May 5th, 2012. "Beginning of Summer", the 1st small Summer season arrives

    In 2012, the season of "Beginning of Summer" arrives on May 5th. Celestial longitude: 45 degree. For some of the seasonal information please read this article from last year.

    Here are some additional information: 

    
    During fall and winter seasons we have talked about nourishing the YIN energy, when comes to spring and summer we will focus on how to nourish the YANG energy. The 3 summer months of the year have the strongest YANG energy, if we take advantage of these months we will receive stronger result, especially for those who suffer from cold and dampness related symptoms. Ancient wisdoms taught us that during summer we should NOT “loathe” the sun. No one really loathe the sun but today we do lots of thing to avoid it such as use air conditioner all the time, intensively usage of sun blocker, drink and eat cold, and sleep in the cold. Moderation is always the rule of thumb, enjoy the sun and heat doesn’t mean you have to be burned and have heat stroke. Simply try to use less air conditioner, especially in the car and bedroom (the 2 places where you have more control of). Also eat and drink less ice cold stuff. Sunlight is the ultimate source of YANG energy, and the best time to be in the sun is morning time around 9-10 o’clock when the temperature is mild and the oxygen level is high. So during this time go to the park or forest, facing the sun doing some aerobic exercise will be ideal.

    
    During noontime and midnight hours, our body’s YIN and YANG energy is doing the transition. The best thing we can do to NOT bother the transition is sleep. During summer time, as the heart being the main organ and its hour being 11am to 1 pm, a noontime nap becomes more important. Having a good noon nap not only will help us avoid the harmful noon heat, also recover us from the fatigue. Summer time the day is longer than night and people tends to go to bed much later and not have enough sleep. In order to increase the resting time for our body, a noon nap is necessary, especially for seniors who often have less deep sleep at night. On the other hand, 1pm to 3pm are usually the hottest time of the day. Too many activities during the hottest hours can cause harm on general body energy which can result in symptoms like dizziness, chest pain, heart-throb, dry mouth, nauseous and even fainting. Noon nap can pull us away from this heat and also ease the drossiness and fatigue caused by lunch. Here are some simple tips regarding noon nap: 

1. In general 30 minutes to 1 hour is the proper time for noon nap. A long nap can instead make people more tired and even increase the risk of stroke for some people. It can also affect our biological clock and lower the regular night sleep quality.
2. Do not lay down right after lunch. This will interfere with the digestion process and cause blood pressure drop or low blood supply in the brain. The correct way is to rest or slowly walk for 10 minutes after lunch then go take the nap. 
3. When we sweat more our blood becomes thicker and this is the predetermined condition for many symptoms. Make sure to hydrate your body well and avoid draught and damp cold area.