms. Whether it is financial abundance or having good friends, attracting abundance is the same. Here are a few tips to get you started.
self care is bubble baths and it's not photo by zohre-nemati-

Self Care

Is Bubble Baths…and It’s Not
How can self care be bubble baths and not be bubble baths? If you are confused, or angry, about what self care is, have a read.

What can we learn from Leo Season

There are many kinds of intelligence and with more studies in neuroscience we are understanding better the importance of emotions and emotional intelligence. Find out what EQ specialist and co-founder of 6 Seconds EQ Network Joshua Freedman has to share.

Empath

The Solar Plexus and Human Design
Do you have a defined, open or undefined solar plexus? What does this mean? Delving into this aspect of Human Design has shed light on my relationships.

Relationships is the Field

Venus Sequence and Gene Keys
Relationships is central to our existence and spiritual awakening. The Gene Keys is a wonderful way to unlock our Venus Sequence. The first ever Venus Sequence Virtual Retreat begins November 2, 2020.

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.

 

Daily practice forest walk

Forest Bathing

The Benefits of Being Outside
Forest Bathing is very popular in countries like Japan and Korea. It’s also getting all kinds of research focus in Scandinavia and Scotland. Find out what therapeutic effects being in the woods are and how to get more green in your life.
nature fix for kids

Nature

How Much Do We Need?
We intuitively know being in nature and outside is good for us. As we become even more urbanized globally, how much nature do we need to stay healthy, happy, and productive? The Nature Pyramid gives us a menu of choices.
Why Movement is Good for You

Movement

Why it makes us a better person
Movement is not only going to the gym. It’s natural, innate, and universal. Read on to find out ways you can incorporate movement in your life, and how that can make your life that much better.
barefoot outside earthing

Barefoot Therapy

How Earthing is the Free & Easy Way to Detox
Going barefoot for health? New research shows that simply being in contact with the earth, and its negative electrons can help people reduce free radicals in the body. Find out how to get grounded and earthed.
celebrating-barefoot-day-tim-marshall

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 effiency photo by hadis-safari

Spatial Orientation for Vitality

Find out what telling our right from our left means for our vitality and energetic efficiency. Spatial orientation also influences our mental level.

MOSQUITOES?

Olive Oil Soothing Balm

For Soft Skin and Mozzie Bites
Looking for a clean nourishing soothing balm for dry skin and insect bites? Try this!

MOSQUITO BITES, ALLERGIES, WEI QI & ADAPTATION

Do you struggle with mosquito bites and allergies? What do they have in common? We look at them from an energetic and spiritual lens.

A LOOK AT CISTUS TEA FOR MOSQUITOES & VIRUSES

Cistus Tea isn’t the new herb on the block. It’s known for many benefits, including being anti-viral addresses v-shedding. I first looked at this tea for dealing with mosquitoes. Like a shield. Check it out.
speak from heart stock photo by frankie cordoba

Speak from the Heart

Speaking from the heart is living in courage and truth. How do we know if we are giving voice to the heart? Here are some suggestions.

Do you have an undefined Ego Centre?

According to the Human Design System, approximately 63% of people have an undefined ego/heart/will centre. This means they are open to conditioning by a minority of people with this centre defined. The lesson here is learn that they have nothing to prove.  This is such a strong place to be conditioned that whenever this centre is undefined, it is the foundation of what’s called the not-self, which is the actions and choices made from our coping mechanisms and when we have disconnected from our body consciousness and intelligence.

Tips for Major Heat in the Summer

“Major Heat” is a period of the summer when we experience intensity of heat. Not all do well in this time of the year. Here are some tips.