Certain sports are played alone. Certain are played as part of a team. Weight lifting, for example, is usually done alone. Football, on the other hand, must be played as part of a team. It requires team coordination and the results depend on everybody either working or not working together. Team sports are more yang.

Then there is competition, either individual or group. Competition is yang, an expression of energy becoming more and more contracted or condensed. Yin activities are those in which energy moves out to the periphery. The game of solitaire is very yin! Then there are social card games, played with others for fun: those are more balanced. Serious gambling, with direct competition, is by far the most yang. A social card game is more harmonious, played just for fun, either won or lost. It is more yang than solitaire because it requires social interaction.

Any sport you do by yourself is yin and has a yinnizing effect. Anything you do in a group becomes more yang, whatever it is. If you add competition to that, it becomes even more yang.

I hope you choose a good activity for yourself today!

I consider it no small irony that the first syllable of the word dioxins sounds like die: So potent is this group of more than 100 cancer-causing industrial chemicals that the Environmental Protection Agency is currently considering setting the “safe” daily level for human exposure at seven-tenths of a picogram per kilogram of body weight. (A picogram, FYI, is one-trillionth of a gram.) To put it in perspective: With the much publicized toxic chemical BPA, you could be exposed to 50 million times that amount, and you’d still be within the realm of what’s considered safe.

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“Eating soy will kill you!” Scan the media reports and surf the Internet, and you’re bound to come across scary claims that would lead you to believe this is true. You may have heard:

• Soy will give you breast cancer.
• Soy formula is dangerous to babies.
• Genetically modified soy foods may modify you.
• Soy foods block your thyroid function.
• Soy prevents the absorption of minerals and interferes with digestion.
• Tofu causes Alzheimer’s disease.

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As a 47 year old woman who spent most of my adult life struggling with weight, body image and health, Bridgette Kossor was at the end of her rope, trying yet again, to lose weight and feel good. By the end of 2006, she found herself at her heaviest weight, 268 lbs., on medication for high cholesterol and blood pressure, and sleeping with a machine for sleep apnea. Her doctor suggested gastric bypass surgery, which shocked her into taking some kind of real, responsible action to take care of herself. Her friend, Barbara Panno, had told her about Macrobiotics earlier that fall, but she wasn’t ready to consider making this kind of change, until her “light bulb moment”, months later. She could no longer keep doing what she had been doing for years; dieting and exercising with no real connection to the food or herself. She had no idea what Macrobiotics was, but she knew that she needed to find out.

Bridgette met with Denny Waxman in 2007 for her first macrobiotic health consultation. He gave her his recommendations for eating a wide macrobiotic diet and changing her lifestyle to better balance her insides, along with her outer appearance. She enthusiastically jumped into this new way of thinking about her food, cooking and eating; within 6 weeks her cholesterol numbers reduced drastically (LDL was cut in half), and within 4 months she lost 52 pounds without even trying. Her medications were no longer needed since her blood pressure and cholesterol were within normal ranges for the first time in years. She no longer needed a machine to sleep with, since her sleep apnea also disappeared. By the end of her first year of macrobiotic practice, she lost close to 90 lbs. For someone who has spent her whole adult life in a dysfunctional relationship with food and her body, this approach to food, cooking, health and community was not only simple, but invaluable. read article and listen to audio

In October of 1984, about four days after his wedding day John was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Greatly dissatisfied with past experiences with the medical profession and the options being offered him, he decided to seek other options.

Two years prior to this diagnosis John had read two books on Macrobiotics, “You Are All Sanpaku” by George Ohsawa, and “Natural Healing Through Macrobiotics” by Michio Kushi. The philosophy of diet and healing as explained by these two men made the most sense to John, he decided to give macrobiotics a try.

Just weeks after receiving dietary guidelines from world renown macrobiotic counselor, Denny Waxman, the transformative effects on John’s health could be felt. One and a half years into his new diet, feeling healed, John went off his diet and suffered major setbacks as the cancer returned and spread. read article and listen to audio

Christina Campion suffered from chronic alternating anorexia and bulimia throughout her entire life. By age 30, at 5′ 7″ and weighing only 75lbs, it was clear to her that she had to change her life drastically if she were to stay alive. She went to see various Macrobiotic counselors in the US and in the UK but their guidance did not seem to help her.

