Summer brings an abundance of fresh vegetables, vibrant color, and natural nourishment that supports the body in meaningful ways. This season offers a timely invitation to care for digestion, especially the heart and small intestine in early summer, followed by the spleen, lymphatics, and stomach in late summer. It is a season of restoration, rebuilding, and preparing the body for the cooler months ahead.In traditional wellness practices, the Small Intestine is associated with the Fire Element. Physically, it plays a vital role in sorting, absorbing, and delivering nourishment where it is most useful. Energetically, it reflects discernment, clarity, and wise selection. That connection feels especially relevant in our wisdom years, when life often invites a deeper level of choice. What truly nourishes? What feels heavy? What is ready to be released?
“The small intestines are like the officials who are trusted with riches and create change of the physical substance.” ~ Nei Ching
That description paints such a vivid picture. Think of the Small Intestine as a factory manager receiving a delivery truck full of inventory. Food arrives after the teeth and stomach have done their first stages of processing, breaking it down into a more liquid form. Then the small intestine, with support from pancreatic enzymes, bile from the liver and gallbladder, and other digestive substances, takes over the sorting process.
It identifies what can be used and transforms food into usable components like glucose, fatty acids, and amino acids. These nutrients are then absorbed into the bloodstream and delivered to the liver, where they are either sent out for immediate use or stored for later. If digestion is flowing well, nourishment is received, and waste continues on to the large intestine for release.
The Small Intestine is about 23 feet long and connects the stomach to the large intestine. It includes three parts: the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. Its proper function is key to nourishment because the only nutrients the body can truly use are the ones that are digested and assimilated through this process.
If the intestinal lining is burdened with excess mucus, or if food moves through too quickly, the body may absorb very little nourishment from what is eaten. This is one reason a person may eat regularly and still feel depleted. The body may be receiving food, yet not fully receiving nourishment.
Many women notice signs that digestion is asking for support. Bloating, heaviness after meals, gas, fogginess, reflux, or a sense of internal clutter may all be signals. In many cases, the issue is not always excess stomach acid. Often, in maturing years, the body produces less hydrochloric acid, also known as HCL.
HCL plays an important role because it helps break down protein and supports the body in handling unwanted organisms that may enter through food. When stomach acid is low, food may linger too long in the stomach, creating fermentation, gas, discomfort, and reflux. This is one reason reflux may at times be connected to low acid rather than high acid.
The stomach, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, and small intestine all work together. Digestion is a coordinated effort, not a solo task. When one part feels sluggish, the whole rhythm can feel off. This is why slower meals, thorough chewing, and simpler food combinations can create such powerful shifts.
Have you ever truly taken time to chew your food to a liquid form?
That one choice alone supports the entire digestive process. It also allows you to experience the true taste of food, which may guide future choices with more clarity. Take bread for example, chew it to a liquid state. What does it remind you of – some may or may not know what Elmers glue tastes like, some may. Flour and water make glue – think of what it is doing to our digestive system when we eat it let alone not chewing it completely.
The Small Intestine also has a meridian pathway used in traditional energy practices. There are 19 points along this meridian. It begins at the little fingernail, runs along the side of the hand, up the forearm and behind the elbow, continues along the back of the arm to the shoulder above the scapula, then moves up the side of the neck and face, ending in front of the ear. Gentle circular motions, light tapping, or soft stimulation along this pathway may offer supportive recharging to areas of discomfort. It is a practice of patience, self-care, and trust. It is rarely a one-time fix. The body often responds well to steady, loving attention.
Simple support for the Small Intestine often begins with reducing overload:
slower meals
fewer competing ingredients
a calm environment while eating
warm or room-temperature beverages with meals
a short pause before eating to settle the body
chewing food thoroughly
Some choose to give the intestines periodic rest with fresh juices or lighter seasonal foods. Summer vegetables offer vitamins and minerals that help build and repair tissue, making this season especially supportive for healing. Choosing more whole foods and less mucus-forming foods may also be helpful for digestion and assimilation.
Stress plays a major role in digestion too. Stress is more than emotional. It may be physical, chemical, mental, environmental, or energetic. The body responds to all of it. This is one reason cleaner living matters. What goes into the body through food matters, and what is absorbed through the skin, inhaled in the home, and used in daily routines matters as well. From floor to ceiling, head to toe, every choice either adds burden or offers support.
For women who have spent years caring for others, this can be a season to bring some of that care inward. Choosing cleaner inputs, calmer meals, and wiser rhythms is a grounded act of self-love.
The Small Intestine teaches a valuable life lesson: choose what is nourishing and release what is not.
That applies to:
Food
Thoughts
Emotional patterns
Daily decisions
Wise digestion is not only about what is on the plate.
It is also about what is allowed into the body, mind, and spirit.
Summer offers an invitation to choose well, receive nourishment fully, and create space for the body to do what it was designed to do with wisdom and grace.
If this speaks to you, gather more weekly wellness tidbits, seasonal insights, decrees, and holistic support through Recharge You! Register below and receive simple guidance to your inbox weekly to support your journey with clarity, comfort, and steady nourishment.
Linda is not a physician. By participating, you acknowledge that Linda Bradbury is not responsible for any outcomes related to your health choices. The program is designed to help you adopt a nutritious diet and a holistic approach to your overall well-being. Please note that any statements made about the program have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to treat, diagnose, or cure any conditions.
Love what you read here?
Subscribe for updates!
Choose Your Best Week with Simple, Natural Wellness Tidbits
Summer Season 12 weeks of
How life flows with abundance, and caring for yourself flows with ease.
Seeking clarity, growth and where to begin?
Choose a **FREE 30-minute session** with Coach Linda to create a clear,
grounded map for your next chapter—rooted in self-trust.
