There’s an old Korean saying, “treat hot with hot”. The application is such: when you’re hot, as on a hot day, eat hot soup. Taking in something hotter causes you to cool down.
Doesn’t make sense? Try it.
This past Saturday, the temperature hit 105F in Los Gatos. Temperatures were rising in the days leading up to the weekend. It just so happened to be the week I started working on another backyard garden project.
I started trimming the outer leaves of drought tolerant plants and laying them as mulch over some dry dirt beds to prepare soil for vegetable growing. Fruit trees needed to be harvested, late summer seed to be sown, and spring plants cut and laid as ground cover. I’m using some ideas from Masanobu Fukuoka’s One Straw Revolution to rewild the garden.
Most days I was out working in the middle of the day, through to the evening. I was in full sun, with short sleeves or shirtless. From Monday through Thursday, I wore jeans. On Friday through the weekend, I resorted to shorts. I wore a hat that shaded my face and neck when it got too bright.
Each day started with a big drink of water, kettlebell swings and getups, and then another big drink of water. I usually planned out the general tasks, mostly doing the heavy cutting and hauling work in the beginning, and ending with fruit picking and planting toward the end. I sweated a lot. At times I felt a bit faint while working, but a moment of rest with some slow breaths helped me recover. Occasionally I went inside and cooled off, drinking water and looking up various gardening blogs.
I tanned, but didn’t burn. This may have been because I spread a little coconut oil on my skin. I also think that working under the sun in mostly standing and squatting positions will not lead to skin damage the way that laying out to “tan” will.
Because I was outside every day in the heat and the sunlight, I adjusted to it. When I was indoors, I didn’t need air conditioning. Previously intolerable heat became quite tolerable, if not comfortable. As a matter of fact, when we drove into town on Saturday, I realized that the AC in the car was actually causing my internal temperature to go out of whack. It felt hotter and hotter as the AC blasted against my skin. Turning it off and opening the windows to the hundred degree air actually helped my homeostasis normalize. I felt more comfortable.
Just like every other plant and animal on this earth, humans can adjust to changes in temperature pretty well. Just look at all the different climates humans have inhabited. The thing is now, so many people are in air conditioned rooms all day, every day, that they are not letting themselves acclimate to the natural changes in temperature.
There’s something about going with the seasons and melding in with the rise and fall of the heat. Just being able to work through a very hot day dispelled a lot of misunderstanding about a human’s capabilities. Sure, it’s vital to drink enough water when doing this. But even in hundred degree weather, a few gulps before, and then a few gulps a couple of hours later, was sufficient to keep me sustained and strong. Remember, too, that this was all preceded by thirty minutes of kettlebell training.
This is just an example. No need to deliberately put yourself through unreasonable conditions. Know that you have a body that can handle a lot. And let yourself feel the limits here and there. Try not to automatically reach for the AC when you feel a bit warm. Breathe, sweat, acclimate.
Yes, sweat. That thing that we all try to avoid doing. Its your internal climate control doing its natural work. It also helps you release stress. And it cleans your skin from the inside out. Find the time and the place where you can just let go and literally be yourself.
And yea, try some hot soup on a hot day.
Live powerfully,
Steve
The Brilliant Beast Blog 