Keeping Cool this Summer with Chinese Medicine

July 12, 2018

|In Organs, Nutrition, Blog, Seasons, Health, Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, Nutritional Therapy

By John Voigt

Keeping Cool

Here are some techniques from Traditional Chinese medicine to help beat the summer heat. (If you have a fever, or other health problems see a professional medical practitioner.)

First some common sense suggestions: drink a lot of water, keep cool. Do your body a favor and stay in the shade. Nothing beats a pleasant stroll in a forest (just have the bug repellant on). If you must be in the sun cover yourself as much as you can. Watch non-human animals for cues on what you should be doing.

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

Food.

Never put icy cold things in your mouth. Avoid lamb, fatty red meat, alcohol, tobacco, garlic, onion, scallion, and coffee as these are warming in Chinese Medicine. Eat less food and drink, drink lots of room temperature fluids–except never any sugared juice drinks, or sodas. Replace any lost salt … lost from heavy sweating.

To reinforce yin, and clear heat: Watermelon, Mung beans.

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Also: Apple, Banana, Crab, Mango, Pears, Pineapple, Tofu.

Try drinking mint, chamomile, chrysanthemum teas; and also a weak green tea with a touch of lemon and honey. These are cooling to the body and build yin.

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Chinese Herbs

American Ginseng.

This image from ernestherbal.com

Check with a health professional knowledgeable about Chinese herbs if you have health issues. Dosage: Usually American Ginseng extract is about 200 mg per day containing at least 4 to 7% ginsenosides. 0.5 to 2 g of dry root per day on a short-term basis, with the ginseng taken in tea form or chewed. Capsule formulas are generally prescribed in a dosage of 100 to 600 mg per day, usually in divided doses. [from] <http://www.online-health-care.com/herbal-medicines>.

Internal Qigong.

In the cycle of Seasons, this is the time to prepare for winter. Sit in meditation and visualize it is winter all around you. Take the hot yang energy on the surface of your body and with your mind and breath direct and guide this heat into the energy storage battery in your lower abdomen, the Dantian. Do from five to fifteen minutes.

Self Acupressure.

Kidney 1 (Yong-quan)
Kidney 2 (Ran-gu)
Bladder 40 (Weizhong)

Kidney 1 is one of the most powerful points in the body and is located between the balls of the foot in the depression. It is a very strong point, so be gentle. It is excellent for building yin and cooling the body as well as being a powerful tonification point for the entire body.
Photo by Cristian Newman on Unsplash

Kidney 2 is located on the inside (medial) aspect of the foot along the border of the red and white skin (where the skin transitions from the soft part on the top of your foot to the tougher type of skin you have on the bottom of your foot.)
Image from wanderingdawn.com

This point is located behind the knees at the midpoint of the crease. It is very sensitive, so always be gentle.

Gently press and massage the Kidney 1, and 2 points, then the Bladder-40 points for about three to five minutes (or longer).

Putting ice on the Bladder 40 wěizhōng points works to cool you down too.

External Qigong.

With fingers pointed down and knuckles facing each other almost touching, raise hands up center front — go above head and open palms up to the heavens. With palms facing downward, fingertips pointed at each other, bring hands down the center line,. Repeat six times. Softly sound “Sheee.” (Or just hear it in your head.) This harmonizes the body’s organ functions, the “Triple Burner”.

John Voigt
john.voigt@comcast.net