Hello, Reader,
Today is the last of the "Dog Days," named for when Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, and part of the Canis Major constellation ("greater dog" in Latin), rises and sets at approximately the same time as the sun. It started 39 days ago on July 3, coinciding with some of the hottest days in the Northern Hemisphere.
The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that the combined brilliance of the sun and the super-bright Dog Star caused sickness, madness and chaos. They named this period diēs caniculārēs ("days of the dog star").
The recent heatwaves across the Northeast and Europe remind us that extreme heat is a serious, sometimes fatal threat to humans and animals alike. For most of us, the lingering swelter leaves us feeling chronically fatigued, irritable, and tossing through restless, broken sleep.
Like all things in life, balance is the key.
Deliberate bursts of high heat, like a sauna session or a beautifully steaming bath, flood your brain with BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) which acts as fertilizer for memory, focus, and neuroplasticity, and regular thermal rituals help your cells deploy Heat Shock Proteins to clear out cellular clutter, protecting your brain from cognitive decline, lowering inflammation and keeping your cardiovascular system in peak conditioning.
If you're overheated and want to restore your equilibrium:
- Run cold water over your wrists or the back of your neck to instantly calm an irritable nervous system and reset your physical temperature.
- Drop the guilt and fully surrender to a midday nap, listening to the heavy exhaustion as a valid internal cue to pause instead of pushing through the mental fog.
- Shift your heaviest tasks to early morning, allowing yourself to match the slow movement of the season by lowering your productivity expectations for the rest of the day.
The ancients looked at the summer peak and saw a season to fear. Today, we get to see it as a powerful, natural tool to design a sharper mind and a longer, more vibrant life.
Eating the Sun
It's pretty awesome that nature provides exactly what our bodies crave to cool down, rebuild, and thrive with high-vibration foods bursting with captured sunlight and moisture.
Through the natural wisdom of photosynthesis, the cellular structures of late summer foods convert months of solar energy into dense nutrients and protective compounds that deliver deep cellular hydration and heavy antioxidant support.
Here are some of my favorite sun-soaked foods:
- Watermelon: Floods cells with deep hydration while delivering lycopene, a pigment that acts as an internal shield against solar radiation.
- Wild Berries: Packed with brain-boosting polyphenols that neutralize oxidative stress and sharpen cognition.
- Dark Leafy Greens: Filled with chlorophyll, the sunlight-capturing molecule built on nearly the same frame as the hemoglobin in your blood, plus essential minerals to actively assist with cellular detoxification.
|
|
August Alchemy
August is a cusp month to me, the last of the extreme heat and the month before my solar return. This year I forgot the anniversary of a major surgery and remembered three days late. Losing track of the date that ended one version of me and began the next felt like passing through a portal.
|
Yours in wellness,
Julie Elaine Brown
NASM Certified Nutrition Coach
