Examples of TCM Life Cultivation in Accordance with Seasonal Conditions |
Summer controls fire and the heart is the organ of fire which governs emotions. Thus, the summer heat easily acts upon the heart to cause uprising of the heart fire, giving rise to restlessness of the mind, irascibility, anxiety, uneasiness, even insomnia, etc. Particularly, old people have the poor ability to endure the climatic variations. They are often in an anxious state of mind. This affects their health, even induces diseases. Accordingly, in summer emotional regulation, people should tranquilize the mind, treat people and deal with things calmly, avoid anger and vexation so as to cultivate temperament in a quiet state. Some classics repeatedly mention that in summer people should “cultivate the temperament peacefully and avoid being restless in mind” and “Cultivation of temperament is more important than health preservation”, etc. Only in this way can people conform to the principle of summer health preservation.
Regulating the diet
Summer heat acts upon the heart. The heart is the organ of fire and the cardiac fire easily rises. Therefore, in summer it is advisable to eat foods of clearing away heat and removing summer heat such as bitter gourd, chrysanthemum leaf, towel gourd, water melon, musk melon and mung bean which are the first choice. Besides, people may prepare some health beverages, medicated gruel and medicated food like Baihe Ludou soup (Soup of Bulbus Lilii and Semen Phaseoli Radiati). However, they should never overingest cold drink, iced water, unripe and cold melon and fruit due to addiction to cool so as to prevent the splenogastric injury because of the excessive cold. In late summer, dampness is more excessive and dampness often intermingles with heat. This may often affect the digestive function of the spleen and stomach. When selecting foods, people should follow the principle of being bland and light. They may eat more wax gourd, Yiyiren (Semen Coicis), cucumber, love pea, etc. But they should abstain from fat, greasy, pungent and hot natured foods accordingly in order to prevent yang from transforming into fire as well as the generation of dampness and heat. When preparing foods, people should try their best to seek for varieties. Meanwhile, they should emphasize the color, smell, taste and appearance so as to activate the spleen, promote the gastric function and improve appetite. Physical training
Physical training is beneficial to health. Nevertheless, people should stress the methods and have physical training flexibly in accordance with the features of the external scorching environment and the more physical consumption in summer, etc. For instance, it is better to have physical training in the morning and evening with more indoor activities. Besides, large amount of exercise is not suitable. Especially in midsummer, people should not select the events with consume more physical strength. This can avoid profuse sweat due to the strenuous exercise. Excessive perspiration not only impairs Yin, but also makes Yang Qi please outwards. In this case, people violate the principle of “nourishing Yang in spring and summer”. Therefore, people had best select some physical training events which are moderate in amount of exercise or prevent sunstroke and lower temperature in summer such as swimming, taking a walk, jogging, setting up exercise, Tai Chi Chuan (Taiji quan), billiard ball and bowling. Besides, they may select the events on the basis of personal tastes and hobbies. |
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