5 Japanese Lifestyle Hacks For Healthy And Strong Living

The secret to a long and healthy life is the lifestyle choices that you make every day. These minor decisions on your part-time for instance to cook your own food or ordering takeout, add up to determine the quality of life that you will have and the amount of time you will get to spend on this earth. It is believed that for a holistic life, the following four elements of our lifestyle should be in sync with each other, namely- our skin, the food that we eat, our limbs and their mobility status and finally our mental state, that is our psychological well being.

The Nishi health system incorporates all these facets of our life and has exercises and practices which will be beneficial for our overall health. Though this practice was invented more than 90 years ago, it is still as relevant.

1. Sleep on a hard surface and only use a round pillow

People don’t pay attention to their sleeping posture and habits but they are supremely important because we spend nearly a third of our life sleeping. When we sleep on a very soft mattress, our spine is not able to align properly and gets curved because of bad posture and bedding. This spells doom for our internal organs because the spine influences their working and health. To keep our digestive system and circulatory system in good health it is advisable to sleep on a hard bed, with a pillow that is firm and round. In fact the best thing is to use a roller instead of a pillow, but not many people are comfortable in doing so. If you are determined to make the change then you can try covering the roller with layers of fabric in the beginning so that you get used to it, and get rid of them one by one till you are comfortable with just using the roller.

2. Goldfish Exercise or Kingyo Undo

For this exercise lie down on your back and keep your palms behind your head. Now raise your legs so that they are at an angle of 90° to the floor. Now start swinging your hips from the left side to the right. Just like a fish flicks its tail from side to side while swimming.

3. Mokan undo for improved circulation

For this Exercise too you need to lie on a very flat and hard surface so that your spine is completely straight. Put a roller under your neck, directly underneath the vertebrae no 3 and 4. Now raise nothing your arms and legs straight up in the air, at 90° angle to the floor, and let go of any tension. Then shake them all for one minute, take a break and then repeat it again.

4. Gassyo Gasseki

By now you should be aware of the necessity of a straight spine so this exercise too involves a hard and flat surface. Lie back and join together both your arms and your feet. Then move them horizontally, 10 times in one cycle. You can take 2 minutes gap between cycles.

5. Hifuku undo

Sit on the floor on your knees which is the traditional Japanese style and keeping your hips as the center of your body, swing from one side to the other. Every time you are upright- suck in your abdomen and when you are inclined pump it out.

Making these habits a part of your daily regimen will definitely bring out great results for your health.