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Summer in the City
Summertime is traditionally the time of BBQs, vacations and trips to the beach. However, here in San Francisco, especially west of Twin Peaks, it can be the time to break out the down comforters and turn up your thermostat. This is why as an acupuncturist I love the summer in San Francisco, because it illustrates one of the most basic concepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which is the idea of yin and yang.
In its beginnings yin described the western slope of a hill: shady, cool and moist (sound familiar?) while yang represented the eastern sunny, warm and dry side of the hill. Yin and yang developed many other characteristics and nuances over time, but for the sake of this article these descriptions will suffice.
On June 21, the summer solstice, the first day of summer and the longest day of the year, the weather on West Portal was just about as wintry (i.e., yin) as it gets. A few days later I was doing some errands in the Mission District, and as I was driving back toward West Portal along Monterey Boulevard I could see the fog clinging to St. Francis Wood as thick as a blanket right ahead of me. Here, right before my eyes, yang was turning into yin. On Sunday, June 28, it was a gorgeous day all day, warm and sunny—very yang—so much so that we had the windows at my home open at 8:30 at night in Balboa Terrace. It was finally starting to feel like summer. As someone who appreciates the interplay of yin and yang, San Francisco is a dream come true: Yin and yang are constantly changing right before our eyes.
As dramatic as this can be to our senses it can be difficult for our bodies and immune systems to adapt to. Having to adjust from hot to cold and back and forth on such an inconsistent basis makes our bodies work harder at regulating our systems such as metabolism, cooling, heating, sweating, opening and closing the pores and so on. We get a few nice days and start to get used to it and then, wham!—a cold front moves in and the next thing you know it's: "shiver me timbers."
There's a form of torture in which a person is subjected to extreme changes in temperature very quickly and repeatedly. In San Francisco it happens more gradually, so we may overlook the subtle effect these climactic factors are having on our health. Once again acupuncture and Chinese medicine come to the rescue to help strengthen our core energy, which allows us to adapt gracefully to San Francisco summer. (Remember the famous Mark Twain quote: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.")
In TCM it is recommended to have a checkup with a practitioner at the change of seasons to help harmonize our energy with that of our environment. If you'd like to find out more about acupuncture and how it can improve your health and resistance to disease please give me a call at (415) 370–3839 or stop by the Heaven and Earth Clinic at 337 West Portal Avenue.
© 2000 Larry Forsberg. All rights reserved.
Articles posted on this Web site are for personal use only and remain the property of Larry Forsberg, L.Ac.
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