How to Stay Healthy During Summer

How do you spend your summer?

Answer: First of all, air conditioning is like a "malignant wind." Not only does failing to nourish your yang energy during summer harm it further, but the exposure to cold air drains your yang energy, leading to a shorter lifespan. If you must use air conditioning, set it to 30 degrees Celsius. There's no need to use it if the temperature is below 35 degrees Celsius. Invest in a good-quality air conditioner that slightly cools the air, which will be less harmful to your body. Avoid those that blow strong, direct wind, as they are too harsh. Never let the wind blow directly on you. Once your yang energy is depleted, it may take many years to recover. Don't use electric fans either—they are even more harmful. Fans are also a form of "malignant wind." Avoid using them, especially while sleeping, as they can be lethal, especially for the elderly. The wise avoid wind as they would avoid an arrow.

Question: If I'm sweating, can I use a fan to cool off?

Answer: No, you shouldn't. After sweating, you should dry off with a towel first. Don't expose yourself directly to the wind or take a cold shower—this is akin to self-harm. I haven’t used air conditioning or fans for many years. I also avoid public places where the temperature is set to 15 or 18 degrees Celsius—it's deadly. Not long after, you could develop chronic rhinitis, which Western medicine can't cure in a lifetime. The prevalence of rhinitis and many difficult-to-treat conditions is closely related to the use of air conditioning. The same principle applies to the increase in homosexuality—failing to nourish yang in spring and summer and yin in autumn and winter leads to an imbalance of yin and yang, causing disruptions in gender expression and physical health. Heat is a very comfortable sensation, so why do people treat it like a terrible thing? I've never found heat unbearable. Summer is a great time to absorb yang energy, which is very pleasant. Just avoid direct sunlight on your skin at noon to prevent sunburn. Don’t overexpose yourself—let it be hot, it's actually quite enjoyable.

Question: Won’t it harm body fluids?

Answer: Only temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius or higher can harm body fluids. Sweating is beneficial, so why prevent it? Just replenish your fluids, and you’ll be fine.

As long as it’s not extremely hot, there’s no problem. The reason Indians view coolness and tranquility as the highest pursuits is because they’ve been exposed to intense heat. In places like India, where summer temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius, they’ve developed extreme practices to cope with the heat.

Many people go to great lengths to take medications to boost yang energy, but real yang energy is nurtured during spring and summer. Taking medication to boost yang is a foolish act. Excessive consumption of ginger or aconite can be fatal. If your yang is already insufficient, adding more heat will quickly deplete it. Nature itself is the true elixir of life. Going against the natural cycle of the seasons and then seeking medication is absurd. The yang energy for the year is cultivated in spring and summer; if you don’t cultivate yang energy during these seasons, there won’t be any essence to preserve in autumn and winter. It's like keeping a tree in an air-conditioned room at 15 degrees Celsius—it certainly won't grow as well as one outdoors in natural conditions.

Go outside for a walk in the evening. Return by nine o'clock, take a shower around ten, and then sleep—you won't feel hot. Between seven and nine o'clock, go outside to cool off; don't stay cooped up indoors. Also, avoid eating cold foods in summer. The yang energy of people in summer is at the surface of the body, while the internal organs are weak. Eating cold foods can harm the spleen and stomach. Many young women's issues, like dysmenorrhea and infertility, are closely related to consuming too much cold food in summer.

Question: Is it okay to drink cold water that hasn't been refrigerated?

Answer: Drinking warm water is best.

Question: What about the advice in some nutrition books that suggest eating ginger at night—how do you feel about that?

Answer: Eating raw ginger at night is a way to harm yourself. Ginger should be eaten during the day. You can eat more ginger in the summer, but it's not advisable to eat a lot in autumn and winter. Western nutrition is a mess. Following that lifestyle will lead to illness, and turning to Western medicine for a cure is like being sent to the slaughterhouse.

Question: What should we eat in the summer?

Answer: In summer, it's usually best to eat two meals a day and skip dinner. In winter, you can eat dinner, but in summer, it's hard to digest. Digestion consumes yang energy, and in summer, the spleen and stomach lack sufficient yang energy to process large amounts of food. If you’re hungry, have a bowl of porridge. Avoid eating large quantities of meat or fish—it's wasteful because you can't digest or absorb it, and it places a heavy burden on your body. Stick to light, easily digestible foods.

Question: What is yang energy?

Answer: Nourishing life means caring for and cherishing our vitality. To care for something, we first need to understand it.

So, what is life? This question is considered one of the unsolved mysteries by mainstream knowledge. It is believed that it cannot be answered or fully understood. However, this question is quite simple because the ancients have already provided the standard answer.

What is life? Life is the aggregation of qi, the essence of life. As Zhuangzi said, "Qi gathers to form life, and qi disperses to cause death." This is the true meaning of life and death.

How does qi form life? Qi was originally a chaotic mass, with nothing in it—no life, no matter. At that time, the universe was in a state of undifferentiated nothingness, as Zhuangzi described. Later, this qi differentiated into yin and yang. When they combined, various forms of life were created.

Yin and yang energy may seem abstract, but they can be understood concretely. The sun is yang energy, a light and ascending qi, while the earth is yin energy, a heavy and descending qi. They are essentially the same qi but in different forms. Their interaction gives rise to various forms of life, a process the ancients called "divine transformation."

So, what is the structure of life? The most basic foundation is the interaction of yin and yang. In human life, yin energy represents the physical body and material form, while yang energy constitutes the spirit and soul. Yang energy provides the force to gather yin energy. If yang energy weakens, the form deteriorates, and the body declines. When the spirit is gone, a person dies; when yang energy is gone, a person dies. This is the basic principle of the interaction of yin and yang in human life.

Why do people develop wrinkles as they age? Because yang energy weakens and can no longer support the physical form. Why do children have soft, smooth skin? Because their yang energy is abundant, supporting the form to be full and tight. The essence of anti-aging is abundant yang energy.

In the "Ancient Discussion on the True Nature" from the "Huangdi Neijing," it is said that the true people of ancient times could live to their natural lifespan without illness. Why were the true people of ancient times free from illness? It was because they could grasp the essence of yin and yang, align themselves with the heavens, and always remain in harmony with the changes in yin and yang. Their qi was always correct, and the yin and yang energy in their bodies was always balanced. Therefore, they didn't get sick and lived long lives. However, later generations lost this ability, leading to shorter lifespans and the proliferation of diseases in society.