3 Good Habits For Heart Well-being

夏季养心，坚持这3个习惯，才是养生的最高境界

3 Good Habits For Heart Well-being

从中医角度来讲，春养肝、夏养心，秋补肺，冬固肾，“夏”对应五行中的“火”，“夏”在五脏中属“心”，因此，夏季养生首先需要养心。中国传统医学认为在夏季时心阳最为旺盛。

From the standpoint of Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM), well-being is maintained with different seasonal focus, that is liver for spring, heart for summer, lung for autumn, and kidney for winter. Summer corresponds to the fire in the five elements and the heart in the five internal organs. Therefore, heart well-being is a priority in overall health in summer. According to TCM, the heart-yang is the most vigorous in summer.



夏季是一年当中最热的季节，心气旺盛，出汗多，易伤气阴，导致气津两虚，再加上气温较高，容易导致气虚中暑，故在夏季宜清心祛暑。养心饮食宜清淡，少油脂，吃一些性凉，性寒而味苦的食物，以达到清热解暑、健脾利湿的作用。那么夏季应当如何养心？应当从这3方面出发，让心脏更健康。

Summer is the hottest season in a year. The heart-qi is strong. It’s common to sweat a lot. The qi and yin are impaired easily, resulting in deficiency of both qi and body liquid, plus the air temperature is high, one can easily get heat stroke with deficiency of qi. So it’s appropriate to clear away the heart-fire and chill out. In a heart well-being diet, flavors are light, less seasonings and fat, more cool and cold in nature or naturally bitter foods, in order to clear away heat, cool down, tonify spleen and remove dampness. So, what should we do for heart well-being? Check out these 3 habits that are good for heart health.

1. 静心Calmness

夏季气温高，容易焦躁烦热，加上气候炎热，汗液外泄，易损伤心气，令人烦躁不安，好发脾气，而且机体的免疫功能也较为低下。特别是老年人，由发火、生气引起心肌梗塞，心律失常、血压升高的情况易增加，甚至会发生猝死。从中医角度来讲，心主神，为神明之用。人的精神世界由心来主管。心火旺盛，人就容易亢奋，心烦易怒，故而夏日养生重在养心。

Air temperature is high in summer. One gets agitated and annoyed easily and sweats a lot. The heart-qi is impaired easily, making one become restless and bad-tempered. Heart attacks, arrhythmias and increased blood pressure could happen because of anger in the elderly more often, even sudden deaths could happen. From the standpoint of TCM, heart channels to divines. Spiritual world is run by the heart. If heart-fire is intense, one becomes stimulated, annoyed and anger easily. So, heart well-being is focused in summer.

2. 适当午休 Moderate mid-day rest

炎热夏天应当最重要的就是养精蓄锐，保持良好的阳气。11点到13点午睡，通常这个时候正是心经当令，心主血脉，所以适当的睡午觉，能够很好的保护心脏，保证一下午的精神充足，还能消除疲劳，不过午睡也是有一定讲究的。中医讲“胃不和则卧不安”，饱食即卧，会影响肠胃的消化，也会影响睡眠质量。而是要尽量侧卧，以右侧卧为佳，能够减轻心脏负担。但是也要切记不要睡太久，以半小时为宜，太久的话，反而会影响下午的精神。所以要“小憩”。

In hot summer, the most important thing is conserving strength and storing up energy and maintaining a certain level of yang-qi. Between 11:00 to 13:00, you can sleep for a while. Often, it is the best time for the heart meridian, and it’s known that the heart-qi pushes and regulates blood circulation. So, moderate mid-day rest can protect heart, ensures good energy in the afternoon and eliminates fatigue. But there is one reminder. When you lie down to sleep with a full stomach, it’s not good for digestion and sleep quality. It’s better to lie on your right side to ease the burden of your heart. Also, don’t sleep too long, half an hour is a good amount. If you slept too long, you would be tired in the afternoon instead. So, a good nap is the best.

3. 清淡饮食Light-flavored diet

夏季高温炎热，应当多吃健脾养胃的食物，少吃油腻肥甘厚味的食物，肥甘厚味容易生成痰湿，影响阳气运行。夏季应当多吃苦菜、苦瓜等苦味食物，不仅能起到解热祛暑，还能消除疲劳。夏天常食苦瓜汤或苦瓜菜肴，能调和脾胃，消除疲劳，醒脑提神，对胃肠道疾病有一定的预防作用。当然还有苦菜，具有清凉解毒，消毒排脓，祛瘀止痛，防止胃肠炎等功效，对肠炎和痢疾也有一定的防治作用。

It is hot in summer. We should eat more foods that are good for spleen and stomach and less fatty and heavy-flavored foods, which could produce phlegm and dampness easily, affecting running of yang-qi. We should eat more naturally bitter green leafy vegetables and bitter gourds in summer, which not only clear away heat and cool down, but also eliminate fatigue. Including bitter gourd soup and bitter gourd dishes in a summer diet can make harmony of spleen and stomach, eliminate fatigue, refresh the mind and prevent gastrointestinal diseases. Bitter green leafy vegetables are also important, which have effects of cooling, detoxing, discharging pus, healing bruises, relieving pain and preventing gastroenteritis. They can be prevention and treatment of diarrhea, too.

原文链接：https://new.qq.com/omn/20210518/20210518A08BE100.html