Seasonal Guide: Summer Wellness Tips

Summer sun and the promise of long days of fun. School’s out, vacation requests pour in, and the air feels positively electric. Are you heading off on an adventure, taking advantage of summer break at home, or taking a trip to visit family? Whatever you’re gearing up for, you can prioritize your health this summer and get the most out of the season.

We’ll look at effective, all-natural ways to keep up your wellness all summer long. Traditional medicine systems, like Unani-Tibb for instance, provide a framework of health and healing centered around the principle of integrated energetic balance. Energetic medicine identifies certain primordial forces (air, earth, water, fire, spirit) that influence the health of our cells, systems, and our wellbeing. 

By taking an integrative view of the shifting time, seasons, and ages we experience, we can ease into and out of the seasonal changes we experience throughout the year. This perspective empowers us to proactively improve our well-being by building habits and routines that we can turn to for support as the seasons transition from one to the next. 

What do we need to prioritize for our health this summer?

Keeping Our Mornings Sacred 

Rising at dawn – for us Muslims that’s the fajr prayer, timed before sunrise. Taking care of our elimination needs as our body has been busily doing reparative and detoxing work during our sleeping hours. Washing ourselves including our mouths, which can be at a minimum the wudhu Muslims perform; or we go ahead and bathe. After this sacred cleansing wash, we perform a spiritual cleanse by offering a prescribed prayer, directing our faces to the spiritual center and the Sacred House. To start the day with sacred prayer is to, with intention, humbly organize our day in harmony with the mandates set by our Creator. Being awake at sunrise, according to some experts in current times, is the way to reset our circadian rhythms and our melatonin production so that we can achieve restful sleep at night.

Pursuing Powerful Days

And now, having cleansed our bodies, minds, and souls at the very start of our day, we set about our active pursuits- work, exercise, education, etc.

We eat – a moderate and vibrantly healthy meal. We know-again from ancient traditions and from Islamic medicine-that foods are understood to possess certain energetic and therapeutic qualities. Sacred guidance instructs us to eat the halal wa tayyib – the permissible and wholesome; and too many of us make the mistake of overlooking the tayyib aspect of our diet. What we eat, how we prepare it, how much we consume should align with its seasonality and our individual needs (according to one’s age, temperament, and cultural custom). 

We exercise – light exercise in the summer in best to promote immune, cardiovascular, digestive, and mood health, without straining our energy in the heat. Physical exercise is recognized as an “effective prophylactic against various diseases, as well as strengthening the body.” Active physical movement improves our breathing, our heart health, our muscles and bones. Significantly, it is the only way to circulate the body’s lymphatic fluids, keeping our immune health strong and supporting fat cell metabolism. Swimming is one of the few kinds of exercise that target all muscle groups in the body. 

We connect socially – maintain positive and constructive relationships throughout the day. Purposeful meaningful interactions centered in joy and love light up our lives. Human connection supports our mental health, our heart health, our immune health, and our emotional well-being. Call your parents, reach out to siblings, have tea with friends, spend time with loved ones.

We connect spiritually – routinely refresh and reinforce a strong relationship with the Creator through prescribed prayers throughout the rest of the day at noon, late afternoon, evening, and night. And we capitalize on any and every opportunity to call on the Creator for each and everything, mindfully and full of hope.

Resting Mindfully and Intently

We balance periods of activity with moments of rest, especially getting a good night’s sleep. At night, we sleep, after making one last call to our Creator, mindful of our bodies and our spirits at rest. Recommended time for sleeping is between six and seven hours so that we give our system ample time to cleanse, repair, and refresh. It is when our brains sort and sift and process all the information it’s received during the day. It’s also when our immune systems get to work attempting to restore a healthy balance.

Importantly, though, rest is more than sleeping at night. It’s also about quiet reflection and stillness. This even includes the time of the mid-day nap, so typically occurring near lunchtime in many parts of the world.

6 Keys of Wellness
These are the daily habits according to long-standing traditions in many places around the world: maintaining a healthy balance in our diet | while supporting active elimination; balancing periods of activity | with periods of rest; and keep up our social | and our spiritual connection. They are distilled from long-standing healing practices and traditions and centered around the sacred principle of mizaan, or balance {As for the earth, We spread it out and placed upon it firm mountains, and caused everything to grow there in perfect balance. (Surah Al-Hijr:19}.

Seasonal Regimen: Warm & Dry Summer

Achieve herbal wellness all summer long with this seasonal routine:

In the summer, we should be trying to maintain coolness and some moisture – generally, in our environment and climate.

Physical exercise and activity in the summer: Moving from a time when we received less sunshine, and the sun’s rays were weaker, we have now reached a time of earlier sunrises and later sunsets. In the energetic medicinal tradition of Unani-Tibb, the Air activates the humours as the body’s energy level begins to rise and the blood starts to thin. Light to moderate exercise is best, to avoid overheating, heat exhaustion, and dehydration. Enjoy observing the bounty of Summer, the sounds, the breeze, the scents, the sights on a morning walk around sunrise, before the heat of the sun is at full strength.

Emotional/mental health in the summer: Mood health reflects the gut, mental, and emotional processes of our being. In Unani-Tibb tradition our health is still susceptible to the easy tendency to over stimulate our moods in the summer, where the heat can easily instigate irritability, frustration, and anger. Bearing this in mind, we should be vigilant about positive and supportive self-care to manage stress and encourage the balanced production of neurotransmitters like serotonin, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), tryptophan, and dopamine.

