Long evenings, warm days and people spilling out into gardens and parks. Summer is the most outward season of the year, and in Chinese medicine it belongs to the Fire element.
Let's look at how the tradition sees Fire, and at the summer advice in the Huangdi Neijing, one of the founding texts of Chinese medicine. These are traditional ideas, not modern physiology, but they offer a thoughtful way to notice how the season affects you.
What is the Fire element?
Chinese medicine has five elements, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, each linked to a season. In chapter 5 of the Suwen (the first part of the Neijing), the South produces heat, heat produces Fire, and Fire is connected with the bitter taste and the heart. The same passage pairs Fire with the colour red, the sound of laughter and the emotion of joy.
In Five Element acupuncture, the style I practise, Fire is traditionally about warmth, connection and the ability to love and be loved. Joy here isn't constant cheerfulness. It's being able to feel warmth when the moment is right, and to settle again afterwards, like a fire that is well tended rather than roaring or going out.
The Neijing's advice for summer
Chapter 2 of the Suwen gives advice for each of the four seasons. In the English translation by Paul Unschuld and Hermann Tessenow (University of California Press, 2011), the summer section opens:
"The three months of summer, they denote opulence and blossoming."
The original Chinese goes on to picture heaven and earth meeting, and all things flowering and bearing fruit. Then comes the advice, in Unschuld and Tessenow's words:
- "Go to rest late at night and rise early."
- "Never get enough of the sun."
- "Let the mind have no anger."
The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong renders the same lines a little differently: "retire at night and rise early, not be averse to the sun, and keep the emotion free from anger". Both versions catch the sense of the original, which is not to shrink away from the long days.
Summer, the text adds, is a time to let the qi flow outwards, "as if what you love were outside" (my own literal rendering of the Chinese). It closes with a warning that going against the summer season harms the heart, leaving less to draw on in autumn.
A note on "never get enough of the sun"
This line was written more than two thousand years ago, and it's about not resenting the long, bright days. It isn't advice to sunbathe. In the UK, spend time in the shade between 11am and 3pm from March to October, and use at least factor 30 sunscreen with at least 4-star UVA protection. You can enjoy the spirit of the text and still look after your skin.
Bringing Fire into your summer
If you'd like to live a little more in step with the season, here are some ideas in the spirit of the tradition.
- Use the light. The text suggests later nights and early mornings. An early walk before the heat builds, or an evening outdoors, are easy ways to enjoy the longest days.
- Make time for people. Fire is about warmth and connection, so summer is a natural time to see friends, eat outdoors together or get back in touch with someone.
- Let go of irritations. You could take "let the mind have no anger" as a reminder not to let small things spoil a good day.
- Laugh. Laughter is the sound of Fire in the tradition. Whatever makes you laugh, summer is a good time for more of it.
- Rest in the heat. Being outward doesn't mean being busy all the time. Shade, a cool drink and a slower afternoon are part of summer too.
When Fire feels out of balance
In Five Element thinking, some people feel summer's energy very strongly, while others find the constant sociability tiring. Neither is wrong. The tradition simply invites you to notice how you respond. Do you light up, burn out, or find it hard to get warm at all?
Whatever the season, many people find a Five Element acupuncture session a calm hour for themselves. I take time to listen, and each treatment is tailored to you rather than to a checklist.
To read more about this element, visit my guide to the Fire element.