Verena's Gift of Health Newsletter
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SUMMER IS HERE ! This is a quote from "The Yellow Emperor" from 200B.C.
THE TAO
The Tao begets the One,
The One begets the two,
The two begets the three and
The three begets the ten thousand things.
All things are backed by the shade,
Faced by the light,
And harmonized by the immaterial breath.
Lao Tzu: Tao Te
Jing. Chpt.42.
In the opening lines of the classic the Tao Te Jing, we are
informed that,The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao,
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE FIRE ELEMENT IN TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE?
Fire in Space |
Chinese medicine has always had this uncanny ability to reflect back to us that we are a mirror image of mother nature. According to Chinese Medicine we are now in our fullest expression of our ability to manifest enthusiasm and creativity. We are in the middle of the Fire Element - transformational phase -We talk about an excited person as being
"all fired up" or a passionate person as being "hot" or "on fire." Fire
is the element of enthusiasm, drive, desire, and passion. If you
are a person who is full of fire you will be lively, dynamic,
outgoing and enthusiastic. When that fire is deficient, you'll feel
"burned out."
You are fun and full of life! You have a great
sense of humor and laugh easily. You are the life of the party. You are
a wonderful public speaker and love conversation. You are optimistic
and generous. You make friends easily. You have a special magnetism
and charisma. You are a natural born salesperson.
Fire Element
is is all about love and joy.
Fire is of the
Summer, when the trees are full of fruit and plants are blossoming
abundantly. In your life, the power of the Fire allows you to bring your
work to fruition!
So a person with excess fire might experience anxiety, insomnia,
absent-mindedness, extremes of emotion, nervousness and tension,
dizziness, light headedness, mania or even heart palpitations. If the Fire Element is out of
balance, or is blocked from
fully expressing itself, you may lack the qualities above, or have lost
them over time as the imbalance has grown more severe. Fun seeking
becomes giddiness; humor becomes excitability, conversation becomes
incoherent babble; generosity becomes selfishness; friendliness turns to
flirtation; charisma becomes seduction; enthusiasm becomes grandiosity. In my own practice I have noticed that patients of mine display a greater array of heart related symptoms during the summer months: Palpitations - regular and irregular heart beats we also detect from through Chinese Pulse reading. Insomnia and feeling "vexed" are some of the possible symptoms. Maybe you have noticed some Fire Element related signals from you body?
We are in harmony with mother nature - even if it seems a little "crazy" at times.
www.windcircle.org - photo by Jonathan Sherrill Let us visit for a moment what these two Organ Systems stimulate (or rule) in us during the season of the Summer:
SYSTEMS AT THEIR PEAK: Heart and 11AM to 1PM Small Intestine 1 PM to 3PM
Most symptoms of Heart and Small Intestine maybe best apparent as well as treated at that time of the day. The Heart meridian has only 9 specific acupuncture points. and this important Heart has the following functions: to house the spirit at night to move the blood The HEART "opens" into the tongue The color of the element fire is red. The corresponding human sound is laughter The taste that corresponds to the element fire is BITTER The smell is SCORCHED
The Small Intestine comes with a particularly poignant quote: "to separate the pure from the impure" - this is described as one of the functions of the Small Intestine. Such an essential philosophical concept. Such a parallel to what the the Small Intestine actually does for us on a physical plane. The Small Intestine meridian has19 points - starting by the side of your pinky finger and ending in the indentation of the mandible in front of your ear of your with point SI19. Often times disorders treated with points on the Small Intestine meridian are neck pain. shoulder pain and promoting lactation in breastfeeding mothers.
Too cool the anguish of extreme "fire" or heat you can introduce cooling foods: like cucumber, pears and melon. Onions have traditionally been used in China to treat summer ailments. I want to remind you that, on the other hand very icy cold foods, (such as slushes, iced coffee and other drinks and ice cream, in particular) eventually really weaken the body because your body has to expend a lot of energy to warm the icy cold input so you body can even use any of the nutrients....... iced substances are not always a cool, good idea to stay cool! Over time all the salads and raw foods as well as cold drinks and ice cream can really damage out digestive system. The digestive system likes warmth or room temperature. Note how some hot countries serve hot mint tea in the heat! It works better to feel cooler.
Try a wonderful COOLING vegetable drink - Juice just made from celery and cucumber and lemon- naturally no sugar ! Great for kidney function (celery) - high in electrolytes - antioxidants - anti-inflammatory - highly digestible. Cucumber contains high-spun water. Instant turn-on for energy ! Celery nourishes the kidneys and lemon is high in vitamin C and antioxidants.
External Body Cool Off: place a wet cool face cloth on the back of your neck. Run the insides of your wrists under cold water. Feet are always happy to be soaked in cold water. Walk barefoot; its good for us, more connected to the Earth, recharging our energies - and much cooler than shoes.
Today while it is 90 Degrees hot ! I fully endorse all these cool-off methodologies........I have used them all!!
A HAPPY HEART IS A JOYOUS, LIGHTER YOU!!
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ALL THE DIFFERENT WAYS YOU CAN LOVE YOURSELF BETTER ! "He who knows the world around him is smart He who truly knows himself is wise" Lao Tzu app. 500 BC
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