We are approaching a crossroads in modern life. Science, medicine and technology are advancing rapidly. Despite claims in the media that we are leading a better way of life, it is easy to see that this is not true in many ways. I think that it is hard for most of us to say that life is happier, easier or safer than in the past. We read statistics that say we are living longer, yet we probably all know young people who have cancer and other life threatening diseases. We also know young people who have died unexpectedly in or before the prime of life.

It is becoming clear that we will have to decide on which direction to take to guide us towards a better and healthier life. Modern medicine complemented with alternatives is one choice, the other a broad, embracing way of life, which enables us to choose from a broad range of healing modalities. People are more aware of their health than ever before. The popularity of alternative medicine is rapidly increasing each year.

These two streams that are emerging are not always complementary. Will we be satisfied by modern medicine that is supplemented with alternative healing? Will this approach lead us towards better and lasting health? I think we can safely say no to both questions.

Macrobiotics is like an umbrella. It covers everything. Diet and lifestyle are part of life. Macrobiotics is about health, not sickness. Modern medicine is about sickness, not health. It is for special cases and emergencies and therefore should not be our major focus.

The seven steps of strengthening health macrobiotics are a gateway to lasting health. By sitting down to eat, chewing our food well, having grains and a separate vegetable dish as the basis of a meal, we can move towards a better and healthier life for ourselves and for the world. We can improve heart disease, obesity and many other diseases. In this way we can fulfill our promise on this planet. Please begin today!

These days we are advised to reduce stress and uncover the childhood traumas that interfere with our present happiness. The mind-body relationship and the effect of emotions on our health are now scientific fact. Although there have been many positive changes and discoveries, I wonder if all this new awareness has given us more happiness, freedom or control of our lives.

We have developed a tendency to look outside of ourselves rather than inside for the answers. It is easy to follow new trends as they come along and wait for the okay from science or medicine before we change.

It seems to me that we are only creating smokescreens that mask the real issues. It is always easier to try to change or blame someone else rather than ourselves. Yet we limit our own natural ability by doing this.

Real change comes from inside. As we change ourselves the world around us changes. We already have the necessary tools to create these changes. The proper use of diet, activity and lifestyle will strengthen our ability to direct our lives in a positive direction.
Strengthening Health Macrobiotics provides the seven steps to help us do this. When we practice the seven steps, we improve health conditions ranging from the more minor, such as psoriasis, to the more serious, such as cancer, heart disease and everything in between.

It is time to take our places as real people on this planet, penetrate the smokescreens and create a new view for us all.

According to an editorial in yesterday’s New York Times*, per capita meat consumption more than doubled in the last fifty years. It is expected to double again by 2050. To nourish farmed fish, pigs and poultry, small fish like sardines and menhaden are taken from the ocean. This upsets the food chain. Aquatic species depend on the small fish to live. Also, it takes three pounds of fish to produce one pound of farmed salmon. The author calls this unsustainable and a threat to the foundation of oceanic life. He concludes that “the real answers are support for sustainable agriculture in the developing world and encouraging healthy, less meat-based eating habits as a true sign of affluence everywhere.”

Strengthening Health macrobiotics offers a sensible answer. A meal is a grain and a separate vegetable dish. The standard American model of a meal is pizza or a hamburger. By practicing Strengthening Health Macrobiotics, we can improve conditions from heart disease to cancer and at the same time take care of our oceans and world.

* “New York Times editorial, The Protein Pyramid, November 10, 2008.”

When we live in a temperate climatic zone, it is best to choose daily foods that originate in the same or a similar climatic zone. For example, although potatoes and tomatoes are grown in North America, they originated in the Andes Mountains, in a tropical environment. Tropical foods are used more selectively than temperate foods.

Most perishable foods, those with a high water content that lose their freshness quickly, such as fruits and vegetables, are best grown or gathered as close to home as possible. Foods that can be stored for longer periods of time, such as sea salt, sea vegetables, well-aged pickles and fermented foods, grains and beans, can be chosen from further away. When we require foods that originate further from home, we choose those from east or west of where we are living, not from north or south where climatic differences are more dramatic. If we live in the Northern Hemisphere, it is important not to choose foods from the Southern Hemisphere. The magnetic charge which creates the basic structure of food is opposite in both hemispheres.

When we eat food from where we live or from places with similar climates, our lives come more into order. We feel more aligned and connected to our local environment. Many common diseases ranging from allergies and skin problems to heart disease and cancer can be improved by this and other simple practices. Strengthening Health Macrobiotics also brings more order to our lives. In these ways we can improve our health and the health of our world.

Macrobiotics is a traditionally based diet, not a traditional one. It is based on the traditional diets of the world’s long-standing cultures. Macrobiotics has its dietary roots in the Far East, Middle East, India, Eastern and Western Europe, Africa and the United Kingdom. We have combined the unique foods from each area along with the cooking styles that are appropriate to where we live.

The traditional grains of the United Kingdom; barley, oats and wheat, are regularly used in the standard macrobiotic diet. Sourdough from Europe is also frequently included. Couscous from the Middle East and North Africa, pasta from the Far East and Italy and corn from the Americas are more examples. Many traditional Japanese products are regularly or occasionally used.

When we practice strengthening health macrobiotics we improve health conditions ranging from obesity to heart disease to high cholesterol to depression. We also make a connection to nature, our ancestors and other places and times. Life is speeding up and it is valuable to maintain these connections. Through strengthening health macrobiotics we hope to strengthen the health of ourselves and our world.

A good Macrobiotic practice means that the person in question has good digestion, from the beginning to the end of the digestive process, good circulation and good nutrition, which is nourishment. Good nutrition means both quality and quantity. The idea that simple and clean food is always better is false. Too much simple and clean food may lead to emptiness.

