Re-Kindle your Fire within

The Summer brings in the energy of expansion, a time when all our challenges in work, our dreams and our desires begin to blossom. This is a time of year to allow your creativity to grow and expand; it is the time of year we associate with travel to faraway places and new adventures. If you are feeling a lack of zest and drive at this time, and want to curl up on the couch instead, then you may have depleted Fire energy. The season of summer is dominated by the Fire element in Chinese medicine. The Fire element governs your circulatory and nervous systems. A balanced Fire element fills the body with the energy of passion, motivation, movement, and joy. We can deplete our Fire energy when we push ourselves too hard, for too long, and do not take for self-care. If we take the time to rest, to nourish ourselves and allow our nervous system to renew itself, we can re-kindle our inner fire. Hawthorn berries are a wonderful herb to help us in this process.

Hawthorn Berries is a tonic herb which nourishes and builds the circulatory and nervous systems. Emotionally, hawthorn helps us develop courage to overcome difficult or daunting tasks. Hawthorn helps to open the heart to giving and receiving love and can help in healing heartache. Hawthorn encourages self-love and self-acceptance. Hawthorn can also be taken at bedtime to quiet the heart to promote restful sleep.

Do you have the Summertime Blues?

There’s another aspect of the Fire element which can become depleted and directly affects our hearts and our sense of well-being. This is the aspect of something the Chinese call Shen. Think of your Shen as the part of you which connects with your Spirit, or higher self. When Shen is depleted, we can feel depressed and lack inspiration. It becomes hard to accomplish even simple tasks because we don’t seem to care about anything. When your Shen is depleted, you lack a state of presence, there may be emptiness in your eyes, and a lack of peace in your life. You may suffer from sleep disturbances, patterns of stress, anxiety, or agitation. Imbalances of Shen can result in mental cloudiness, loss of memory and a lack of ability to maintain focus.

In addition, you may notice the following:

Life feels off balance; your personality does not fit the life you are living.
There is a lack of inspiration and meaning to your life.
You feel like you have lost yourself, don’t know who you really are anymore. You have no sense of purpose.
You may have a lot of things going on around you, but you can’t find your center, so this leads to anxiety, restlessness, and eventually, fatigue.
You can no longer tell what is truly right for you.

Why and how does this occur? We connect with our Shen though our heart center. Think of the expression “follow your heart” verses being led by your logical mind. So, our Shen gets depleted when we push ourselves to a point where we are just going through the motions of life. We might be focused on a project or deadline we need to meet or focused on the needs of others and ignore our personal needs and desires. We deplete our Shen when we do not take time to go into our heart to rekindle our Spirit, connect with our Creator and quiet our mind. In addition, anything that “upsets the heart” can deplete Shen. Trauma, arguments, emotional struggles, or overuse of alcohol and drugs – even prescription drugs, if they cause you to feel disconnected from yourself.

To rebuild your Shen and re-kindle your Fire element you need to shift your focus in life:

Find a balance between work, rest, and play.
Take time to meditate or pray daily.
Take time to marvel at the beauty of Creation, watch a sunset or the stars, study a flower or listen to the rain.
Practice making your daily decisions by checking in with your heart first.
Pay attention to the guidance of your intuition – which connects with your heart.
Take time to focus on the emotion of love. Think about ways that you can reach out to people around you with love from your heart. Additionally, take time to allow yourself to receive from others as well. Accept a hug from a friend or spouse; accept the help of someone who offers it.
Make conscious choices to take care of your physical body, exercise, stretch, choose healthy foods, and drink plenty of clean water.

Nature’s Sunshine's Chinese Mood Elevator formula is a wonderful formula to help restore your connection with Shen, increase vitality and promote a greater sense of well-being. The formula also works to gently cleanse the liver which helps to improve the flow of “Chi” (life force energy) throughout the body, this has a mood lifting effect as well. The herbs in this formula promote healthy digestive functions, reduce pain and inflammation, and relieve abdominal discomfort. Chi and Shen are poetic descriptive names for the invisible energies which are created in the body when we are healthy and vibrant. When we don’t take care of our health and push our bodies too much, our life force energy gets depleted and you will suffer from sagging spirits, lack of motivation and illness.

As your connection with Shen and the flow of Chi (life force energy) returns you will feel a shift in your perspective. It’s like the “birds are singing” again. Life begins to have more meaning and purpose; you feel more complete, and your sleep becomes more restful. As you build your Shen you will focus more on the things that are important to you. You have a desire to align your life with your heart’s inner callings, you seek your Soul purpose. As you build your Shen your intuition activates, you have greater insights into your life choices and directions. Your eyes will have a brightness return to them and your mind will become clearer.

Celebrate your inner light, follow the things which ignite and excite your Soul. You may not know where it is leading you, but you can feel its pull. Follow your inner light as it connects you back to your true authentic self and gives you back your power. Don't be afraid, the Universe will support you every step of the way, opening doors and lighting the path before you.

"Your soul speaks in feelings, in longings, in yearnings,

in deep knowing, in vibrations, in signs, in nature, in people.

It centers itself in the heart."

- Rebecca Campbell, Light is the New Black

Disclaimer: Supplement recommendations are not designed to treat a disease condition. Discussions are for educational purposes only. Supplements should be used to nourish and strengthen the natural function of the various body organs and systems so that they will have a greater capacity to heal themselves. It is not intended to replace your doctor's recommendations. Any questions or concerns that you have regarding existing medical conditions, or the use of medications with supplements, should be discussed with your nutritionally oriented medical doctor.