Chinese Medicine teaches us that the heart is the empress of our being, governing our emotions and spirit. As the push of yang energy intensifies with the rise of summer and the approach of the summer solstice, we are invited to open ourselves fully to this season's warmth, joy, and connection. Here we’ll explore the significance of the heart in Chinese Medicine, its role during the summer, and the practices we can adopt to nurture our hearts, especially during these challenging times of global grief and uncertainty.

Chinese Medicine offers us an anchor point to return to over and over again in order to help us transition with a bit more ease. Within the 5 Element/Phase Theory 五行 Wǔxíng, we have Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. In many traditions, the Earth element is placed in the center as this serves as a resource for the other elements to transition into one another.

Each element, representing a major season, dips into the Earth element in order to help bring us forward into the next season. Earth represents the Late Summer season but also all of the in-between times between the major seasons.

The connection between our physical and emotional well-being offers profound insights into our health. The Heart and its correspondence to our emotions and bodily functions are the core of this ancient healing system.