Christina finally had the good fortune to meet renowned Senior Macrobiotic Counselor, Denny Waxman, on one of his trips to London. Denny was the first counselor to accurately diagnose her condition of Hypoglycemia. read article and listen to audio

At age 43, Nancy Wolfson-Moche wanted to conceive. She was not eligible for “hi-tech” fertility treatments (IVF) due to an elevated FSH level (which western medicine said was normal in a healthy 43-year-old woman). MD’s said the FSH level may fluctuate, but once it goes over 30 it is an indication that the eggs are too old and not viable to conceive a healthy baby. Nancy’s FSH level was as high as 38. Through a macrobiotic diet and lifestyle, and by following the recommendations of Denny Waxman, her FSH went from 38 to 6 over a 12 month period. Two months later she went on a trip around the world and conceived her first child, somewhere between Bhutan and southern Spain, at 44. She gave birth to a full-term, healthy baby girl at age 45. Her second daughter was born when she was 51. read article

The temperature has been high lately. When it is hot, it is more easy to be hot-blooded! If someone is feeling too emotional, we describe them as too hot, excited, off-balance, volatile or irrational. We can also think of that person as being too wet or wishy washy or overflowing. However we describe them, one thing is clear: for emotion, we need liquid! The liquid can be internal or external. If you want to have an emotional trip, you go to Venice or Niagara Falls or to the sea. You usually choose a place where there is liquid – some canals, water flowing, a lake, the seashore.

Another way to feel more emotional is to use temperature, to go to a warmer place. Finland is a great country but not associated with arias. For emotions we need a higher temperature. If someone is passionate we call them hot. That means they have a lot of temperature, a lot of heat. Similarly, fire is very romantic. It brings more heat and activity to the environment. An electric heater is not very romantic.

We also use fire. More fire in cooking activates emotions as well. Whether it is fire in cooking or in the environment, both have that effect. Stimulants like coffee are the same. In Southern countries they make espresso very well. Since it is roasted, there is a lot of fire energy there, and furthermore it is made under pressure. When you drink espresso, a lot of energy or emotion is produced!

I hope you have enjoyed this discussion and not become too heated up.

Finally, a long overdue scientific correction is happening. The human genome project is failing to advance the cause of human health, as promised. There is a fundamental but frustratingly and long overlooked reason why this is happening. read article

In the spring we considered blood quality and emotions. You don’t have to think a lot about these things to practice them. Everyone knows, consciously or unconsciously, how to change their blood in order to affect their emotions. For example, we all have certain foods and drinks we rely on to create some type of emotional response. If you want to go out and have a romantic meal, you know what type of food, what type of restaurant, you are going to choose because automatically you know that when you start to eat or drink certain things, you start to feel a certain way! There are certain foods on which we rely for that. That’s amore!

If we want to quickly pick up our energy and be more outgoing, there are certain other foods we will choose. If we plan a party, there are certain traditionally accepted snacks we know will make people more social and active. They will talk more and be chatty and feel happier from eating these foods. Doritos were not an accident.

If we don’t want to face something that is coming up, we have other foods we will choose. They are more dulling and block us from that experience. These are things everyone knows. At the same time, If you feel happy, your blood starts to become more alkaline. If you laugh this is also true. Everyone knows that laughter is the best medicine! When we take certain foods, we create our blood. These foods generate certain emotions, which in effect are helping to return our blood to balance.

For example, if you take sweets, for a while you feel more happy, and your blood is more excessive. Then through that happiness, that laughter and activity, you are helping your blood return to normal. On the other hand, if you feel or experience some negative emotion, you change your blood. If you have a shock about something, instantly your blood starts to turn acid. If you get angry, it makes your blood more acidic. It makes your blood boil!

Happy and unhappy emotions have the effect of either improving or weakening the quality of our blood so please go watch a funny movie! For your health.