2 days ago
The Japanese movement technique is the workout that helps calm your gut and brain
In Japan, they don't consider our bodies just muscle and bones. We're an entire ecosystem that's interconnected. The belly (Hara) , is considered the centre for Physical and mental health.
In all martial arts, zen and other traditional
Japanese healing practices it's where your energy (Ki ) lies.
Exercise is considered a way to take care of your whole body. It's not about burning calories but more about restoring natural balance. Stillness and slowness is a part of movement. It's also about pausing, breathing which is a big part of healing your body and giving our nervous system time to rest. It's a key way to switch on your ANS (your autonomic nervous system) which is your rest and digest state.
The Importance of a Strong Digestive Fire for Holistic Health in Ayurveda
Japanese culture has always been about integrated wellness. As researched by the blue zones author, Okinawa in Japanese has one of the oldest healthy living humans.
A large part of their longevity has a lot to do with mindful movement. 'Shirin Yoku' or forest bathing is a method of mindful walking. That's been practiced over the last century but has recently been gaining popularity, thanks to the internet. It's basically all about slow, mindful walking in nature, forest trails and among trees while slowly breathing and taking it all in.
It's all about engaging your senses, the smell of the soil and forest, the sounds of rustling leaves, the wind in your face as it brushes past the trees.
Mindful walking when practiced the right way has very direct gut- brain benefits because of the gut brain axis. Our digestive system has a close relationship with our nervous system through the vagus nerve.
● It helps activate the ANS. Our rest and digest state. This relaxes the digestive tract and improves peristalsis.
Helping us absorb our nutrients better.
● Lowers cortisol. Mindful walking reduces the production of cortisol(our stress hormone). Reducing the stress we feel.
● Increases dopamine and serotonin. Our happy hormones! I speak a lot about this. Things that calm us, give us joy, raise our dopamine and serotonin. This boosts our mood and cognitive function. Bringing harmony into our bodies.
● Helps our vagus nerve to improve the communication between our brain and gut, reducing bloating, indigestion our gut microbiome!
Reduction in cortisol helps boost our gut diversity.
Spending time in the forest also increases our exposure to phytonocytes i.e. beneficial microbes in the air that are found near trees.
Walking is also a very sustainable low impact exercise and something that's suitable to almost everyone!
It's not always easy to go to the gym everyday. Weight training , yoga or Pilates needs proper guidance and sometimes that isn't something that's available or appealing to everyone.
It can also cause injuries and people at a lower level of fitness can't suddenly be lifting heavy.
Walking is easy to do, needs no equipment and can be done literally anywhere. It's the most sustainable way to boost your heart health too.
Walking boosts your circulation. Regularly walking for even 30 mins a day increases your collaterals i.e. your circulatory pathways and helps reduce plaque formation in the heart vessels.
It also helps with our digestion and increasing our peristalsis can boost nutrient absorption.
There's also other traditional Japanese stretching and martial arts such as Makko-ho and Hara breathing techniques that help with our gut and brain health.
Japanese movement and culture is all about routines and rhythms. Discipline isnt really seen as punishment. It's more about our bodies' natural rhythm. Balance boosts our health and creates harmony in the body.
The Japanese mindset is all about balance. This extends from movement, work food and everything about their daily routine.
Routines are about moving in rhythm instead of fighting them. This creates harmony in the body, not conflict.
Eating seasonally is also part of this. Eating cooling foods in the summer, grounding foods in the winter. Meals follow seasons and festivals even helping our bodies see predictability as a fiend.
They believe that life is special everyday! Rituals and ceremonies are normal. A cup of tea isn't just tea! The Japanese have their tea ceremonies that help them carve out time to celebrate, to be mindful and slow down. We've been looking at
western trends of romanticising your life, this is something the Japanese have been doing everyday. It's all about slow, mindful steps.
Our bodies are designed for structure (as much as we like to disagree) The circadian rhythm
Our body clock thrives on predictable cues like walking up, moving, eating at consistent times.
This helps regulate our hormones and stabilises our moods.
The digestive clock Our gut has its own circadian rhythm. Regular meal ties help release the right enzymes and boost our nutrient absorption.
Parasympathetic nervous system
Our brains have a predictable routine that signals safety to the brain. The body can shift from fight or flight to rest and digest.
It's the little rituals, the intentional slowness that helps us pause and stay mindful. Life isn't about rushing through 100s of things but really slowing down and appreciating our blessings , our health and honouring it by giving our bodies the love it needs.
Dr. Prathana Shah, Integrative health coach and founder of Buova
