In a prior post a bit was related about the seasonal quality of Chinese Medicine.  To recap, we can say that seasonal factors like cold, hot, humidity, and dryness affect one's health according to Chinese medicine.  The seasons are literal and metaphorical: the literal season of autumn and the autumn of one's life, for example.  There are other metaphorical correspondences that may or may not be literal depending upon one's beliefs.  The correspondence of dryness with west with lung with autumn may or may not be apt depending upon the specifics of geographic and individual particulars.  These correspondences considered, balancing these variables becomes the crux of Chinese seasonal medicine.

Caveats aside then, the season of summer, corresponding with fire, bitterness, the color red, the heart and south deserves proper attention.  Among the associations most tangible is the heart.  This is the king organ and it is associated with less corporeal aspects of our being, namely the emotions.  Foods that go to the heart will do good for the emotions.  Foods that come in season in the summer are naturally good for the heart.  Red foods that come in season in the summer are the quintessence of proper heart food.  Bitter foods are also correspond with the heart.  The balance between the boosting effects of red and the detoxifying effects of bitter is struck depending upon the circumstances of each patient.

In the summer one is wont to sweat.  Replenishing fluids then is important.  Chinese medicine takes a unique position regarding the consumption of water, preferring that water mostly come from food and beverages.  Water itself probably has neutral properties, doing nothing in particular other than diluting the concentration of body fluids and qi.  Fresh fruit, including cucumber, tomatoes, and summer squash, provides useful water to the body and boost qi.  Vegetable juices with juicy items like kohlrabi, celery, spinach including the stems are winners.  Many will not only provide usable water but the valuable bitter element to detox and drain excess water.    

Those who run continuously thirsty are receiving signals that their fluids are depleted.  People who tend to run hot and are particularly affected in the summer should consider active coolants, much as you would for your radiator.  Herbs like lotus pommule and a lily bulb called mai men dong are ideal because they go to the heart, imputing a clearing and calming effect.  Heavier grade coolants like American ginseng can nourish the kidneys and enhance the heart/kidney relationship, thus enhancing sleep, as well as ameliorating the effects of high stress. 

Emotional well-being can be enhanced in the summer by doing slow breathing exercises.  Since the body is most active, i.e., yang, in summer, slow or yin type breathing will help bring balance.  Simply slowing your breath to at least 12 cycles per minute will begin to register signals to the brain to slow down. 

Diet, herbs, and exercise form a big picture approach to the treatment of patients in Chinese medicine.  It is also the approach employed when balancing with seasonal influences, which will affect each person differently.  Often treatment of seasonal disorders depends on when the symptoms are active.  For example, treatment of asthma that is worse in winter is treated palliatively in winter and at its root in summer.  As for summer, its effects on the body fluids and qi can be deleterious.  Water is a poor agent for restoring either body fluids or qi, but dandy treats like chrysanthemum, lotus pommule, and American ginseng are perfect options for the season.