summer: settling the heart
It has been an astounding summer here on the farm. As it is our first full season here, we are overwhelmed with joy at the bounty already showing herself.
While we discover the cherries ripening and the raspberries popping their way toward Solstice, as we sweat in the sun fluffing the newly cut hay by hand (or learn to drive farm equipment!!) we slowly get to know our new home.
cherry harvesting
our first cherry harvest!
sunset on the farm on a rainy day
Summer is a time for ripening and fruition. It is a time to relish in the long days and tend to the heart, the primary organ of fire season. The heart houses the spirit in Chinese Medicine, and it is the organ which is responsible for joy, compassion, and altruism. These qualities are light, like the fire and heat of the season. When there is abundant joy and compassion in life, we feel ourselves not so burdened by the heavier elements of life. We are better able to carry the weight of sadness or of deeper questions when there is a baseline of simple joy coursing through our veins.
Summer can be filled with many activities to fill the hours as they stretch out the day, but it is also important to find time to slow down and rest, even in the longest days of the year. Rest and a slower pace help our heart to equalize itself and find the space to settle the spirit and anchor the tendency for the mind to run along too fast.
Some simple practices, remedies and recipes for tending to the heart:
Give yourself at least 10 minutes to lay down and close your eyes between the hours of 11 am and 1 pm. In the Chinese Medicine organ clock, this is the time of the heart. Taking care to rest a bit at midday gives the heart time to settle and sets you up to keep your energy flowing through the afternoon.
When you feel your schedule is too full, allow yourself space to say no to things or to slow it down a bit.
Rise from sleeping with the sunrise and go outside a bit when you wake up to take in the newborn sun. It’s ok to stay up later in summer, as the sun beckons us to do so, but take care to go to bed, if you are able, by 10 pm, sleeping by 11 pm at the latest.
Get outside to move a bit at least once a day.
Take time to practice 5-10 minutes minimum a day of breathwork (more is great, but start with something attainable), focusing on deeper breaths into the belly. This massages all the internal organs and allows for more free flow in the channels and meridians.
In meditation, you can focus on allowing your mind to settle, to let go of racing thoughts and especially to notice when the self-talk becomes antagonistic or without compassion.
Roses and chamomile soothe the heart. Mint and basil cool an overheated system. You can enjoy these as teas or a refreshing cucumber or watermelon slice in water, for example.
Below I made a rose petal elixir with vodka and honey soaked fresh roses. After six weeks I will extract it and use it for my family when one of us needs a bit of soothing for the heart.
fresh roses from the garden
extraction after two weeks