Behavior: Distracted Eating Adds More to Waistline
Catching up with e-mail while you eat lunch? Watching television? You may end the day eating more than you think. Read article
Macrobiotics in Florida and Transitioning to Spring
This week we travelled to Jacksonville, Florida, at the invitation of Marlene Pendley. The group was international, four people from Venezuela and three from Bogota, Columbia. Susan taught two "international" cooking classes and I took these cultures into account in my lectures. It was a great success and very enjoyable. Two of the students had [...]
The Cycles of Nature Support Us
Everyone can align with nature. The sun doesn't oversleep! It always gets up, always rises. The full moon is always there when it should be and spring always comes after winter. The only way the sun won't rise, I believe, is if our planet is out of orbit. Otherwise the sun will rise everyday. The [...]
Emotions and Health
If we get nervous or angry we influence our health! Happy and unhappy emotions have an effect of either improving or weakening the quality of our blood. The same dynamic exists between emotions and our organs. If we feel calm and peaceful, this nourishes the liver. This is the same kind of energy that creates [...]
Walking
There are three types of exercises: harmonious exercise, physically or emotionally-oriented exercise and spiritually/mentally or energetically-oriented exercise. Harmonious exercise means everyone can do it and everyone benefits. This is universal exercise and should be the basis of all exercise programs. Examples of harmonious exercise are walking, laughing, body rub, reading, making love, breathing, cleaning, chewing, [...]
The Macrobiotic Approach to Careers
One of the observations I have had again and again in counseling is that so many people I see who have serious health problems have spent their lives doing what they didn't want to be doing. And often, when that realization comes strongly enough, it is already a very serious situation. Our career means something [...]
The Movement Between Sickness and Health
When does life begin? When does life end? This is a very good question. Does life begin when you are a twinkle in your parents' eyes? Does life begin at the point of conception? Does life begin at the moment of birth? When the cord is cut? When does it begin? Does life begin when [...]
Food Opens up as a Spiral
The basis of every meal should be a grain or grain product and at least one vegetable dish. After that your most important choice is soup every day. This can be any kind of soup. After that comes beans and sea vegetables, nuts and seeds, fruit and snacks, fish, beverages, etc. These all revolve around [...]
Food Must Be Satisfying To Create Health
Chewing is in some ways the most important of the seven steps to strengthening health. However, it is important to enjoy chewing and not to feel "This is labor. I have to do this to get well." If you feel satisfied by your food and if you really enjoy it, naturally you will want to [...]
Our View of Life and Our Health
If we think "Life is wonderful; life is a long process; it goes on and on" then we are not too rushed. We are open. We can receive things and let things out. But if we think "Life is very short, we really have a lot of things to do; I must work hard every [...]
Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemic people thrive on pressure and tension, physically, emotionally and mentally. Relaxing this pressure is the key to overcoming it. Plenty of variety should be used in grains, without excessive use of pressure cooking or baking. Grains should be soaked and then boiled. Noodles, corn and cracked grain should be included often. Vegetable dishes should [...]
Discharging Foods From the Past
When you eat certain foods, you discharge other foods. If you vary your macrobiotic diet, then basically Monday you discharge dairy food, Tuesday meat, Wednesday sugar, and so on. If you become too regular this way, you establish a routine and then basically your body gets bored and nothing happens. In other words, diet [...]
Meal Times and Styles and Activity
We get up in the morning and become more and more active. Then we get to a point when, it seems, the sun gets stuck high in the sky, so we can have either activity or stagnation. What we choose for lunch determines whether we become more active in the afternoon or stagnate. Now many [...]
Exercise
The first question to ask in developing an exercise program is "is this exercise part of my life or is it separate?" If it is separate, then we should do something to bridge the gap to integrate it into our lives, to make it actually a part of our lives. Basically, activity is a type [...]
Food is Energy: Quick Sauteed Vegetables
When you prepare foods, it is very important to use all of the recommended cooking styles, because each one starts to draw different aspects out from the food. For sauteed vegetables, you use a high flame, a little oil and cut-up vegetable and some salt. You turn them so they cook evenly. This high flame [...]
Yin and Yang is a Way of Seeing Life
Yin and yang is a way of seeing life. It is a way of bringing order, harmony and change into our lives. Once we know about this principle, we start to see things in a different way. Things start to come to life. Our education teaches us to look at things in a very static [...]
Absolute Health
If we think that there is an idea of Absolute Health and try to hold on it. What is the inevitable result? Sickness. This is the modern way. If you like to be a loyal, patriotic American, you work hard everyday, taking medications to keep away symptoms and problems. You push yourself so that [...]
Allergies and Strengthening Health Macrobiotics
Allergies have now replaced the infectious diseases that claimed so many lives in the last century as one of our most pressing health problems. The once common infectious diseases including TB, diphtheria and scarlet fever have largely been eradicated through better hygiene and antibiotics. Yet, not much attention has been paid to the dietary [...]