In the Northern Hemisphere, we’ve arrived at the midpoint of the Wheel of the Year--the Summer Solstice. We start to experience the expansion and pause of the yang energy. Life is in full bloom all around us and within us. We may feel more outwards, social and expressive. We may witness the blooming of what we’ve been nurturing through the Winter and Spring seasons. This season lends an invitation to fully bloom into the fullness of who we really are. A beautiful time to express, be seen, heard, and explore the richness of our creativity.

Correspondences of Summer

Summer is a time of the year that is full of manifesting our heart’s desires. We can start to see the fruits of our visioning and planning from previous seasons. This is a refreshing opportunity to expand your horizons and look toward new paths and adventures.

Ahh, so much light shining on our hearts. This light gives clarity to our dreams and our creations, but also toward the things we no longer need and are ready to let go of.

Heart: Summer Organ

The heart is home to our "shen" or spirit and emotional health stems from the health of our heart and the strength of our spirit. Whenever you feel lost and unsure of what to do or where to go, land back into your heart and ask “What does my heart need?”

Our emotional range and our ability to express our emotions strongly influence our overall health. The heart is the organ of Summer and learning to take care of our heart health is very important, especially during this time. In East Asian Medicine, the Heart is said to “flower” in the tongue, meaning that the way our Heart receives sensory information from the outer world is through the tongue. Consider how we commonly express ourselves from our hearts through speaking, singing, or how we become tongue-tied when we feel anxious.

Fire Element

The Fire element is so important in Chinese Medicine that there are 4 associated organs/channels, as opposed to the usual two. These 4 relate with each other and the other organs/channels of your body to regulate your temperature, separate the pure from impure and circulate blood and nutrients throughout the whole body.

Fire and the shades of red represent the dynamic and changing yang energy. We feel a strong connection to exploring our sensuality and experimentation. Nudges of inner transformation are facilitated through the art of letting go. Change and movement take us closer to manifesting our dreams. Fire consumes, merges, and transforms in order to leave fertile & mineral-filled ash. In balance, it transmutes. Out of balance, it may consume everything with its ferocity, like an explosion or a star.

The Fire within ourselves is the relational element, this means our Fire feels nurtured from connections and relationships. This is a time when we may crave a community to share our joy with. This is also an exploration of finding the part of ourselves that adds value to the community and the people we love.

As we slowly transition into this Fire season, it is important to allow the flow and freedom of whatever needs to be expressed. Try to speak out about your needs and set healthy boundaries.

What is your favorite way of expressing your inner world?

What relationships have had the greatest impact on your heart and emotional well-being?

Emotions of Summer

Emotions can be more intense during the Summer because we are in a pause of yang abundance. This means that the challenge of Summer is to learn how to self-regulate, soothe and metabolize our emotions. Emotions have the power to give us so much knowledge and information about ourselves and the people we relate to. Strong and difficult emotions usually are the greatest teachers, they take us through necessary journeys of the soul. The emotion of Summer is Joy and the lack of Joy, so try to keep special attention to the things that feel good for you and have clear boundaries with the things that are not for you.

Other emotions that may express heart disharmony are feelings of anxiousness and mania. These usually happen when there is either a deficiency of blood or an overabundance of heat and dampness built up in our bodies.

Learning to navigate our emotions is a skill and an art. The art of responding instead of reacting and allowing things to fully ground before moving to the next step. The only way to process our emotions in a healthy way is to honor and move through them. Deeply feeling all your feelings makes you strong, it requires a lot of courage and bravery. Often in our culture, we are taught to bury or downplay our feelings and emotions. But the body keeps score. These will eventually need to surface and move.

Inner Summer: Ovulation

During the ovulatory phase, we feel more outwards, expansive, and magnetic. Ovulation is our inner Summertime, internal fruition, and fullness. This is a wonderful opportunity to explore the aroma, texture, and possibly even taste of our own liquid pearl to get the full experience of our own bodies. To learn more about your liquid pearl or fertile fluids, visit our blog here.

The Mother Archetype

Archetypes are symbols of the world that represent inner parts of ourselves. The Mother archetype represents the Summer (Fire) and Late Summer (Earth) seasons. Our inner Mother protects and nurtures us. The Mother has the capacity to care for herself while making time for others. The Mother has the power of creation, either the creation of children, art, a garden, or an entire community.

Many menstrual imbalances are rooted in our emotions. This is why having a connection with our subconscious through the cycle allows us to find the resources we need within ourselves. If at any point of the cycle you need guidance, think of the Mother, the safe & reliable authority that lives within you, and ask yourself, what would they do? Feel how their grounding and nurturing energy sustains and supports you.

If you could see yourself with your mother's eyes, how would you give yourself support for the situation you are in?

Puberty & Young Adulthood

The Fire element also represents our life cycle that marks puberty and young adulthood. This can also mark the red color of our first bleed. This is a time of exploration, and experimentation with the world beyond the home. This is where we are shaping a point of view, a personality, and answers to questions like who am I? or what’s my mission in this life?

Even if you're not at this stage of your life cycle, know that you can always contact this young maiden inside of yourself. Allow yourself to rest in the wondrous miracles of our planet, be playful and exploratory. You can gently tell your inner maiden the things you would have wanted to hear when you were that age.

Herb Spotlight for Your Heart

Hawthorn Berry is an herb that gently helps to circulate blood between heart and womb while we are on our periods. It's known as a heart tonic. It resolves stress throughout the cardiovascular system. You can enjoy it as a tea, tincture, or a solid herbal extract. Find your favorite mode of delivery in my dispensary; Fullscript. My favorite brand is Wise Woman Herbals Solid Extract. Remember that you can make a free account at my Fullscript dispensary and purchase practitioner-grade supplements at 20% off retail prices.

I also like to use the dried bulk version of Hawthorn Berries that you can make into a period tea. You can get the bulk raw herbs here. As a patron of The Way of Yin, you have access to practitioner-grade supplements for 20% off retail pricing. Free to open an account. For a period, tea recipe, visit our blog here.

Sam & Kris ~ The Way of Yin Team

Heart Health, Summertime & The Fire Element