I am writing this because I probably heard the ambulance 10 times yesterday. And for the record we are not yet in August.
Summer 2025 is life-threatening, and Asian Santa is here to the rescue.
1. Minimize and prioritize your bedroom.
Clear up spaces in your home, especially your bedroom. Eliminate all the unnecessary. If possible, your bedroom should only have the bed and other before-bedtime essentials like your sleepwear, your glass of water, your houseplant that naturally cleans the air, your bedroom slippers, your body lotion and essential oils…
Minimizing your bedroom helps your air conditioner work a little less harder. Having only a few things to cool not only makes the job easier for the cooling equipment but also helps you save on electricity (and money).
2. Think of airflow.
Last spring, I washed all the window screens (squeaky clean) because there’s a more frequent need to open the windows in spring and summer. If there is no air circulation, it’s going to be hard to breathe. Having an air conditioner is not enough to cool a space. You need at least two openings to allow the air to travel around a space. And you want this air clean so the screens should all be clean to start with.
3. Cotton +1.
Invest in clothes made of cotton. Cotton is what you need, NOT POLYESTER. Make sure you read the tag in that piece of clothing before purchasing. +1 means if your size is medium, get the large one instead. This way, the slightly loose clothes will allow air to flow (same idea as #2).
4. Think of essentials before heading out.
If there’s a need to go outside, bring everything you think you may need. Your bottle of water with lots of ice cubes, a hat, an umbrella, an arm cover. Let me add that there’s a huge difference between a hat made of straw (plant-based) vs a hat made of plastic (polyester).
5. Do not use a backpack.
Change to a shoulder bag if you can. Backpack only makes your back sweaty because it blocks the airflow on your back. If that makes sense.
6. Use cotton socks and underwear.
Yup! Same as #3… Be that walking cotton product endorser.
7. Be careful with coffee, alcohol, salt and sugar.
They all have one goal– to remove water from your body. To lose your body fluids is the last thing you want to happen. Water is your life support. Watermelons, melons, tomatoes, cucumbers. God made all of them for summer for a good reason.
8. Frequent Showers, Zero Make-Up
Take frequent showers if you can. If there’s no chance (at the workplace), just wash your arms, hands, face and mouth as frequently as you can.
About make up: Cosmetics block the pores of our skin. Our skin needs to breathe. Same idea applies with wearing a mask. I can’t wear a mask in 40 degrees. Not even in 30 degrees.
9. Sip pina colada.
Not literally pina colada… Just the idea of sipping pina colada in the Bahamas in this summer heat. Romanticize 40 degrees. Grab a fancy glass and fill it with all the refreshing summer drinks you can get.
10. Surround yourself with plants.
For starters, place a snake plant (dracaena) on your work desk. The idea is to have a view of a plant and allow yourself to get hypnotized by it.
If for example you Google today’s temperature and it says 36 degrees Celsius, it may not be accurate. Temperature rises in concrete. It stays as it is or even gets lower in a plant-dense area.
We did everything we can to create a tiny forest in our backyard. We don’t want to be in that ambulance. (Who does?)
11. Say NO to synthetics.
Lastly, don’t believe and/or buy those commercial summer-exclusive products. Cooling pads, cooling deodorants, battery-operated handheld fans etc. They don’t make sense. Plus the handheld fans may explode due to overheating. Synthetic scents whose fumes can cause cancer only end up in the garbage bin. They are garbage. They don’t have purpose and meaning. They just want your money. Period.
Just wash, clean, minimize, hydrate. And choose products made of natural materials. That’s it.
I hope you find this helpful.
Stay cool, safe and alive.
Asian Santa
July 11, 2025
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