21 | Japanese Health Practices
Podcast link
Transcript
I’ve been a fan of Japanese culture for a long time. If you know me, you know that I love tea, and let’s face it, anyone who has a ceremony for tea is a winner in my book. Today, I thought I would take a look at some of the Japanese practices, philosophies, that have some real health benefits to them.
It’s no surprise that the Japanese live for the longest in any culture in the world, because they have some really deep-rooted practices that mean they take care of themselves and of each other.
So we’re going to talk about a couple of them and apologies up front, I don’t speak Japanese. Language is not my strong suit. So my pronunciation is unlikely to be accurate or pretty but I am going to give it a shot. And we’re going to talk about a whole heap of very different things today, just a bit of a teaser. And hopefully, you’ll be inspired to take some of these on.
Shinrin-Yoku (Forest bathing)
The first one we’re going to talk about is Shinrin-Yoku which is forest bathing, one of my favourite things to do. I don’t do it as often as I would like. I’ve had a pretty blessed life and I actually studied Forestry at uni. I have a double degree in Science and Forest Science and one of my fondest memories of my uni days was, you know, donning steel caps and heading out into the forest and soaking in the sights, the smells and listening to the birds and a little rustle of mammals in the undergrowth, the feel of the bark, the smell of eucalypts, the scent of dirt after rain. There’s something really magical about hiking through the trees. And it turns out that there are a host of benefits that come along with it, one of which is relaxation, which also helps to decrease anxiety, increase creativity and problem-solving, increase energy, improve ability to focus, reduce blood pressure and an improved immune system. So I spoke a little about the smells of the forest. When you walk through a forest you’re actually breathing in beneficial bacteria, really good for your gut microbiome, and can have positive effects for up to two weeks after spending time in a forest. You’re also likely to be inhaling plant-based essential oils which a really good for both your mental and physical well-being. Because of the way in which trees transpire, they’re essentially taking water from the ground and they transport it up through their xylem in the tree up to their leaves and then it evaporates with exposure to sunlight. And that process produces negatively charged ions which are apparently really good for you as well. So spending as much time as you possibly can in nature has a host of benefits. We know that more than 60% of the world’s population now live in cities and we are actually not designed to live like that. So making time to get out, even to your local park during the day is significantly associated with positive mental well-being.
Wabi Sabi
The next one is one that I’ve only recently found out about. I read Beth’s book about her experiences in Japan called Wabi Sabi. And I read that over the Christmas New Year break and it’s the first time that I’ve actually heard of the team. But essentially wabi-sabi is a connected way of living. An appreciation for beauty and imbalance and imperfection, that’s wabi. And then sabi is beauty over time. So that transient nature of people, places and things. And one of the benefits of living with wabi-sabi in mind is that you strengthen your ability to accept what is. There’s a focus on excellence over perfection. A freedom that comes from living a satisfying life through simplification and slower processes, just really lowering the pace of life, connecting to people and place and appreciating how things morph over time.
Kakeibo
The next one is Kakeibo, which is manual budgeting, essentially using pen and paper to track your spending. So the ethos behind this is mindful spending and deliberate saving. What Kakeibo does is separate your spending into needs, wants, culture, and unexpected costs.
It is rooted in four questions
How much money do you have available?
How much would you like to save
How much are you spending?
How can you improve?
The idea about this is that every time you do to buy something, the intention is to pay in cash so that you are transferring a physical asset for that, which tends to trigger a more deliberate thought process. Not buying things that you don’t want or need and making sure that when you do buy something, you contemplate whether you’ve got space for it, whether it matches the other things that you’ve got, whether there’s something else you could use in place of that and pushing towards a deliberate saving scheme so that you are spending less over time.
Kaizen (change for better)
The next one is probably, I think, one of the most common that you’ll hear about in the workplace, thanks to the adoption by the Toyota motor company. Kaizen has been incorporated into lots of organisations. If you’ve heard of lean processes, that’s rooted in the Kaizen philosophy. Essentially, Kaizen means change for better and it’s a process of continual improvement. It’s a daily exercise that you go through and deliberately make small improvements over time. And the intention is that you will eliminate anything that is overly difficult, anything that doesn’t have significant rewards, anything that adds risk, anything that has a marginal rate of return. and there’s a deep-rooted belief with Kaizen that everything can be improved. That, no matter how good you are at something, you can always do it better.
Pomodoro Technique (time blocking)
The next is one that I use all the time. It is called the Pomodoro technique. It’s essentially a process of time blocking. It’s a time management tool that you can use to improve your attention span, and increase the quantity and output quantity, I support the quality and quantity of the work that you are doing. And essentially what is it is identifying a task that needs to be done, setting a 25-minute timer and working consistently in that time. So, really reducing the habit of multitasking, removing all distractions during that 25 minutes and concentrating on that task with the intention of completing it in the 25-minute time period or before and as soon as the timer goes off, you’d have a 5-minute break whether you are finished or not. i have found, and maybe I’m not identifying chunky enough tasks, you can actually get a lot of things done in 25 minutes if you’re not distracted by an email popping up or a text message coming through or, you know, someone walking past your desk or the phone ringing of whatever is going on around you.
