So many kinds of delights to choose from! Every physical sense is active and naturally happy in late summer. Feeling pleasure with your five senses is part of your Common Sense of Sight.
The weather is warm, your sense of touch is motivated to keep moving. Every color of the rainbow is growing in nature, a feast for the eyes and creative mind. Every flavor is available from the garden, keeping your sense of taste active and eager to try new things. The warm air is still full of summer scents like fresh cut grass, barbecues, campfires and freshly picked herbs. Late summer is a time of listening and community. Family reunions, outdoor craft and music festivals…people happily talk to each other more in summer. Hearing each other’s stories is part of this time of year.
If all five of your Common Senses is happy, your immune system is happy. Laughing is good for your whole body. Chinese Medicine teaches that everyone needs four belly laughs a day, given or received, to be healthy. Laughter clears the mind, activates stress busting hormones and stimulates your lymph system. Your lymph nodes are an important part of your body’s ability to heal itself.
Those with a majority of traits in the Common Sense of Sight love puzzles of any kind. Multi-tasking is just puzzle solving from them. A game to get everything done in time. All of the seasonal tasks of late summer are fun…or can be turned into fun pretty easily.
Got a lot of wood to stack? Too many tomatoes to get ready for the pantry? Have a party. The Amish are right. Many hands make light work. An assembly line and conversation with friends and/or family get the job done in no time. Turning a chore into a happy memory is an artform that takes practice.
If you are on your own with a giant seasonal task, look at it a little differently. All jars that go into the pantry are little crafts. Especially jams and jellies that will be given as gifts later in the year. Tomatoes and pickles will be gifts of summer to everyone that tastes them. Slow down a little. Take your time. Have your favorite snack and beverage on the side while you work. If you’re going to be at the counter for a while, you may as well enjoy it.
Put every finished jar in a window after it cools, just to admire the color. A stained glass window of jellies, pickles, jams, jellies and tomatoes is beautiful to a cook’s eyes. Festoon the ceilings or doorways with drying flowers and herbs whenever possible. Show them off. Let their smells fill your home while they dry for a couple of weeks.
Make sure to take a few minutes you begin any seasonal task to organize your thoughts and space. Lay out everything you’re going to need before you start. Being organized calms your mind which gives you physical stamina. Having enough stamina prevents mistakes and makes any task feels like more fun.
Lighter food and lots of water keeps your body, mind and spirit active and playful all day. This kind of metabolism can eat almost anything, in moderation. If its a very hot or busy day, make sure you eat a majority of cooling foods. If it’s a cloudy or cool day, you can use more warming foods…in moderation.
Cooling foods include: Apples, applesauce, fresh apricots, asparagus, avocados, bananas, fresh basil, beans, beet greens, sweet berries, cooked broccoli, brussel sprouts, cooked carrots, cashews, cooked cauliflower, chard, mango chutney, cilantro, coconut oil, fresh corn, cucumber, dandelion greens, dill, dulse, egg white, mild flavored fish, flaxseed, fruit juice, ghee, grapes, grape leaf, leafy greens, ice cream, icy drinks, aloe vera juice, apple juice, kale, lemon, lemonade with honey or maple syrup, lentils, lettuce, fresh mango, maple syrup, melons, almond milk, goat milk, rice milk, soy milk, mushrooms
Oats, olive oil, black olives, cooked onions, fresh parsley, parsnip, pear, ripe sweet peppers, fresh plum, pomegranate, rhubarb, saffron, soybeans (edamame), spearmint, sprouts, spaghetti squash summer squash, black or green tea, iced tea, fresh tomatoes, watercress, watermelon, wintergreen, zucchini
Warming foods to avoid, or use in balanced moderation if any symptoms are present: Alcohol, dried apricots, adzuki beans, garbanzo beans, navy beans, pinto beans, white beans, buttermilk, caffeine, carbonated beverages, cayenne, sour cherries, chili peppers, green chilies, coffee, cranberries, duck, dried ginger, grapefruit, sour berry juice, sour cherry juice, grapefruit juice, pineapple juice, lamb, milk chocolate, green olives, raw onions, hot peppers, pickles, sour cream, turnip, turnip greens, vinegar, walnuts, yogurt.
Activities that are fun and can keep you cooler are swimming or playing with water, sitting in the shade, playing a board game or cards, seeing a new art exhibit, tasting new foods, horseback riding, hiking, birdwatching and cooking.
