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Living With The Seasons: Summer
The longest day of the year, summer solstice, blesses us on June 21. To
be alive and well in the summer months is one of the greatest joys of human
life. In places further north, like Michigan and Montreal, the sky remains lit
well past 9 p.m. People congregate like bugs,
sitting out on the porches and back yards, enjoying the last hours of
twilight, eating watermelon and cherries, freely spitting the seeds out onto
the grass. In the inner cities its the time of year when the fire hydrants go
on, and scores of kids without yards or porches pour out into the streets and
scream and run through the giant fountains created by the open spouts of the
“city dog’s best friend.” Everyone is either trying to cool off or out working up a sweat.
Nature’s life force, or Qi in
Chinese, is at its peak in summer season--the yang energies of heaven have
descended and warmed the earth drawing its yin energies up and out into a three
month long mutual embrace. The flowers of springtime become the edible fruits
of summer and the energy in our bodies rises to the surface giving us the
impetus for constant movement and activity. In Chinese medicine and philosophy
this outpouring of summer “qi” is considered the release of yin through the
yang, to be healthy we should assist this release/flow in our own bodies, just
as in winter we assisted the storage and accumulation of yin. Health comes from
flowing with and not obstructing the natural forces; obey the rules of life by
recognizing the movement of yin and yang through the seasons. So quite
naturally our activity becomes more “yang,” we run, play, sweat, swim, become
heated. But, as always, we must guard against excess “exert the will, but
without violence...” it says in the Yellow
Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, “...assist the flow of qi to
the exterior, but do not become overcome by the sun.” This is easy to
understand. We can eat more spicy food in summer to make us sweat and release
the yang through the surface, even drink hot beverages that make us sweat,
exercise in plenty, but don’t overdo it and get sunstroke. But what of the
injunction to not obstruct the
natural forces?
This is where Americans get in trouble
with our abundance of electricity driven air conditioning as well as our
prediliction for massive quantities of iced beverages.
Of course we have to protect our bodies from the excesses of heat, but
it is better if we avoid extremes and
stick to the middle path. Use these modern innovations if you must, but use
them wisely and with moderation. Why freeze your body with air conditioning at
65 degrees, when in winter you would never place the heat down that low? When
exposed to excess air conditioning, especially when coming in out of the sweaty
heat, it is like going out in winter with one’s jacket off after a hot bath.
People get summer colds and stiff necks and weaken their immune systems. This
leads to trouble in winter. One simple alternative is to leave the AC off
altogther and use a ceiling fan on low. Also applying cold tap water on one’s
face, ears, back of the neck, and crown of the head is a very effective remedy
for the dry heat of mid and late summer. Digestion is well documented in both modern bio-medicine and ancient
traditions as a warm process relying on increased blood flow to the interior
surface of the stomach. Drinking huge Texas- sized” Big Gulps” is like placing
an ice pack on the stomach lining. This restricts the blood flow retarding the
secretion of digestive fluids. The
digestive process is injured profoundly
and ultimately so is the body’s immune system.
There are many foods and beverages that have a natural cooling effect
on the body. Cool peppermint tea is incredibly effective, fresh lemon or lime
squeezed into mineral water (for a special treat add some sweetener and Rose
water (available at any Iranian,
Mid-eastern or Indian market), hibiscus
tea (jamiaca in Spanish), and mineral waters mixed with fruit juice are all
healthy alternatives to the calcium leaching, sugar packed soft drinks of modern
marketing. If you love colas, have them twice a month at least, not twice a
day. Green food beverages are also quite cooling, try fresh wheat grass or my
favorite Green Magma powder (mix with water or juice).
Finally, in the Asian markets you can get the most cooling beverage of
all, young cocanut. Slice off the top of the cocanut with a sharp knife and
pour the contents into a bowl. Serve in a glass and drink at room temp. Save iced beverages for the hottest days
when you really need them, rather than making them a habit.
The king of cooling veggies is the naturally cold cucumber. Organic
cucumbers are unwaxed and unsprayed and the peels tend to be less bitter. The
smaller cucumbers are generally sweeter and have smaller seeds. Mid-eastern and
Iranian markets will usually have really nice varieties of cucumbers with thin
edible skins and small seeds. Other cooling vegetables are raw tomatoes and
lettuces, summer squashes and zucchinis, and egglplants. Summer squashes are
good too because they help replenish lost fluids. The most cooling herb, by
far, is Coriander leaf, known as Cilantro in spanish. That is one reason
Cilantro is used to balance somany hot Mexican and Indian dishes.
There are a thousand and eight ways to make cucumber salad, here is one
of my favorites which includes both tomato and coriander leaf .
Morrocan Style Cucumber and Tomato Salad
- 2 cups diced cuke
- 1- 1/2 cups diced roma tomatoes
(less acidic and more flavorful)
- 4-5 scallions, diced
- 1 to 1 ½ bunches cilantro, diced
- ½ cup diced mid-eastern or kosher garlic pickles, optional
- 1/4 cup juice from some fine quality black olives
- about ten black olives, optional
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- a dash black pepper, optional
Toss all the ingredients together, let sit in the frig for one hour so
the juices can mix, and serve. This is a very tasty salad, with a slight
saltiness from the olive juice and pickles. The scallions and cilantro combine
to give a very fragant smell.
Finally, never underestimate the power of fruit salad to cool the body
and sweeten the heart.
Even common apples and pears can be made even more delicious chopped
into pieces along with some diced dates,
good quality honey and fresh cardomon powder to taste (start with one
tsp honey and ½ tsp cardomon for a cup or two of salad.) The cardomon is a warm
drying digestive aid that helps the body digest cool fruit, without warming the
overall temperature. Sometimes I like to add some grated cocanut and/or toasted
sesame seed (gomasio) to this recipe for a more complex flavor. Feeling exotic?
Add a tsp or two of rose water, fragrant and cooling. Happy Summer!
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