It’s a good way to remove some of the daunting aspects of work. If you have a to-do list a mile long, it’s a really good practice to reduce procrastination and focus on whatever it is that you actually need to do without distractions.
It’s also been proven to prevent mental exhaustion because you’re taking a 5-minute break once you’ve finished that task, getting away from the screen, resting your eyes, having something to drink or something to eat or doing a quick stretch or having a conversation with someone. And then the intention is to go back and do another 25-minute block with a five-minute break. And you repeat that fo a total of 4 times then take a half-hour break.
I find the Pomodoro technique works really well for me in the morning. I’ve got better capacity to free up my calendar and I’ve got better concentration then to actually get work done. So I would generally, at the end of the work day, identify three or four things that are my top priority pieces of work for the next day and then focus on those first thing. I’ve got to the point now because I’ve been doing this for, gosh, a couple of years, maybe three years now that I don’t set a time anymore. I am pretty good at setting a task, removing myself from distractions and then focusing on it until I finish. Generally I find that that’s probably around 20 minutes. Sometimes I find that I get sucked into a rabbit hole and I’m only interrupted when I’ve got a meeting and I might do an hour and a half straight on something that might be a bit chunkier. Oftentimes I have tasks that I can pretty easily complete within 15 to 20 minutes, but they are very productive, very focused blocks of time that I concentrate. When I’ve got a very clear objective and I concentrate, and I can smash work out. and one of the bits of feedback that I’ve received throughout my career is that I’m actually prolific with the amount of work that I produce and I attribute that to the Pomodoro technique.
Ikigai (passion that gives value)
The next one’s god some pretty big popularity recently. It’s Ikigai, which is essentially passion that gives value. So, it’s a combination of working on something that you are passionate about, something that the world needs, something that you can be paid for, and something that you love to do.
The intention behind it is that you are working in your zone of genius. it’s something that you’re really good at, something that you love and you’re delivering value at the same time. The world needs it, and you’re going to get paid for it.
So there’s questionnaires out there that you can do that’ll help you identify ikigai. There’s lots of evidence to suggest that with a greater sense of purpose, you’ve got an increased chance of longevity, improved health and joy in the work that you’re doing.
So, if you’re at that point in your life where you’re like, I’m not quite sure what I’m doing, what I love or not getting as much joy from your day-to-day, check out one of those questionnaires that are available. Just do a quick quiz and see if you can help identify something that you’re really good at.
Hara Hachi Bu (eat until you are 80% full)
The next one originated in Okinawa Island where we have the world’s longest life expectancy. It’s called Hara Hachi Bu, which essentially means eat until you’re 80% full. It’s a bit broader than that though. So, not only are you making sure that you’re eating until you’re elegantly satisfied, which is how I like to think about it, you’re eating slowly and mindfully. You’re eating from smaller plates and bowls so that you’re deliberate about your portion size, you’re prioritising vegetables and fruits. and the benefits of this is obviously increased life expectancy, reduced signs of ageing. So that physical space you have in your stomach that allows you to digest is one of the reasons why they think that you’ll get less signs of wrinkling, ageing, sagging skin in particular.
Obviously, a reduced risk of obesity and much less gastrointestinal issues as a result of eating this way.
Shoshin (beginner's mind)
Shoshin is the theory of the beginner’s mind. It’s a curious attitude and openness or eagerness to learn . And it employs the philosophy of lack of preconceptions, humility, a humble way of approaching things and an attitude of the possibility and what new options may arise with potentially some increased risk-taking, trying new things and going beyond your comfort zone to really understand what’s going on around you.
Omoiyari (selfless compassion)
Omoiyari is a concept of selfless compassion and I think it’s one of the most heartening of the Japanese practices that I’ve heard of. It’s rooted in empathy and the anticipation of the needs of others’ people, designed to build strong relationships and create an environment that is conducive to the success of everyone. So everyone’s looking out for everyone else and the grand sum of that is that everyone wins.
Oubaitori (no comparison)
The last one I’ll talk about today is Oubaitori. and I’ve deliberately left it to the end. It’s rooted in the emergence of blossoms. So it’s the acceptance that the cherry, apricot, peach and plum trees that are throughout Japan will bloom at different times when they’re ready and the theory is that we should be living without comparison. And it reminds me of Teddy Roosevelt who said, comparison is the thief of joy. I think our society conditions us to compare ourselves to others, to live in a state of lack. Oh, such and such has a whatever - new house, new car, better clothes, expensive shoes, new hairstyle, you know, whatever the case may be.
Oubaitori looks at the fact that we all grow and bloom at a pace that’s right for us. And I think we need more of that. I think we need to stop comparing ourselves to others because no matter what we think we probably don’t know what they’re going through.
You have no insight to how much help someone’s been given, whether they’re making choices based on debt accumulation, whether they’ve inherited a whole heap of money. The truth is, we just don’t know.
so, if we focus on ourselves and we employ omoiyari and we help others as much as we can, anticipating their needs and looking out for them, showing great empathy and compassion for other people, can you imagine what the world would be like?
And that gives me hope, and that makes me happy. And I hope it does the same for you.
