A note for the Great Heat
A short letter for 大暑, the Great Heat. The peak of summer, when the body's yin has been drawn on for the longest.
Great heat approaches the autumn turn.
The cassia moon opens at midnight; fireflies light the empty hours.
Melons and fruit set out for the visiting scholar.
The classical books wait for the wind to turn the pages.
A reflective note
This is the season when yin runs thinnest. The body has been giving for weeks. The patient who shows signs of depletion now, the dry mouth, the restless sleep, the irritability that did not used to be there, is signaling that the reserve is low. The work in this season is restorative, not heroic.
A body practice for the season
Cooling foods over icy ones. Watermelon. Cucumber. Mung bean. Midday stillness. An evening footbath three times a week. The long meal with friends after dark when the heat has lifted.
A relational thread
The body keeps the score of the season as much as the calendar does. Slow conversation in the cool of evening is its own restoration.
A seasonal gift
Pass this letter to a parent or a grandparent who endures the heat quietly. Old age and great heat together carry a particular cost.
With respect,
Dr. Lan
Your Herbal Pharmacist
Four formulas for the season
Tibetan Foot Soaks
Twenty minutes at dusk. The cooling evening practice.
Sol Tea
Ling Gui Zhu Gan Tang. For fluid metabolism and quiet sleep.
Peak Tea
San Ren Tang. Clears damp-heat at the peak of the season.
Aquada
Er Miao San. Damp-heat in the lower jiao, which intensifies now.