Walking Through the Fire With Feet of Lotus Flowers

There is something within us that quite easily and naturally aligns with the Rhythm of summer.  Perhaps we recognize this as a cycle that is so tightly woven into the fabric of our childhood, that lopsided cycle of nine months of school and then three glorious months of complete and total freedom.  Freedom to stay up late, to sleep until whenever, and explore every corner of our imagination, barefoot, and grinning from ear to ear.

As a little girl, I would hop on my sparkling green Stingray and pedal my way down to Kampong Gardens, a sweeping Vietnamese plant nursery not far from our house. This magical spot was filled with tropical plants and flowers and featured a massive pond at the center of it all.  A thick canopy of trees surrounded the pond, and to my young eyes, it was an unending jungle of absolute delight.  Of course, at the time, I didn’t recognize it as an operating business; I’d just park my bike on the road and enter the most amazing tropical forest a hot and sweaty kiddo could ever imagine.  

I’d spend hours at the pond catching tadpoles and dragonflies, and when I’d catch sight of a person, I’d quickly hide behind a few large banana leaves or palm fronds.  The owners of Kampong never said a word to me; they just went about their business, and we never really crossed paths. That’s how I remember it, being completely alone in this wild jungle on any intolerably hot summer day.  I’d stick my feet in the cool mud at the edge of the pond and settle myself in, just noticing, observing, how the sun filtered through the giant leaves, making shapes of light on the stones and water.  I’d watch the dragonflies light on the water, their iridescent wings guiding them so close to the surface and then wildly darting off again. So beautiful and so powerful, these flying dragons were.  And every so often, out of the corner of my eye, I’d see a big koi fish come up to the surface, its large mouth opening wide to ambush an unsuspecting insect.  And the frogs, I imagined, would surely sing songs of mourning for their untimely demise.

Decades later, I still find myself sitting quietly in the garden, watching, observing, and noticing all the many species of flying insects, following their flight paths with curiosity and wonder.

So often we try to escape the heat of summer, moving indoors and ‘condition’ the air to a tolerable 72 degrees. However, summer is an invitation for purification, melting off, and digesting our wintery accumulations in both the body and the mind.

Fire, Pitta, is the predominant element of summer, and as we feel its scorching presence, sometimes it leads to frustration, impatience, annoyance, and even rage or anger if it is unbalanced.   But this is that lopsided cycle, when we are asked to walk through the fire, to walk straight in and make our way through the heat of life, to walk alongside our shadows of discontent with feet of lotus flowers.  This is a season to stand in the fires of life, yet root like a lotus in the cool, dark mud of watery earth.

Fire, when balanced, is the spark of life, associated with the digestion and metabolism in the physical body, and the largest organ of detoxification, the liver.  Summer and the element of fire are literally and metaphorically the growing season.  Within the causal body, it is our passion, creativity, energy and vitality. Without balanced Pitta, we are lethargic, lacking, uninspired, prone to inertia and well, in a nutshell, very ho hum.

To balance Pitta drink lots of water and refreshing teas, and eat more watery melons and summer berries.  Take time for slower walks in deep shade and find ways to soak or swim in cool bodies of water. 

Look for opportunities to grow and expand, surf the energy of Pitta, if there has been a project you’ve been thinking about, now is the time to ignite the spark and take action.

Pitta is balanced by Water and Air.  If you feel the fiery bite of Pitta in your mind as restlessness or in the body as inflammation, chant the bija mantra “Vam” (sounds like VUM) in your daily practices. This mantra is associated with the Chakra Svadisthana and the element of water.

To balance Pitta with Yoga Postures, spend more time in gentle forward folds: Paschimottanasana, Upavishta Konasana, Baddha Konasana, and Viparita Karani (legs up the wall). These asanas increase the flow of Kapha, water, in the body and cool the mind. 

Take a moment to sit quietly.  Bring to mind a childhood Summer memory. Choose a memory that creates feelings of joy, peace, connection, safety, or wonder.  Allow yourself to recall as many details about this experience as you can;  the temperature, time of day, who was with you, the sounds around you, what you saw, and how you felt.  Continue to lean into this felt sense of Summer, allowing it to permeate your being.  Gently bring the mantra OM into your awareness, repeating it in the voice of your mind a few times.  Recalling the sensations of your memory, whisper the mantra OM softly to yourself.  

Inhale the Bhav of Summer, exhale the mantra OM.  

When you are complete, sit quietly and claim for yourself, in the form of an affirmation, each of the qualities of Summer that created a sense of deepening well-being. 

 A Ham, I AM __________, __________, ___________.

 Om & Blessings,  Kate