Friday, September 3, 2010

The 7 Conditions of Health?

I went to another free lecture at Essene the other night. This time it was by Macrobiotic expert Denny Waxman, whose book I have just finished: The Great Life Diet.

He talked about the 7 conditions of health as defined by the Macrobiotic founders George Ohsawa and Michio Kushi. They are divided into 3 categories: Physical, Mental/Emotional, and Spiritual. Here they are:

Physical:

1. No tiredness

2. Good sleep

3. Good appetite


Mental/emotional:

4. Good memory

5. Never be angry

6. Joyous and alert


Spiritual:

7. Endless appreciation/gratitude


I thought this was a pretty good list, but there were some things missing for me (friendship, love, community, laughter, learning).

I'm also not sure about #5: Never be angry. Never? I don’t get angry often, but when I do it’s usually for a good reason (in my opinion, at least)!

Does anything else seem to be missing for you on that list?

3 comments:

  1. Missing for me under physical are endurance, strength, flexibility, balance, and posture.
    I also like to separate mental and emotional, with mental signifying brain work (reading, learning, study, mastering a discipline, etc.) and emotional signifying relationships and level of joy.

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  2. Hmm... I think it is a good start, I am fond of having definitions in the positive, for example, instead of not being tired, more like being full of energy... but that is me... I agree with what you say on the impossibility of never being angry, not sure that is human, anger comes, it is in how we deal with it that there is growth... it is overall a good proposition, I would definitelly add for the physical daily asana... (the body needs its oiling, breathing, stretching) and on the mental/emotional connecting with others, like you suggest...

    Gratitude is great for the last one

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  3. Yes, good point about separating mental and emotional categories - I like how you define them.

    Claudia, thanks for your thoughts and I agree about defining in the positive! And yes, I would also definitely add daily asana/exercise/meditation on there - thank you for reminding me!

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