Nourishing the Heart and Mind: 11 Herbalist-Approved Summer Habits

Welcome to July! As an Herbalist, I tend to celebrate the seasons based on the weather rather than the calendar, but all the same, we are officially in the summer season, and half way through the year.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the early summer is the season to nourish your heart, both physically and emotionally. Summer is known for the element of heat (which is why we all love it), but heat in excess or combined with excess, deficient or imbalanced moisture can put a literal ‘damper’ on the season.

I’ve chosen 11 of my favourite summer habits that benefit the heart and the mind in the summer months. These habits aim to help balance the heat and cool with the dry and moist tissues states within the body. Understanding these tissue states can show us important indicators of the root(s) of any discomfort we may experience including our emotional state. Ideally, we want the body to be in balance, but as we are forever changing and growing and so are the elements around us, we must do the work to help our body and mind to stay as balanced as possible.

1. Get a monthly acupuncture treatment by a Doctor of Chinese Medicine Acupuncturist (DTCM). A good DTCM will have you feeling balanced, productive and relieved within a couple of hours! It is imperative that you see Doctor of Chinese Medicine Acupuncturist – one who understands tissue states and who will take your pulse prior to beginning a treatment. When you’re looking for a good Acupuncturist, I recommend phoning and confirming that they practice pulse diagnosis, as this will confirm the type of acupuncture that you will be receiving. There are many types of practitioners who are credited to administer acupuncture, but for the purposes of balancing the tissue states through the meridians of the body, and to work with an Herbalist like myself, a DTCM is the only acupuncturist I recommend.
2. Upon waking, spend 10 minutes in the garden. This might look different for everyone: it could be doing weeding or planting or picking flowers in your own garden, or it could be going for a walk and admiring other peoples gardens. It might mean tending to planter boxes on your patio, or watering herb pots in your kitchen. Ideally though, you are outdoors and getting your hands in the dirt first thing in the morning. The fresh air and the earth bring harmony to the heart.
3. Switch to natural skincare and body care products. From your facial skincare routine to your toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, body oils and lotions, and even your sunscreen, it’s 2024 – there are incredible natural product options out there! You’ll notice a difference throughout your entire body and frame of mind when you have less chemical ingredients on your skin. Note: For ‘natural’ sunscreen, I recommend a hat and a long-sleeved shirt!

4. Breathe and stretch (for a minimum of two minutes). It’s amazing how uncomfortable these two things can make us feel. That’s because change is uncomfortable, and when we take deep breaths and stretch for long periods of time (you’d be amazed how long two minutes feels in an uncomfortable stretch), we are releasing toxins and muscle tension, and creating internal movement through blood flow and lymphatic stimulation.

5. Make a meal that you’ve never made before (from scratch). Or, contribute to a meal: I started making homemade organic rustic bread about two years ago. Now I make our rustic bread, our ciabatta, our pizza dough, and sometimes French sandwich baguettes. It’s amazing how something that sounds complicated actually makes things feel more simplified – like the four bread ingredients I use. They aren’t expensive, and homemade anything makes the most beautiful addition to your dining experience. There’s an added bonus here: When we are savouring our food, we are fulfilled physically and emotionally. In general, this means that we eat until we are satiated, not until we are overfull. Hence, the “French Paradox” begins, and you might see a few pounds drop off if you have them to lose… (I’m interesting in finding a new recipe that uses organic lemons…)

6. Make Iced Herbal Tea. I love to use herbs from my garden like chamomile, which is energetically cooling and calming, peppermint, which is cooling and drying, rosemary which is stimulating, and parsley, which is drying and moving. I then add organic or garden-fresh strawberries and make a big jug of iced tea to sip in the early afternoons. Herbs have potential effects on the entire body, so using whole, fresh herbs can be beneficial for balancing through the seasons.

7. Wake up at a different time than you usually do. As we age, our habits can become so engrained into our body and mind that it can be extremely difficult to change, and even to accept others’ change. If we train our body and our mind that change is a little uncomfortable, but it’s also okay, we are allowing ourselves to be happier and more adaptable. These things are essential for good health, and in the summer, waking up a little closer to the sunrise can bring a lot of pleasure, as can sleeping in a little later than usual!

8. Remind yourself: There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad weather attire. Let’s face it, if you’re in Canada, namely Alberta like I am, the weather will always be reliable in its inconsistencies. It’s been raining and cool here lately, so I made myself a list of things that I can do with my horses on a rainy day. It’s important to me to spend time with them, but riding in the rain when the ground is slippery and its cold is not something I, nor they enjoy. So I have to be creative and think of games we can play in the barn, things I can show by young horse, Aksel (he had never seen an umbrella before this week!), and acupressure techniques I can practice on my senior horse, Tobi.

9. Clean your house. Having your housework done means that you’ll have the time and space to do the other things on this list. Wake up early, discard or donate clutter, vacuum and mop, and then go outside and enjoy the summer!

10. Make an appointment with your Herbalist! I’ve been a studying Herbalist for almost 11 years, and a practicing Clinical Herbalist for four years, and I can easily say that the most important thing I work on with my clients is their individual needs through each season, and how their bodies can handle the seasonal transitions in the healthiest way possible. If you make an appointment with me as your Herbalist each season, we’ll spend time ensuring that you are feeling great in the season that we’re in, but also preparing for the next season.

11. Give back to receive. I’ve never been as busy as I have been this year with my home, my career and my family. So when I told them all that I had accepted a position as a volunteer hotline operator for the Alberta Institute of Wildlife Conservation, they all asked me the same question: “When are you going to find time to do that?”. Well, I find the time, usually early in the mornings when the full-time staff is off. And it’s one of the most rewarding parts of my week. I get to speak to like-minded people who love animals and make the time and effort to help them in the safest way possible by rescuing little birds or orphaned local mammals. I receive far more than I ever thought I could by being a volunteer. Give back to receive.