We should be neither too full nor too empty. Many people think it is admirable to be strict, but it isn’t. If a person or a thing is too good, that is no good.

In the past, everyone did things outside all the time. This was one of the main ways to be active. The more outdoor activity, the better for health. In modern times our lives are growing more sedentary with more time spent indoors. Walking outside, growing vegetables or other kinds of gardening and doing yard work are all natural ways of strengthening our health.

We do not need cures from outside of us as much as we need to strengthen our own connection to nature. Through working outside we can improve conditions like heart disease, lung cancer, depression and many other diseases. The healthier we become the healthier we can help our planet to be. Please create opportunities to work and play outside.

Anything that aids good digestion and good circulation helps our health.

Health is like a mountain spring, the right amount of water moving at a natural speed. If the source is pure, great. But even if the source is not pure, if it has the right kind of activity, it is still sparkling. It can purify itself. If water becomes deficient it slows down. It starts to putrefy if there isn’t enough power for active movement. If there is too much force behind it or if there is too much water, it becomes destructive.

Our bodies are the same. If we can have proper movement our body can constantly renew itself like a healthy mountain stream. The source doesn’t need to be pure for a mountain stream to be healthy and our nourishment doesn’t need to be perfect. We do need to have the ability to circulate. Activity is the pump, the circulator for our bodies.

Good Macrobiotic practice means good digestion, from beginninng to end of the process; good circulation; and good nourishment, both quality and quantity. Good health is the sum total of our nourishment, activity and circulation.

Practicing Strengthening Health Macrobiotics can improve practically any health condition you can imagine, from diabetes to heart disease to high blood pressure to cancer. Proper activity and circulation along with nourishment contribute to health. The Seven Steps, by Denny Waxman, aim to help ourselves, our families and our world to circulate naturally for good health.

Our body renews itself and changes in many ways, The first way is with our blood plasma, the liquid portion of blood, which renews itself every ten days. Our white blood cells renew themselves every two or three weeks. Then we have our red blood cells which typically renew themselves every 28 days. Finally, our entire body renews itself every seven to eight years depending on whether you are a man or woman (seven for women and eight for men). Women have the ability to renew their bodies more quickly than men do.

Although our skin renews itself every twenty-eight days and can only be twenty-eight days old, why do people get dry skin, blemishes, roughness, cracks and wrinkles? If the skin cannot get proper nourishment, it cannot renew itself efficiently and then we say our skin is aging, The reason that our skin cannot renew itself properly is because it is clogged by fat and then moisture and oils cannot pass through to renourish it. Therefore it starts to age.

This is why one of the Seven Steps of Strengthening Health Macrobiotics is to do the body rub, every day, first thing in the morning, last thing at night, or both. The body rub is done with a hot wet towel, separate from the bath or shower. A cotton cloth is dipped into a sink full of hot water and then the entire surface of the skin is gently rubbed (with the weight of your hand) for about ten minutes. This opens up our pores so that our skin can do its job. Our skin is our body’s largest organ. When our skin is unclogged our circulation improves and many kinds of health problems, from cancer to heart problems to obesity, can be improved.

As we improve our own circulation and health, we can strengthen the health of the planet. Please do a body rub today.

It is less and less common now to have undernutrition. Although overeating is damaging, some people think that the more simply they eat, the better their health will be. But simple is only good for a certain length of time. If we eat too simply and don’t take any oil, flour, fish and desserts for long enough, hardness is created. Our nutrition becomes inbalanced.

The proper amount of food can only be identified when we are seated. We don’t have normal sensation when our stomachs are elongated. We only have it when our stomachs are bent. Everyone has a point where they feel full but not stuffed. If you’ve had enough food, you feel satisfied, If you go beyond that point, you can eat endlessly. However, in order to find this point, we have to slow down and take time for a meal, sitting quietly and being with our food. This does not mean no dinner conversation but rather not eating in front of the television or while reading. When we are with our food and get to that point, we stop eating and do not overeat. It takes time to find this point because often times our digestive system has expanded from our past behavior.

Healthy digestion and cholesterol levels; freedom from weight problems and heart disease and numerous other ailments begin with proper nutrition. Proper nutrition begins with sitting down to receive nourishment, without doing other things, at lunch and dinner and for many people, breakfast. This gets us in touch with what we need. With this simple and practical tool, in the spirit of Strengthening Health Macrobiotics, we can realign ourselves with nature, helping ourselves and our world to age naturally.

It is natural for our bodies to stop growing after twenty years. It is only recently that people continue to gain weight as they grow older. After the first twenty years of life, we continue to grow our personality, not our body. We decide what type of person we would like to become. We ask what image we have of ourselves. How can we develop the understanding and ability to embrace life? This growing of our personality and consciousness depends on our gratitude or appreciation. When we have this gratitude and appreciation, that always creates a kind of openness. However, if we follow modern society and we start to blame and accuse, it cuts us off and makes us more isolated and narrow and then we automatically start to shrink. We start our lives open and full of curiosity and then through different experiences and responsibilities we gain many concepts. Those concepts make us start to close off unless we break through and become open again. As a result, we can’t age in a healthy way and we start to age unnaturally. True aging is a result of being open, as a child is open, but with greater maturity.

Strengthening Health Macrobiotics approaches daily life; eating, and the prevention or attempt to cure cancer and many other diseases with a goal of good circulation. The Body Rub is one of the main ways to achieve increased openness and improved circulation. Sitting down to eat, tasting and noticing our food, chewing it well, helps create gratitude. With these and other seemingly simple practices, we may age naturally after all.