Set yourself up for Summer
Summer marks the height of our energy and activity for the year. In the Southern hemisphere, we are lucky to celebrate the beginning of the New Year during this season. Summer provides an excellent opportunity to move towards our new year’s resolutions with vigour.
In Chinese Medicine, Fire is the element associated with Summer, which has the power to illuminate our relationship with our inner being as well as the external world. This is a great time to work on our self-confidence and self-love practices.
Work and Goals
As Summer enters our consciousness, our bodies may feel energetic, and our heart and minds are open. According to Chinese Medicine, this is a Yang season when fiery Yang energy is at it’s most active. We may experience a strong sense of motivation as we move into this part of our yearly cycle. If you’ve been testing the waters on new projects throughout Spring, this is the time to commit to your priority goals fully.
While it may seem counterintuitive because of the New Years holiday period, doing the hard work now will help you reap the rewards early in the new year.
Summer is when you can afford to work, rest and play hard!
Lifestyle
Make sure to get your fill of the sunshine Vitamin D by spending 15 – 20 minutes in the midday sun without sunscreen or sun protection, make sure that you do not allow your skin to burn. If using sunscreen during part of the day, I recommend a natural sunscreen which will not leach toxic chemicals into your bloodstream.
Keep cool with loose, breathable, light, and natural fabrics like linen, cotton.
There’s no better time than the Summer to go to the beach and tune in to the magnetic pull of the earth by walking barefoot on the sand and swimming in the salty water. Allow the ocean breeze to cleanse and recharge your energy with negative ions.
Nutrition
Eating light meals will nourish your body. If you live in a hot and dry climate such as Melbourne, eat cooling foods such as cucumber, lettuce, spinach, celery and fruits such as strawberries and melons. Dairy products also have a cooling quality and help counteract the heat of hot summer days. Enjoy the flavours of fresh, organic vegetables and fruits in season.
The taste associated with fire is bitter, so try to include bitter greens like endive, escarole, spinach and kale in your diet.
Drink lots of pure, fresh filtered water. The sun draws moisture from your pores, so it is essential that you rehydrate so drink eight to ten glasses of water a day.
Exercise
You can nurture your body during this season by exercising, especially outdoors when it’s not too hot. A healthy heart needs regular exercise to keep the circulatory system in good condition. Get cardiovascular exercise and try to build a sweat, which helps to cleanse toxins from the body.
A critical phase of our spiritual development is carried out during the Summer as we are driven to manifest our vision.
What are your plans for the Summer?
Do you need help setting goals this Summer? Book a wellness coaching session and set yourself up.
Kristen Ross founded Affinity Wellness in 2007 and since has helped hundreds of clients to unlock their Inner Guidance, Unleash their potential and create lives they love.
With a history in the management of artists. Kristen had the opportunity to help guide the careers of many professional actors and artists, helping others thrive personally and professionally by connecting to their intuition and inner compass, this led her to study healing modalities such as kinesiology and counselling to enhance her work as a soul empowerment guide.
Kristen combines a striking combination of energy healing (kinesiology), counselling, coaching, dreamwork, meditation and yogic medicine practices to tap into the many facets of the self, mind, body and soul and release the layers that block her clients from accessing their intuition and self-love.
She believes that your life is your spiritual practice and that every decision you make is a part of your journey towards peace, power and enlightenment.
Everything you create and achieve comes from your ability to love and accept yourself and to do that you must engage in inner work.
Kristen currently runs a private online practice servicing individuals across Australia, New Zealand and the UK based in Melbourne, Australia.
