We’ve arrived, friends – at LAST – at summer. PROPER SUMMER. The season of pitta. The time of year when the hot, sharp, intense qualities are full on all around us. The best way to brace ourselves for it (and enjoy it?) are to soften, play, and slip-slide into the ease of it all. Whether pitta is elevated in your constitution or not (you can use THIS great little quiz from my friends at Banyan Botanicals to find out!) staying cool is the name of the game in these months. And shifting the way we move, work, play and eat – embracing activities, routines and foods that energetically and biologically helps us to keep it chill.
What does that even MEAN lady? You may be asking.
I’ll tell ya more about it below. But for those of you who are just hungry for this sweet, tart, salty and awesome recipe, know that one of the best things you can do to keep your cool in the summer? Having a popsicle mid-day, or after your daily run/ride/hike/workout. HONESTLY. And especially if it’s one of these Hibiscus Coconut Popsicles. There’s nothing colder than ice (insert 80’s song reference) but also, both the hibiscus and the coconut are cooling to the body energetically. which means you get to come back down to baseline in the most delicious, playful way that your adult self can muster.
If you’ve ever experienced heat stroke, heat exhaustion or a painful sunburn, you have an acute sense of what happens when the body gets too hot, too kissed by the sun. Just like the glass of water you accidentally left out in the sun that’s very warm when you go back to drink it, our bodies are warming to ambient temperatures. When our systems get too warm, “stuff” starts happening. (Especially if we already have firey, Pitta constitutions…and most of us overachievers and athletes DEFINITELY do.)
Our internal body temperature rises when the weather gets hot. If the body doesn’t cool off by the time we crawl into bed at night, this impacts our sleep in deep ways, preventing recovery, rest and rebuilding.
Just like when something makes us very emotional, we have a difficult time thinking, acting and working clearly when things get too hot in and out of the body.
Our digestion can also be negatively impacted by hot weather. The digestive system is literally a fire in our bellies, breaking down and digesting our experiences, emotions, and nutrition. When the flames get too hot, we can experience “heat” in the gut, and this looks like bloating, gas, indigestion and diarrhea. I know that you’re SO OVER ME TALKING ABOUT POOP…but it’s a vital sign, folx. When your bowels get loose, it’s a sign that there’s too much heat in the body and it’s time to cool it down (runners and cyclists, I’m looking at you!)
The foods that we eat, ways we move and play, and lifestyle routines that we engage in can also be quite heating, adding literal fuel to the fire of summer. Exercising in the heat of the day, spending too much time in the sun, or in environments that are overly competitive, aggressive or agro also cause our emotions to rise which, you guessed it, has a biological impact on our bodies. Consuming too much coffee, alcohol, pungent, spicy, hotel, salty foods also contribute to our internal fire.
When our internal fire cranks up, we experience inflammation in the body, an untamed unorganized mind. If life feels scattered, we feel sore, tired, warm, puffy, bloated or, if we literally feel that “life is on fire,” then it’s time to get those flames under control.
If this is sounding a little too WOO, I get it. But I have good news – there are a few very easy ways to lean into the season and to combat the heat when nature turns it on. And nothing happens when we try them (besides the fact that we get infinitely COOLER as human beings!)
Exercising in the cooler hours of the day, and moving our work and play to juicy, playful environments (instead of aggressive or competitive ones) are great ways to keep the mind and body cool. Diving into an alpine lake, taking a cold shower, spritzing ourselves with cooling mist…all ways to be COOLER. But, for some of us, changing our environment or the times that we exercise may not be an option. We don’t all have an alpine lake in our backyard (including me.) Luckily, the foods that we eat have a massive impact on the heat we experience inside. And when we add up these tiny ingredients, we get big, chill results.
Having a cooling popsicle, with cooling coconut milk infused with tart hibiscus tea is a perfect way to bring your body back down on a hot summer day. It’s simple, and straightforward, and will feel like the loveliest childhood treat, only it’s such a great practice for adult you.
These creamy popsicles are vegan, and gluten-free, spiked with a bit of salt and evaporated cane juice. Evaporated cane juice is ridiculously cooling to the system in warmer months (which is why when you travel through Southeast Asia, you’ll see vendors selling slices of pure sugar cane in the sweltering heat!) The salt and sugar combination also helps to rehydrate you after sweaty pursuits.
One more note: these popsicles can also easily become ICE CREAM. I highly recommend churning your coconut milk base in an ice cream maker if you have one, and if you don’t but are quite lazy (or if you don’t have popsicle molds) you can pour the base into a parchment-lined loaf pan, freeze it and slice it into a post-adventure semifreddo snack. Different shape, same cooling, delicious self-care all summer long.
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