Living in Harmony With Summer

Get the most from the season with insight from Chinese traditional culture

Seasonal living can help us reconnect to the planet and to ourselves. Evgeny Atamanenko/Shutterstock

In a time not so long ago, people lived in harmony with the world around them. The shift from one season to another signaled a change in behaviors—what to eat and how to prepare foods, when to get up and go to bed, and so on. Our level of activity also naturally aligned with the planet’s rhythms. In spring, we worked more, in the winter, less.

This interplay is still a vital part of life in some places, but most people today are disconnected from nature, from each other, and even from themselves.

In Chinese medicine, living in harmony with the world is not only vital for a healthy body, mind, and spirit but is also an essential aspect of a happy, fulfilling life. Here’s how this ancient discipline looks at adjusting to the seasons.

Summer is a time of growth and abundance, and we should be outdoors enjoying it. luck luckyfarm/Shutterstock

The Summer Season

Summer is the most yang time of year. Yang represents fire, activity, expansion, motion, and outward expression. Summer is a time of growth and abundance, when the plants, trees, and flowers flourish—fed by the sun’s nourishing rays. Summer is the time when we should embody these qualities, rising early to benefit from the sun’s energy and enjoying nature’s beauty and plenitude. We feel these yang qualities most in summer—being drawn outside to engage with friends, family, and the planet; moving our bodies; and expressing ourselves freely.

The Heart and Joy

In Chinese medicine, summer is the season of the heart, which represents our capacity for joy. This means that cultivating joy strengthens the heart and all of its processes. Conversely, a lack of joy in life adversely affects the heart and, if prolonged, can lead to symptoms such as insomnia, dream-disturbed sleep, palpitations, and poor memory. So cultivating joy is vital for good health.

Joy feeds the heart, which is associated with the summer season. Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

Because summer is the season associated with the heart, it’s the best time to feed the heart energy and engage in activities and pursuits that make you joyful and fill you with a sense of wonder and delight. Think about what makes you happy, and do it with the intention of feeding your heart energy—whether it’s calling a friend who makes you laugh, spending time with pets who love you unconditionally, or engaging in creative pursuits that feed your spirit.

Those with healthy, balanced heart energy are friendly, open, and humble. They have a clarity of mind that makes them able to effortlessly deal with difficulties and find smart solutions to nearly any problem. They bring positivity to their interactions, regardless of the situation.

Summer Behaviors

In the summer months, Chinese medicine encourages us to get up early with the sun and go to bed later so that we can enjoy longer days and warm summer nights.

The sun revitalizes and rejuvenates us, so being outside and active in summer is what feeds our bodies and spirits. Physical activity is yang as opposed to activities such as meditation or yoga, which are slower and more introspective—or yin. Running, biking, swimming, or playing sports are all yang activities that we tend to be drawn to at the most yang time of year.

Being outdoors and enjoying activities with friends is a perfect way to live in harmony with summer. Jacob Lund/Shutterstock

Balance in All Things

Because summer is the hottest time of the year and yang energies are at their peak, we must be mindful to keep these energies balanced so that they don’t become excessive. Keeping yang balanced includes making sure we get adequate rest, especially at the hottest times of the day, and staying hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids; emotionally, we can stay on an even keel by not allowing ourselves to get worked up.

Anger, in particular, is associated with the liver (and spring) and is prone to heat. Excess anger can cause a surplus of heat in the body that, if prolonged, can lead to physical symptoms such as red eyes, headaches, and a bitter taste in the mouth. It can also lead to mental symptoms such as angry outbursts, irritability, and aggressive or reckless behavior.

An essential aspect of Chinese medicine, and living with the seasons in particular, is practicing moderation and finding balance in all aspects of life. When there’s too much of something, it can make us sick—physically and psychologically. This is why the wisdom of seasonal living has endured through the millennia; it’s a guide, helping people to live in alignment with their surroundings and stay connected to not only their environment but also themselves.

Eating in the Summer Season

Instinctively, we know that eating with the seasons is good for us. Foods that are in season and at their peak ripeness are bursting with flavor and loaded with nutrition.

With the proliferation of air travel and the shipping of foods from the four corners of the globe, regardless of the season, it’s easy to see how we’ve become disconnected from this seasonal type of eating. Having summer fruits flown in during the winter months is wonderful but not part of the natural cycle of how humans have eaten for thousands of years.

Find out what foods grow where you live and when they’re harvested so that you can enjoy them at the right time of the year. This local, seasonal eating will help you align with the gentle rhythms of the planet. In the summer months, this should be easy with an abundance of fruits and vegetables for us to enjoy.

Summer offers a wide variety of brightly colored fruits and vegetables to create beautiful, nutritious meals. Krasula/Shutterstock

Summer should inspire us to choose a wide variety of brightly colored fruits and vegetables to create beautiful meals that are a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds.

The color associated with the heart and the summer season is red, and many red foods strengthen the heart and are especially beneficial at this time of year.

Summer Cooking Methods

In the summer, the foods we eat are at their peak of ripeness, so cooking methods should be quick and light to preserve the essential vitamins and nutrients they contain. Steaming and blanching are some of the best ways to cook foods in the hot summer months, as they’re infused with water, helping us to stay hydrated. Poaching, steaming, or simmering briefly in water are all good cooking methods to balance the summer heat and get the most out of foods.

We tend to eat many raw foods such as salads in the summer months. Raw foods are considered cooling in Chinese medicine, so although some are appropriate in the hottest months of the year, we don’t want to overdo it, as cooling foods will exacerbate digestive problems and can be hard on the stomach. Adding warming herbs and spices to raw or cold foods can help maintain a balance. These include chives, scallions, sage, rosemary, thyme, basil, white and black pepper, and small amounts of garlic and fresh ginger.

Cooling Summer Foods

Thankfully, many of the cooling foods that we need to counteract the intense heat of summer are abundant this time of year. Because balance is necessary, we want to add cooling foods to our meals to balance all the yang energies outside and inside our bodies. Here are some cooling foods that you can add to your diet in the hottest months:

• Salads
• Fruits such as apples, watermelons, lemons, and limes
• Sprouts
• Cucumber
• Tofu
• Flower and leaf teas such as mint, chamomile, and chrysanthemum

Some cooling, pungent herbs and spices are also beneficial at this time of year. They include peppermint, spearmint, lavender, lemon balm, lily bulbs, and zucchini blossoms.

Foods to Avoid

There are some foods that we typically want to avoid in the summer months—usually extremes of hot and cold—so that we can better maintain the delicate internal balance of yin and yang, or hot and cold.

• Cold foods that come directly out of the refrigerator require more energy from the body to warm them up, which can weaken digestion, according to Chinese medicine.
• Greasy, heavy, or fatty foods, such as deep-fried foods and creamy foods, make us sluggish and require more energy to process. Limit meat and egg consumption and enjoy lighter fare in the summer months.
• Processed foods are always best to avoid. Instead, indulge in the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables available in summer.
• Stimulants such as coffee, alcohol, and spicy foods generate internal heat and can exacerbate internal heat conditions and emotional restlessness. Stimulants should be consumed in moderation, especially in summer.

Final Thoughts

For many, summer is one of the most enjoyable seasons and the one that countless people look forward to after the long, cold months of winter. It’s a time to soak up the beauty of the natural world that surrounds us—to be active, connect with friends and family, and be joyful. Seasonal living is how we feed ourselves and reconnect with the beautiful planet that we call home.