😵💫 Recommended Self-Care for Summer Fatigue (Updated 9/4)
Hello everyone, this is Misako.
Lately, have you been feeling things like "it's hard to get up in the morning, or my body feels sluggish and I can't help it"? 🥱😵
Since we've had a scorching summer this year, your physical and mental fatigue may be
reaching its peak...
🍁 According to the calendar, we have moved from the beginning of autumn to the "end of heat" period, and the lingering summer heat should be easing soon.
The word "sho" (in shosho) means to settle down, but the "autumn heat" where the heat returns is when summer fatigue tends to set in. This is also a time when there are many typhoons, and it is a time when the
autonomic nervous system is easily disrupted, such as feeling unwell due to atmospheric pressure.
Feeling unwell at the turn of the season is
a life-sustaining function that tries to "let the body rest and adjust itself."
What is your current lifestyle like?
Is there anything putting a burden on your mind or body?
When you are feeling unwell, it is a good opportunity to look back and reflect.
What I am sharing here is very common sense, but
if your body is feeling unwell, I think it is a good idea to check these things.
<What are the causes of summer fatigue?>
・Fatigue and stress have accumulated due to the continuing heat.
・Internal organs are cold and fatigued from consuming too many cold things.
・Consuming too many sweets, oily foods, and dairy products.
(It is better to refrain from these, especially in summer.)
・Not getting enough sleep.
・Getting cold and bloated from consuming too much water.
Due to these,
when the autonomic nervous system is disrupted,
irritability, anger, depression,
sluggishness, lack of motivation, inability to get up in the morning,
making mistakes you wouldn't normally make,
feeling lightheaded,
pain or tension in the shoulders and lower back, gastrointestinal upset,
and swelling due to decreased metabolism are more likely to occur.
Rather than feeling "this is no good" or "I have to try harder,"
it is important to know that these symptoms are working to
adjust the balance of your mind and body, and to be kind to yourself and forgive yourself.
※ Hydration is important, but if you consume too much and it is not excreted from the body,
it can also cause poor health such as swelling and cold internal organs.
<Preparing the body for autumn and winter 🌰🍁>
If you continue your current summer lifestyle,
even just a slight cooling, temperature differences between morning and night, or dry air
can cause your body to collapse, so by being conscious of your daily lifestyle and
dietary habits now to prepare for autumn and winter, and transitioning from summer to autumn,
your body will also find it easier to adapt to the season.
◇Sleep and air conditioning temperature
You can't get enough sleep if it's too cold or too hot, right?
Is the air conditioning temperature when you go to sleep set for midsummer?
If your pajamas are sleeveless and shorts, switch to short sleeves that cover your shoulders.
Wear leg warmers with shorts.
Be conscious of protecting your abdomen where your organs are so they don't get cold.
Throughout the year,not putting anything in your stomach for 3 hours before bedwill improve the quality of your sleep.
If you have food in your stomach, your body uses energy to digest it, so even while you are
sleeping, your gastrointestinal tract is still working.Therefore, avoid heavy meals at night (oily foods, dairy products, animal products).A lighter, easily digestible meal will help you sleep better.
Heavy foods have heavy energy themselves, so they are not suitable for the night.
This is because energy needs to be sedated in order to sleep.
If you are having trouble sleeping,
it might be good to look back at what you ate (and drank) at night, or if you ate out a lot, and what your diet has been like for the past few days.※ Insomnia also depends on stress and fatigue levels, so if there is no problem with your diet,please look for other causes.
Ending the day in a pessimistic state,
or starting new things and getting "wisdom fever" (mental exhaustion),
can sometimes lead to being unable to sleep due to an excited state.
◇ Food
Are you consuming too many cold things every day like in midsummer?
Drinks with ice ⇒ Room temperature water
Raw vegetables ⇒ Boiled or steamed vegetables
Consuming too much fruit also cools the body.
From midsummer fruits to autumn fruits ⇒ Pears, figs, peaches, etc.
※ Peaches are a "warming" fruit that does not cool the body.
From yin vegetables to root vegetables.
Round vegetables, pumpkin, onions, etc. (they have sweetness).
Root vegetables warm the body and regulate the gastrointestinal tract.
