Herman Aihara on patience, health and happiness
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Aihara opened his first public lecture by talking at length about ceramic teapots. He was testing our patience, for this turned out to be the theme of his talk.
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| Macrobiotics and freedom |
In Part II of his public talk, Aihara tells about how macrobiotics leads to freedom. |
| Freedom to eat cheesecake |
Continuing his reflection on how macrobiotics leads to freedom, Herman Aihara relates his personal experience of exercising his "freedom" to eat cheesecake. |
Acid and alkaline
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For optimum health, we need to balance acid and alkaline – but not perfectly. The body’s environment should be slightly alkaline.
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| Isn't the macrobiotic diet acid-forming? |
Grains are actd forming foods. So isn't the macrobiotic diet, which is grain-based, an acid-foring and therefore "unhealthy" diet? |
Acid ailments
Illnesses due to over acidity
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Diseases caused by an overly acidic condition – some are obvious, like gout and ulcers.
Infection, osteoporosis and cancer are also due to over acidity. Even insect bites, which can cause dengue fever, is due to acidity.
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| An alkaline balance |
Apart from diet, there are other ways to make the body condition more alkaline – including talking, singing and expressing oneself. |
| Forces of heaven and earth |
This may seem abstract and evn esoteric. But understanding yin and yang in terms of heaven and earth energy is truly a simple way to appreciate how food affects our health and our lives. |
| Chemistry of yin and yang |
The levels of potassium and sodium provide an indication of whether certain foods are more yin or more yang. But this is not fool-proof because other elements have yin and yang qualities too.
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| Four wheel balance of foods |
Herman Aihara proposes a "Four wheel balance of foods" that take into account yin-yang balance as well as acid-alkaline balance. This balance explains some things – eg coffee for hangovers – that yin and yang alone does not explain.
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| A macrobiotic balanced diet |
Part II of the article on the “Four wheel balance" of foods show how we can achieve a truly balanced diet.
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| Cancer cells - with no purpose |
Herman Aihara observes that cancer cells are cells without a purpose – they simply grow and grow, unlike other body cells that grow to become brain cells, nerve cells, blood cells etc. Thus, having cancer is like having no purpose in life.
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| Macrobiotic remedies for cancer |
Aihara explains how taro potato plaster, ginger compress and buckwheat plaster can help draw out cancer tumours. |
| The secret of happiness – Part I |
Herman Aihara relates his unhappy growing up years, which culminated in his wife committing suicide. This led him to study macrobiotics with George Oshawa. |
| The secret of happiness – Part II |
In part II of this sharing about his search for happiness, Aihara explains the importance of embracing difficulty – because difficulty and happiness go hand in hand. |
