Physical training
Exercise is beneficial to your health, and in the summer, you should pay attention to the weather to time your exercise. It’s best to exercise outside in the morning and evening, before the peak heat of the day. Do quick easy movements inside during the rest of the day.
Long periods of exercise are not advised. Keep your exercise sessions short and more frequent. While sweating lightly during the summer is ideal and helps remove toxins, avoid sweating profusely. Excessive perspiration not only impairs your yin energy, but it also makes yang energy release outward to forcefully.
You want yang qi to rise and disperse, but in a controlled and easy manner. The classics advise you to “nourish yang in the spring and summer,” therefore select moderate exercises.
Examples of more cooling and gentle forms of exercise include
- Swimming
- Light jogging
- Taking a walk
- Taijiquan
- Bowling
- Qigong
Citations
Yanfu, Z. (2002). Life Cultivation & Rehabilitation of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Zhang, Y. (2020). A Comprehensive Handbook of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Prevention & Natural Healing.