What Deserves Your Energy? The Heart, Small Intestine, and Early Summer
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Hey y'all! I hope this message finds you well.
HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE!
I know, I know. I was late to spring and now I’m already talking about summer. But we all know healing isn’t about perfect timing; it's about paying attention when the lesson arrives.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, early summer is associated with the Heart and Small Intestine, organs connected to the Fire element. While spring asked us to clear stagnation, make decisions, and create movement through the Liver and Gallbladder, summer invites us to expand. It is the season of connection, expression, joy, and presence.
The Heart is considered the “Emperor” of the body. It governs not only circulation, but also what TCM calls the Shen—our spirit, consciousness, and emotional well-being. When the Heart is balanced, we tend to feel clear, connected, enthusiastic, and emotionally available. When it is out of harmony, we may experience restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, scattered thoughts, or difficulty feeling grounded in ourselves.
The Small Intestine plays an equally important role. Beyond digestion, it is responsible for separating what is useful from what's not. Physically, it sorts nutrients from waste. Energetically, it helps us discern truth from noise, clarity from confusion, and what deserves our attention from what should be released.
I find that lesson especially relevant this time of year. Summer often arrives with more invitations, activities, opportunities, and stimulation. We are heavily encouraged to be out and about in the world.
But the Heart and Small Intestine remind us that openness requires discernment. Not everything that demands our attention deserves our energy.
According to Paul Pitchford’s Healing with Whole Foods, the Fire element is associated with joy, laughter, communication, blood circulation, and the tongue as an organ of expression. This isn’t just the season to be busy. It’s the season to be fully alive. To laugh freely, speak honestly, and connect with people who make your spirit feel lighter. Supporting Heart energy can be surprisingly simple. Spending time with loved ones, engaging in creative expression, moving your body, resting when needed, and making space for genuine joy are all ways to nourish this season. Foods traditionally associated with summer often include bitter flavors and cooling, hydrating foods that help balance the heat of the season.
As someone who spends a lot of time creating, writing, volunteering, and attending community events, I feel the invitation of summer already. But the question isn’t how much can I fit into the season, it's: What truly lights me up?
And that goes for you too, dear friend. Because the wisdom of the Heart isn’t found in doing more, but in choosing what makes us feel most alive.
The Keesh Edit: Early summer reminds us that joy is a form of nourishment. The Heart thrives when we make room for connection, authenticity, laughter, and the people, places, and passions that keep our inner fire burning.
Until next time.
If this resonated with you, Lavender Heart Tea explores similar reflections on healing, identity, and becoming.