Seaweeds like hijiki replenish lost minerals.
In addition, beans, dried foods, etc.
◇Try to breathe deeply.
When it's hot, you tend to breathe shallowly with your chest.
It might be difficult to suddenly try to breathe deeply with stiff chest muscles or a stiff abdomen,
so first, try rubbing around your chest, ribs, and collarbone, warming or rubbing your abdomen, or slowly rotating your neck to loosen up, which will make it easier to use your respiratory muscles.
If you have a desk job, you can do this while sitting,
by arching, rounding, and twisting your spine,
you create space between your vertebrae, allowing energy to pass through more easily,
and improving circulation.
Try abdominal breathing using your abdomen, or breathing that fills your chest by pulling in your abdomen,
or chest breathing, to fill every corner of your body with fresh air (energy),
within a range that feels comfortable.
When your chest muscles or abdomen are stiff and it's hard to breathe, rubbing or massaging them will
make it easier, so please use this as a reference if you like.
⇩ Nadi Shodhana breathing is a recommended breathing technique for any symptom.
It regulates the autonomic nervous system and balances the yin and yang (moon: feminine, sun: masculine) inherent within us.
🌿 Update (9/4) 🌿
A breathing technique to revitalize a cold and tired gastrointestinal tract 💪
"Bhastrika Breathing"
It activates the internal organs and creates vitality 😆
It is a powerful breathing technique where you expand and contract your abdomen strongly and largely 👍😊 (also called Breath of Fire).
It is located at the 3rd chakra, so it is the part of the abdomen that
creates heat in the body. It also corresponds to the Pitta dosha, so you can adjust it when Pitta is lacking.
The abdomen is the source of vitality.It creates heat in the abdomen, improves blood circulation, and promotes the release of stagnation.
The gastrointestinal tract that got cold during the summer may be sluggish and stiff, so let's regain vitality with this breathing technique 💪😆
✨
Effects ✨Increased metabolism
→ Improvement of coldness and swelling, fat burning (body that loses weight easily), endurance, excretion of waste products,
strengthening of inner muscles, clear head,
motivation switch (sympathetic nervous system),
stimulation to the intestines by moving the abdomen → improvement of constipation.
✨ How to do it ✨You can do it on the floor or sitting in a chair 👌
①Lightly straighten your back, pull in your abdomen,
exhale completely, take a deep breath through your nose,
and when your abdomen expands, exhale strongly by pulling it in with a "fun!" sound.
With the intention of moving your diaphragm significantly,
repeat the strong exhaling and inhaling.
※ Start with about 10 times at first,
and as you get used to it, increase it to 1 minute, then 5 minutes.
When you are finished, return to quiet breathing
and try to feel the sensations inside your body ✨
※ Inhale through your nose and exhale through your nose.
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<Improving internal organ dysfunction, leg swelling, and coldness>
🌿 Loosen your soles for a body that circulates well
Loosening them also has relaxing and sleep-inducing effects 🌿
The soles of the feet are concentrated with peripheral nerves connected to various organs and parts of the body.
When you press or massage them, the related organs and physiological functions are
stimulated, promoting blood circulation and helping to improve unpleasant symptoms.
Areas that are painful indicate weakened function in the related body parts.
Areas that are hard indicate an accumulation of waste products.
Massage them with the feeling of caring for the feet that support your body every day.
※When performing this, start from the left side.
🌿 Relief for headaches 🌿
If you have a headache,try massaging the entire finger from the base of the thumb to the tip.
From the base of the finger, both sides, to both sides of the nail (related to the brain, head, neck, and temples).
Press the entire sole evenly with the pad of your thumb at a pressure that feels comfortable.
※Using a pressure point stick or similar tool too strongly may damage the fascia.
If you continue to apply strong stimulation, the skin may become hard and thick.
Pressing with the pad of your thumb is enough to get the effect♪
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Easy massage to flush out waste products 👣
1:Using the fingers of both hands,spread the sole of the foot outward as if arching it.Move down little by little from the toes toward the heel.
2: Place the fingers of both hands in the center of the sole and,opposite to 1,
fold it inward,moving down little by little from the toes toward the heel.
