This is the perfect time to schedule your seasonal acupuncture tune-up! 

**Read ahead for some insight on what this season represents in Chinese Medicine. Also in this email: new ear seed service add-on, and supplement sale!**

Summer is associated with the Fire element, and represents the universal and enveloping space into which we grow and expand. It begins on the longest day of the year, the summer solstice. It is the most expansive, yang time of all the seasons. The extra hours of sunlight give us the time to nurture our creative energies and be part of the abundance that surrounds us. The emotion associated with the Fire element is joy, the power to give light, and to illuminate our inner being as well as our external world. 

The warmth of summer gives us the power to fully celebrate life in its bounty. It is the season of growth and maturation, of gardens bursting with flowers and vegetables. The weather is conducive for shared outings and recreational sports, parties and barbecues, walks with friends; we tend to our inner Fire through nurturing these relationships.

Because the power of Fire is felt most intensely in summer, summer may be the best time for you to concentrate on rebuilding the energy consumed during the winter and spring months. However, keep in mind, balance is necessary. All the activity that is desired this season is healthy, but should be balanced. A midday nap can help recover the body’s energy while also avoiding the hottest hours of the day. Cooling foods, such as peppermint and watermelon, and cooling activities, such as a restorative yoga practice can also help maintain the body temperature throughout the day.
 

I invite you to meditate on expansion and community, rest and activity, spiritual awareness, and joy this season. 
 

Let us welcome in the natural energy of the summer season, calling upon our resources to bring us to our purest expression of health, joy, and abundance. :)