the Qi of Summer according to the Nei jing

An early post in preparation for the coming summer months ahead, you can go to my prior post on Spring info for these final weeks in November - while there is still a chill in the air, Spring qi is relevant…

Summer in Chinese medicine (CM) focuses on the natural processes of 2 systems in terms of the qi of the body and nature: Fire in summer & Earth in late summer or some talk about Earth not having a season because it is the centre and is always relevant which makes a lot of sense to.

Fire organ systems include the Heart, Small intestine, Pericardium and San jiao - Fire is responsible for the correct distribution of blood, qi and fluids throughout the body as well as housing the Shen (explanation at end of this post).
Earth organ systems include the Spleen and Stomach - Earth is the centre and is responsible for receiving physically and with our senses. When working well, Earth enables us to be anchored in the physical/earth, allowing us to greet the heavens with balance and harmony.

The three months of summer, they denote opulence and blossoming.

The qi of heaven and earth interact and the myriad beings bloom and bear fruit.

Summer is a time of abundance where flowers bloom and qi reaches it’s peak externally. Summer is the meeting of the skies/heavens - what we dream, and the earth - all that is/was/will be in our worlds. All beings have potential to be fertile and bear fruit/babies/opportunities in summer. Inspiration is easily accessed whether in self, ways of being or projects and fuels our qi in this season.

Go to rest late at night and rise early. Never get enough of the sun.

Let the mind have no anger. Stimulate beauty and have your elegance perfected.

Summer is a time to sleep less, staying up later with the daylight and waking with it. Bathe in the sun (safely) as much as possible soaking all that comes with it’s light rays (including vitamin D).
Transform anger/annoyances into compassion/understanding for whatever/whoever irritation is directed. This might help to stimulate our own inner beauty/authenticity bringing elegance/grace to all situations and things.

Cause the qi to flow away, as if that what you loved were located outside.

By aligning with summer, with the heavens and earth, both internally and externally, an abundance of love and good feeling overflows. In summer, pores are open to allow extra qi to flow out of the body easily. Summer is a time to connect with what is outside of ourselves, sharing our beauty/authenticity with grace/compassion, in whatever varied forms work.

This is the correspondence with the qi of summer and it is the Way to nourish growth. Opposing harms the heart.
In Autumn this causes jie and malaria, and there is little to support gathering. Multiple disease [develops] at winter solstice.

This is the Way/Dao of summer - to encourage and nuture growth and sharing. Going against the natural qi flow of summer might create imbalances in the heart system.
Malaria type illness - intermittent chills and fever might surface if there are not enough resources to support the qi of Autumn, which needs to gather in readiness for the reduced winter qi. This is created when pores are not working correctly and the abundant qi gets stuck within rather than flowing outside of ourselves. Further issues could also develop in winter if we go against the natural course of summer qi.

Quotes from…
Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen: An Annotated Translation of Huang Di’s Inner Classic - basic questions. Vol.1 . Pg 46&47 by Unschuld, Tessenow & Zheng 2011

Further commentary is Lee-Ana’s understanding from her trainings, knowledge and lived experiences to date.

A side note on the Heart system and Shen…

Fire includes the Heart system in CM which is responsible for housing the Shen. Shen could be described as self-awareness which brings authenticity. When anchored, it allows for self-reflection, morality & correct communication. By being self-aware, we better know, what Lillian Bridges called, our ‘golden path’…the path of work in our life that fulfills, nourishes and inspires us. Shen is reflected through the eyes and is in part the shine of inspiration that can be seen.

When the shen is unsettled, it can be as if the person has an excessive abundance of summer qi. This could manifest as talking without purpose and/or connection, excess laughter or perhaps oversharing, amongst other things. Eventually this type of qi uses up the anchoring substances/resources within, leaving a person deplete.

Shen could be viewed as a consciousness which allows emotional well being and balance, when it is aligned correctly, and has substance to keep it anchored/housed.

Shen 神
Translated as ‘spirit’ or an influence ‘coming from heaven’ that was rooted in the ancient shamanism of China, by Monkey Press.
It has also been described as referring to ‘the intelligence of existence’ by Wang Ju-Yi.