I don’t know about where you’re hunkering down this summer, but here in New Mexico, it’s roasting. I’m not kidding….it’s like the kind of heat where I’m concerned my car tires on the hot asphalt are going to melt.
And with the heat, comes tired, cranky people.
I was taking my daughter to the airport this week around 5 in the afternoon, my car thermometer was reading 103 F. She was taking longer than I planned to leave the house, so we were already 10 minutes behind my schedule. And of course, we hit every single yellow light along the way. And then she told me I turned the wrong way to get to the airport (I didn’t). That led to some more explicit language exploding from my mouth. Lots of scoffing and sighs and accelerating on every green light until we arrived at the departure gate.
Both of us don’t do well in the heat, at the end of the day, and getting to the airport. It was a soup of heat and irritation.
Of course, we got there with plenty of time to spare, and I texted her later and apologized for my poor use of the English language and for subjecting her to my less-than-proud-parenting-and-role-modeling. She forgave me.
So that brings me to the subject of this weeks’ health tip.
Heat. It affects the liver organ, can result in blood heating up (think of the term: ‘that makes my blood boil’) and that can lead to over heated emotions, feelings and physical being.
I have some tips to keep you cool, calm and collected as the temperatures have risen and are probably here to stay for some months.
1. Make sure you’re drinking a lot of fluids. While I love water and prosthelytize on it constantly, in my opinion, it just doesn’t absorb properly. Unless you’re in some area of the world where you can get your water from a clean mountain stream with rocks filtering it and adding minerals and adding negative ions as it runs down the mountain, you’re probably not going to be getting the minerals needed to properly absorb it. What I do is add one of the following: cucumber slices, fresh mint, lime, lemon, fresh lemon balm, a pinch of Himalayan salt, herbal tea bags. Of course you don’t need to do all of these, but add a bit of something so that you can get some electrolytes in there.
2. Long deep breathing or inhaling through a rolled tongue. The ‘rolled tongue’ breath helps to cool your system and regulate your parasympathetic nervous system (rest-and-digest system) and helps to put on the breaks so that your nervous system can cool down. For this, just roll your tongue up…..and I know some of you may not be able to do this….think high school biology and genetic traits. But for those of you who can, give it a try. It seriously works!
3. Eat cooling foods. Salads, cold soups, healthy popsicles, smoothies, steamed veggies, lots of fruits. These will also help to cleanse your liver and cool your overall system.
4. Get into water. I know this is so obvious because it feels so good. I just have to add it in here, because water is so healing and cools your internal body temperature.
5. Stay away from or cut down on alcohol, fried foods, coffee and dairy. All of these foods add pressure to your liver and make it more difficulty for your system to cool down. Further note, generally, if you’re working on detoxifying your liver. these are always good foods to avoid.
6. Afternoon siesta. If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know that I loooove a good afternoon siesta. I don’t get to enjoy it as much as I’d like, but when I do get to lie down and read my book, under the fan and then close my eyes for a few minutes, I’m in heaven. Whether I actually fall asleep or not, this creates a reset for my brain, body and nervous system. This gives me just enough rest so that I can face the rest of the hot day with a better frame of mind.
7. Keep your nervous system in check either through Craniosacral Therapy, Chiropractic and/or yoga. Most of my patients are coming not for musculoskeletal issues, but for help with anxiety, stress and depression. When we’re able to alleviate tension in the nervous system, we can relieve so much stress and tension. And in the heat, when tensions are running high, I think we could all use a bit of that.
Those are just a few tips, and I hope they re-inspire you to continue to make the time for self-care during this crazy hot time and always!
Stay cool. Keep loving yourself. Give yourself those high 5’s in the mirrior because you’ve got this!!
Always, in healing and sending love to wherever you are in the world,
Dr. Arjan