Dietary health in the summer: In this season, it’s time to move away from excessively warming foods and drinks, and away from heavy drying meals in favor of cool or room temperature hydrating drinks, and moist curries and stews, light broths and soups, steamed foods, quick stir fries, fermented foods, and fresh salads, fruits, and vegetables; include bitter, mildly salty, and sweet flavors like green tea, nettles, seaweeds (kelp, irish moss, dulse, etc.) parsley, dandelion, mint, barberries, ginseng, licorice, anise, fennel, marshmallow.  

Vibrantly Healthy in Summer

Cooling foods and herbs:

Spices: anise, fennel, licorice, chicory, sumac, hibiscus, fresh green herbs

COLD diet (fresh fruits and vegetables, fermented foods; bitter)

SUPPORTIVE HERBAL ACTIONS:

Hepatic - dandelion

Cathartic - cascara sagrada

Cooling alterative - barberries

Refrigerant - chickweed

Summer gives us our pick of nature’s abundance. When we eat raw fruits and vegetables, this is an easy way to step up our body’s internal cooling process. By adding in herbs to support the liver and colon, we strengthen our digestive health as well. Good digestion is important any time of the year, but especially in summer.

MOIST diet (cooked and plant-based meals, creamy foods; mildly salty, sweet)

SUPPORTIVE HERBAL ACTIONS:

Demulcent - marshmallow

Diuretic - parsley

Cephalics - gingko

Diaphoretics - yarrow

Alteratives - marshmallow

Lymphatics - plantain

While eating raw fresh fruits and vegetables helps to cool down our system, we also need to pay attention to how we’re keeping up our hydration. There are some specific kinds of foods that support more moisture to balance out the effects of summer’s dry heat. Foods like dairy, and foods that are lightly cooked help our body’s maintain this balance. Plus we can bring in hydrating fiber-rich herbs like marshmallow and plantain leaf to complement a moist-focused diet.

Additionally, nervine and antispasmodic herbs, including lavender, lemon balm, rose, and saffron work well to help support a balanced system during the summer.

Discover your herb match!

Putting It All Together for Summer Wellness

In this season of strengthening, accelerating, expanding and ripening, the dry heat aggravates the skin, the blood and the digestive system, and electrifies the body’s metabolism. In response to a tendency towards a warm and dry imbalance, those considered to have a choleric (hot) temperament should be particularly careful about balancing their health in summer. 

It takes more than cooling off with some air conditioning and a cold drink to help you recover from the heat. Here is some herbal advice for dealing with common summertime complaints like dehydration, heat exhaustion, sunstroke (or heatstroke), fungal infections, and stubborn fevers. 

First up, is some natural help for dehydration: an herbal electrolyte drink. This all-natural remineralizing drink has been a mainstay at Rihla Wellness because of how refreshed and hydrated it helps us and our clients feel. Simple pantry ingredients like sea salt, lemon or apple cider vinegar, and molasses or honey mix easily in room temperature water. A few sips is often all it takes to start replenishing key minerals like iron, magnesium, and potassium. You might quickly notice the difference with less of a dry, parched mouth and chapped lips.

We also notice fungal skin infections become more of a concern during this season, but we know of a time-worn traditional remedy. A wonderful herbal blend of black walnut hulls, cat’s claw, and apple cider vinegar have been known to soothe itchy skin that is easily aggravated when wet.

Next, you are invited to discover our tried-and-true herbal tea for relieving heat exhaustion and sunstroke. We combine yarrow with florals like rose, lavender, and hibiscus to support the heart, nerves, and circulation during the intensely hot days of summer. We find it to be both strengthening and calming.

And finally, we have our favorite approach for settling the stomach. Take comfort from upset stomachs, nausea and vomiting, and even intestinal inflammation. Try preparing a honey-based elixir; it is a specific for gut health, and a time-honored sunnah for digestive relief. Our recipe is a synergistic blend of turmeric and coconut. We like to add it to a strong cup of ginger mint tea to amplify the healing properties.

We are all about empowering your natural health journey with authentic and effective herbal guidance. If you’re looking to build your summer wellness herbal medicine cabinet, these suggestions are a smart addition to your health routine.

For more information on how herbal medicine can help you thrive this summer, contact Rihla Wellness to discover comprehensive dietary, herbal, and lifestyle support for all natural health.

References

Ibn Sina Institute of Tibb (2014)

Khan, M.S. An Introduction to Islamic Medicine (2016)

Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum in Cummins, P.W. A Critical Edition of Le Regime Tresutile et Tresproufitable pour Conserver et Garder la Santé du Corps Humain (1976)

Summer Health Frequently Asked Questions

• Are there herbs for heat illnesses?

  Herbs like yarrow and ginger are some of the medical plants traditionally used by herbalists to support healthy circulation. These can be paired with cooling herbs like chickweed for even more support.

• Are there herbs for diarrhea?

  Herbs like red raspberry leaf, bayberry, and sage are some of the medical plants traditionally used by herbalists to support intestinal health. These can be paired with rice water, for even more support.

• Are there herbs for insomnia?

  Herbs like kava kava, passionflower, and St. John’s wort are some of the medical plants traditionally used by herbalists to support sleep quality. These can be paired with hops and lavender, for even more support.

• Are there herbs for ear and eye infections?

  Herbs like eyebright, sage, and mullein are some of the medical plants traditionally used by herbalists to support ear and eye health. These can be paired with alterative herbs like cayenne and garlic for even more support.