3: Use the fingers of both hands to press the center from the toes toward the heel. Finally, press the heel well.
4: Press and massage the base of the toes well, and open them vertically and horizontally.
①↑ Lung reflex: Right lung, left lung. Rub with the pad of the thumb toward the fingertip.
②● Shoulder reflex zone: Apply pressure with the pad of the thumb.
③→← Stomach, duodenum reflex zone: Rub with the pad of the thumb from the outside toward the inside.
3 times each.
● Kidney, bladder reflex zone (10 times)
Using the pad of the thumb, push and flush from the kidney, through the ureter, to the bladder,
and finally apply pressure to the bladder with the pad of the thumb (5 seconds).
☆ We push and flush along the bladder line so that waste products accumulated in the body can easily flow out.
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Pressure points known as the gateway to health
The guideline is to take about 5 seconds to press and 5 seconds to release, repeated 3 times.
This activates the digestive system and excretes excess water and other waste products from the body.
Blood circulation improves, and the lower abdomen feels refreshed!
◇ For internal coldness and regulating the gastrointestinal tractGastrointestinal fatigue, summer heat fatigue
🔴Chukan: The midpoint between the navel and the solar plexus
🟡Tensu: Three finger-widths to the sides of the navel
🔵Kangen: Four finger-widths below the navel
In addition to acupressure, placing both hands on top of the points
to warm them is also OK.
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◇ For coldness, leg and body fatigue, and swelling
Sanyinko (Sanyinjiao):Three finger-widths above the inner ankle
Regulates female hormones, gynecological diseases.
Even just applying pressure or placing your hands to warm the area is effective👌
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◇ Relief for insomnia, headaches, and neck or shoulder pain
By relieving neck and shoulder pain and headaches,
tension is released, making it easier to fall asleep.
★Fengchi: The midpoint between the bone behind the ear and the hollow at the base of the skull.
Headaches, neck and shoulder stiffness, hot flashes.
●Tianzhu:The hollow in the thick muscle on both sides of the bone at the hairline.
Headaches, neck and shoulder pain, eye strain, facial puffiness, dizziness, hair loss.
◆Wangu:The back side below the bony protrusion behind the ear.
Migraines, neck stiffness, facial puffiness, dizziness.
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Relieving neck and shoulder stiffness, eye strain, clearing the head, improving sleep, relaxation effect
◇ Rabbit Pose
This is an inversion pose with the crown of the head on the floor.
It promotes blood circulation in the head to relieve eye and head fatigue.
It also loosens stiffness in the neck, shoulders, and back.
Aligning the spine helps regulate the autonomic nervous system.
Regulating the autonomic nervous system helps with stress relief and insomnia.
The crown of the head (Baihui) is related to the intestines and helps improve intestinal health.
1: From a kneeling position, lean forward and place your forehead on the floor, keeping your back relaxed.
(If it feels comfortable here, breathe for a while.
Moving your forehead left and right will release tension in the forehead (between the eyebrows).)
2: Slowly lift your hips and place the crown of your head on the floor.
At this time, do not put your full weight on your head (as it puts a strain on the neck); support yourself with your arms as well. Keep your anus and abdomen tightened. If it feels good, you can massage the crown of your head by moving it slightly forward and backward,
side to side, or by drawing small circles.
3: If you are okay with it, clasp your hands behind your back and lift them toward the sky (keep your chest open so your shoulders don't get cramped). Keep your hips and anus tightened.
4: Slowly release the pose, place your hips on your heels,
and rest by placing your hands on top of each other and resting your forehead on them. After a few breaths, once you feel calm,
slowly stack your spine to rise up.
※ Do not exit the pose and stand up suddenly; move slowly in sync with your breathing.
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Thank you for reading until the end.
I intended to write just a little, but it ended up being long.
Japan's four seasons are each beautiful,
but every time the season changes, our minds and bodies
experience reactions as they adapt.
At such times, if you can stay calm and listen to
what state you are in right now, I think you can cherish yourself more.
I hope we can all spend healthy days where we can enjoy small happiness.
Thank you.
🐱How cute! 🐱
The header image was borrowed from "Noraneko Pochi-san".
Thank you very much.
