Summer, the Heart, and the Medicine of Joy
Summer, the Heart, and the Medicine of Joy - How to Work With Fire Element Energy This Summer
By Fiona Carson
burning logs in firepit. Lake in backgrouns
Summer has finally arrived in the UK and if the sudden heat feels almost shocking to your system, that’s because it is. We’ve gone from grey drizzle to 32 degrees almost overnight, and our bodies are doing their best to keep up.
In Chinese Medicine, this transition makes complete sense. We’ve moved into the season of the Fire element and Fire, when it arrives, doesn’t do anything quietly.
What is the Fire element?
In the Five Element framework that underpins Chinese Medicine, each season corresponds to an element, a set of organs, an emotion, and a quality of energy. Summer belongs to Fire - the most expansive, outward, relational energy of the whole year.
The Fire element governs four meridians: the Heart, the Small Intestine, the Pericardium, and the Triple Heater. Of these, the Heart is the most significant — known in Chinese Medicine as the Emperor, the supreme controller, the organ that houses the Shen — your spirit, your consciousness, your sense of self.
When the Heart is settled, everything else falls into place. When the Heart is disturbed ; through stress, overstimulation, emotional overwhelm, or simply too much yang energy, we feel it everywhere. Anxiety. Insomnia. Scattered thinking. A sense of disconnection from ourselves and others.
Sound familiar? That’s Fire out of balance.
The emotion of Fire is joy
Not performed happiness. Not the relentless positivity we’re sold on social media. Genuine, embodied, spontaneous joy, the kind that arises naturally when we’re living in alignment with ourselves. This is one of the things I find most beautiful about Chinese Medicine. Joy isn’t an optional extra or a luxury , it’s a physiological need. The Heart requires joy the way the lungs require air.
Which means that anything that genuinely lights you up this summer, a meal with people you love, a swim in open water, dancing, laughter, time in nature, is not indulgence. It’s medicine.
Signs your Fire element needs attention
We can experience Fire imbalance in two directions — too much or too little.
Too much Fire might look like:
• Difficulty sleeping or a racing mind at night
• Feeling overstimulated or overwhelmed easily
• Talking a lot, difficulty being still
• Anxiety or a sense of agitation you can’t quite explain
• Feeling the heat more intensely than those around you
Too little Fire might look like:
• Joylessness, going through the motions without real feeling
• Difficulty connecting with others or feeling emotionally flat
• Low motivation, lack of spark
• Feeling cold even in warm weather
• A sense of disconnection from your own heart
Most of us will recognise ourselves somewhere in this picture. The elements are never static , they respond to our lives, our stress levels and the seasons.
The Heart meridian and summer
The Heart meridian runs from the armpit, down the inside of the arm, to the little finger. In summer, with arms open and face upward in the sun, you’re quite literally bathing this meridian in seasonal energy. That’s not poetic licence, it’s the meeting point of anatomy and ancient wisdom.
woman in sunhat lying sunbathing on a beach, arms behind head, looking out to sea
One of my favourite acupressure points for summer is Heart 7, known as Shen Men — Spirit Gate.
Heart - 7 (HT7) Shen Men - Spirit Gate
You’ll find it on the inside of the wrist crease, at the little finger side. Press gently and hold for a minute or two.
It calms anxiety, settles a racing mind, supports sleep, and brings you back to yourself when life feels like too much. I use it constantly in clinic and I recommend it to clients who feel the intensity of summer energy more than most.
close up of palm of hand and wrist showing Heart 7 acupressure point on wrist crease
Another point I use a lot in summer to cool the body and to calm excess Fire is Kidney 6 - Shining Sea.
Kidney 6 (KD6) — Shining Sea
📍 On the inner ankle, 1 finger width, directly below the tip of the inner ankle bone.
The cooling point of the Kidney channel specifically nourishes Kidney Yin. Excellent for menopause symptoms: hot flushes, night sweats, dryness. Calms the mind in anxiety, restlessness and insomnia particularly the kind of sleeplessness where the mind won't stop and the body feels hot and dry. Regulates the menstrual cycle and supports the uterus.
How to thrive in Fire season
A few simple practices that Chinese Medicine would recommend for summer:
Move your energy in the morning. Qi Gong or gentle movement in the cool of the day opens the meridians and sets your energy flowing well before the heat builds. Even ten minutes makes a meaningful difference.
Rest at midday. The Heart is most active between 11am and 1pm, its peak time in the Chinese Medicine body clock. Even a brief pause at noon, a moment of stillness rather than pushing through, honours this.
Eat for the Fire element. Bitter foods support the Heart — rocket, dark leafy greens, dandelion, a small amount of dark chocolate. Red foods resonate with Fire energy — tomatoes, strawberries, watermelon. Summer eating really can be this simple and this enjoyable.
Tend to genuine joy deliberately. Ask yourself honestly, what brings me real joy right now? Not what should bring me joy. What actually does. Then do more of that. The Heart is not subtle about what it needs.
Cool the Heart before sleep. Fire imbalance is one of the most common causes of insomnia in Chinese Medicine. In the evening, wind down gently.
Kidney - 6 Cooling point. Nourishes YIN, cools body. Great for menopause symptoms. Calms mind in cases of anxiety, restlessness and insomnia.
Avoid screens and stimulating content, take a warm (not hot) bath, and give your Emperor time to settle before sleep.
Marking the season consciously
One of the things I love most about working with the Five Element framework is that it reconnects us to the rhythm of the natural world, something most of us have lost almost entirely.
Learning to read your own body through the elements
One of the most rewarding things I’ve done this year is guide a founding group of eleven people through my Read Your Body: Restore Your Energy Five Element online programme — a six week journey through each element, exploring what it means for your health, your energy, and your life.
image of Five element creation and control cycles, set against sea and sky
We’re nearly at the end of our first cohort and the insights people have had about themselves have been genuinely moving. Understanding which elements are strong in you, which need support, and how the seasons affect you personally is one of the most practical and empowering forms of self knowledge I know.
The next cohort opens in October 2026. If you’d like to be among the first to hear when doors open, you can join the waitlist by dropping me an email at fiona@fionacarson.com.
The Summer Solstice on 21 June marks the absolute peak of Fire energy ,the sun at its zenith, the year at its fullest expression. Cultures across the world have marked this moment for thousands of years. The pagan tradition calls it Litha, a celebration of light, abundance, and the height of summer.
This year, on 27 June, my colleague Kat Tanzilli and I are gathering in a private Berkshire woodland to honour this moment properly — with Qi Gong, a fire ceremony, breathwork, a gong bath in the open air, and a seasonal vegan feast. This is our third Gong in the Woods event, and every time the day does something I find hard to put into words.
If that’s calling you, early bird tickets are £85 until 1 June. You can find out more and book here.
photo of Gong in the Woods event, Woodland Glade with dappled sunlight, white shade structures with people sitting underneath and fire pit in the foreground
Fiona Carson is a holistic health practitioner with 26 years of clinical experience, working across Shiatsu, Kinesiology, and Vibrational Sound Healing with Tuning Forks. She sees clients at private clinics in Berkshire and staff at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, and runs regular workshops and retreats rooted in Five Element wisdom.
Book a 1:1 session | www.fionacarson.com | 07958 543320