Don't lose your cool, beat the heat

We all know the quickest way to beat the heat isn’t always the most practical. There are plenty of ways to cool down without cracking open that fire hydrant, paying to see that summer blockbuster just to get in the a/c, or loitering in the frozen foods section.

If you've gotta be active in winter to get warm, you've got to be passive in summer to keep cool.

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If you’re an outside-in kinda person, you’ve got options. Ayurveda, the Indian science of the body, has plenty of recommendations.  Sugary-sweet foods are best for summer. Melons, sweet fruits, cucumber, and mint are all very cooling. Not only are they great for eating, they can also be dropped in a pitcher of water to “infuse” their vitamins and nutrients. It’s a perfect thing to come home to after a hot commute from work. You could also do as the ancients did and get subterranean. It’s always cooler below the surface than it is on top. Coating yourself in earth — a mud bath, burying yourself in the sand — will cool you off, for sure. At home, that can mean a mud bath for your face or sand play therapy (it’s a Jung thing, check it out).

For you inside-outers, you’re got just one bet- yoga cooling breath. Called sitali (with your tongue curled like an enchilada) or sitikari (lips pursed like duck-face selfies), you breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose. It’s the same action as trying to cool off that premature bite of pizza while it burns off your taste buds. Do that for 2-5 minutes, and I bet you'll find your hot head has mellowed out.

While on my journey abstaining from processed sugar, my favorite summer treat has been frozen grapes. It’s almost like a popsicle, but after not having super-sugar filled things, fruit tastes even sweeter than it used to.

What’s your favorite way to beat the heat?

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Written by Corey Loftus 
Founder / Visionary : constantly quotable

Corey is a husband, yogi, and father to a fur-child named Eddy. 
He'll work for almond butter. 
corey [at] iamhom [dot] com

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