I have a mug at home that lists Ten Tips to a Healthy Life in Japanese and wanted to share. The first letter “少-shou” means “less”, the third letter “多-ta” means more.
１． 少肉多菜: Less meat, more vegetables
２． 少塩多酢: Less salt, more vinegar
３． 少糖多果: Less sugar, more fruits
４． 少食多噛: Less eating (portion), more chewing
５． 少衣多浴: Less wearing (clothes), more bathing
６． 少言多行: Less words (speech), more action
７． 少欲多施: Less greed (wants), more giving
８． 少憂多眠: Less worries, more sleep
９． 少車多歩: Less cars, more walking
１０．少憤多笑: Less anger, more laughing
Number 5 might be something that needs a bit of explanation and is something that I should consider doing daily for my allergic/asthmatic son (as well as myself). The thought of training our skin, the largest organ of our body has been around for generations, especially for asthmatic kids. My grandfather (87 as of today) still gets up each day, takes off his shirts and rubs a hand towel all over his upper body. The idea is to stimulate the skin, get the circulation going through the tip of your skin, boost your immune system and become resistant to cold. Frequent bathing is probably similar idea. My interpretation is (which could be well wrong) to take quick cooler (if not cold) showers - similarly in an attempt to strengthen the skin. Have you seen monks for example, sitting under water falls in movies etc?
How lovely if I could practice all this daily!! Maybe I will make this my resolution… for next year;)
