Dear Reader, Life has been a bit overwhelming for me recently. I feel like I never have enough time, energy, or bandwidth, and taking care of myself can sometimes feel like an additional chore rather than a way to enhance my wellbeing. But when I feel this way, I remind myself that healthy living doesn’t need to be stressful. The steps you have to take to look after your health are not as drastic as hour-long workouts or following a ketogenic, sugar-free raw diet. It can require a bit of...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, What is the most beautiful Japanese word to exist? This was a question posed by the Japanese national broadcaster, NHK, in a public survey. And the answer astounded me. What may surprise you about Japanese beauty Learning about this survey, my mind immediately went to the more poetic aspects of Japanese. As a language, Japanese has a strong relationship with nature, and many words and adages are based on natural elements. For example, there is a word setsunai, which is based on...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, When we think about and celebrate love, we often focus on the kind that is directed towards others - oftentimes a partner, our family, or someone dear to us. We have entire holidays focused on buying gifts and writing cards, to let others know they are loved. It's beautiful! But I'd also like to take a moment to recognize the kind of love that we usually don't take the time to celebrate: self-love. The universal act of love My dad enjoys watching and sharing shiba-inu dog videos...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Dear Reader, I was not born into this world with an intuitive understanding of how to take care of my body and mind. I know some people are, and I found myself wondering for years, how do they just live their life and everything seemingly falls into place? But luckily, it was possible to learn. For many years I overate, underate, stressed about food, did every kind of exercise and diet that was supposedly life-changing, stressed about my body, and couldn’t find peace with it. For a time, I...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Dear Reader, It's February! I kind of love February, even though it's still too cold and gets dark too early to do much. It means I have more time to myself, which is a cherished kind of time for me these days. But the thing about February is it's just about the time when I'm shown (possibly harsh) truths about any goals I had set for myself at the end of last year. Am I making progress? Have I hit any of my goals? Does quitting make me a failure? I believe challenging yourself is a kind of...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Dear Reader, I'm not sure where you might be right now, but where I am it's so COLD To be precise, it's a high of -8°C/18°F or a "feels like" temperature of -12°C/10°F considering windchill. It also gets dark at 5pm. 😥 On days like this, there's nothing I'd rather do than make a cup of hot tea, curl up under my heated blanket, and lie down on the couch to read. Which is what I did do this weekend, but before I let myself get bundled up and settled in, there was a question I needed to sort out...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, Is it too late to wish someone Happy New Year? Regardless, Happy New Year! I'm so glad you're here with me in 2026 🥳 I had a very restful break surrounded by loved ones, great food, and experiences that helped remind me what I really value in life (which are often simple things). But now I'm getting back into it! I went for a first prayer (hatsumode - 初詣) at Meiji Shrine. Year of the horse! 20 minutes a day for a more well-rounded me I ended my last newsletter lightly touching on...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, With the pressure of resolutions, setting goals, and fresh beginnings, the inside of my brain around the new year often looks something like this: Illustrations by Kaki Okumura It would be typical of me to start the new year with a million unanswered questions, worries, and concerns about if I was “on the right path”. But often towards the end of the year, reflecting back, I realize I have come very far in answering many of those concerns and untangling a situation which at the...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, My annual physical is usually unremarkable (thankfully), but one appointment with a doctor really left an impression on me. She was asking me a few routine questions about my lifestyle habits, and the topic of drinking came up. I told her I didn’t drink much and she was like, good! Less is better. “If you hear that alcohol is good for your health, it’s probably the social aspects of drinking, not the drink itself. Drink with people, but I don’t encourage you to drink with...
4 months ago • 1 min read
