July Self-Healing Tips

July brings us into the peak of summer. With the long hot days and relatively short hot nights, our bodies need the balance of yin in order to thrive in the summer season. Summer is the time of the Fire element, whose organs include the Heart, Small Intestine, Pericardium, and Triple Burner. The Pericardium is also known as the Heart Wrapper or Heart Protector. In Chinese medicine, the Pericardium plays an important role in maintaining heart health and soothing the spirit.

Pericardium 6, Nei Guan, or Inner Gate, is located 2 fingerbreadths above the inner wrist crease in between the two tendons. Lay your first two fingers down at the crease where the base of your hand connects with your wrist. Just above the edge of the finger that is higher up your arm find the space between the two tendons and sink into it. It should be tender on palpation.
This is an amazingly effective point for nausea, vomiting, motion sickness and morning sickness. Its other powerful effects include: soothing heart pain, calming palpitations, treating insomnia, increasing peace of mind, alleviating anxiety, lessening stress and depression, regulating blood pressure, lowering fevers, clearing eye redness, treating dizziness, and releasing tension and pain from the neck and shoulders.

Suggestion: Any time of day you feel nauseous, anxious or over-heated try using a fingertip, thumb, or knuckle to massage PC 6. Check in with both wrists and see which side is more tender. Be sure to work that side especially well. You can also use this when riding in a car, on a boat, or in a plane for motion sickness, or have someone do it for you.

A good way to balance out your body in the summer is to take in plenty of the sweetness and hydration that lightly cooked fresh vegetables give. Creating a brightly colored vegetable feast allows the heart to open and the digestion to be nurtured. Vegetables help replace valuable minerals and oils that are easily sweated out in the summer heat.

Red and yellow peppers are members of the night shade family. This means that they are particularly yin and therefore beneficial in the summer months. They are also sweet and hydrating, and they have a positive effect on the stomach and the appetite.

Try this: Gather a couple of differently colored (organic if you can find them!) peppers and cut them into 4 or so large pieces each. Make a light marinade out of olive oil, balsamic vinegar (or brown rice vinegar), and a small amount of fresh rosemary (optional). Just before grilling sprinkle with a very small amount of salt. Grill lightly, enjoy the juicy sweetness of summer's bounty, and know that you are being good to your inner Fire.