Wellness

HARLEM COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS

Hearts of Fire

By: W.A.Rogers

Summer 2020 began on June 20th. Ancient Tao ist masters developed wellness theories for each season utilizing the Five Elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Met al and Fire. Fire is the element of summer. For those who wish to use a proactive approach to health, I will discuss a few Taoist concepts for summer health mainte nance. These concepts will be of great impor tance during this summer.

The Heart is the Yin organ associated with the Fire element of the summer season. The Small Intestine is the Yang organ. Mars is the planet associat ed with the color red. Love and joy are pos itive summer emotions while hate and impa tience are negative summer emotions. I find it interesting that the planet Mars has been associated with red as well as the act of war by many who had little to no understand ing of these ancient Taoist concepts.

Heart attacks are more common in the summer and emotion plays a major part. Neg ative emotions such as anger and impatience can be a greater risk to the heart in the summer. Negative emotions also create problems for our small intestine. The small intestine is the digestive tract between the stomach and cecum. Absorption and diges tion are not the only functions of the small intestine. According to Taoist theory, the small intestine also helps the body digest unsettled emotions.

During the hot sum mer months, negative emotions such as anger, worry, sadness, fear,

Answers to Puzzle on page 16

and impatience should be avoided as much as possible. If the small intestine becomes over loaded with negative emotions, it can be come unhealthy. An unhealthy small intestine can cause hormonal and menstrual problems for women. Mucus can also develop in the lungs and cause back pain and varicose veins.

It is important not to allow yourself to be controlled by your emotions. Keep your emotions separate from yourself because they do not define you. Do not allow fear, anxiety and anger to lower your immune system during these summer months for it is not healthy. Consider your body as the chariot and your emotions the horse. The mind should hold the position of the driver.

If you find yourself trailing off of your life journey’s path and lost on an uncharted road, you have lost control over your horses. You must regain control, pull the reins. Relax and lead your horses back to your life journey’s path of health and spiritual growth.

Remember, April 4th of 2020 was the begin ning of the new Age of Aquarius. Things will get better in this new age of enlightenment, but to get the true flavor of change, things will have to be shaken up. Not unlike a jar of juice that has been sitting on the shelf for a while. All the true flavor settles on the bottom of the jar. To regain the true flavor of the juice, one must shake the jar.

The world is being shaken now, but with faith, love, compassion, and patience, I believe we will soon begin to see the true flavor of the new Age of Aquar ius. This is a time of self-discovery, a time seeing clearly with 2020 vision, a time of truth, and most of all, a time for self-love and others.

Love, Joy and Re spect are the positive emotions of Summer. Hearts of Fire create love’s desire, takes you high and higher to the world you belong. “The Way of The World” by Earth Wind and Fire. A message I hope we all can embrace this Sum mer as part of the new normal.

"Dental health, like success, is not a des na on but a con nuous journey"

Dr. George Williams