A Zen Mind Helps Maintain a Healthy Gut
by Makiko Oka-Castro
In his book, Zen in the Art of Archery, Eugen Herrigel
describes that when he visited Japan, he was astonished by his Japanese
colleague that practices Zen Buddhism. During an earthquake, his colleague sat
down calmly, not moving, with eyes closed, while everyone else ran around
irrationally. This reminded me of my grandmother, who was able to save her two
daughters in the chaos of the Tokyo air raids during World War II. Back then in
Japan, Zen practice was a part of everyone’s daily life and culture.
In
the current chaotic public crisis of the coronavirus, we can still pursue our
Zen well-being, which is not just the avoidance of illness; rather more
importantly, it is the basic human behavior of pursuing what is good for us to
achieve our human balance. Under good circumstances, we behave well. However,
under unusual or difficult conditions, we need to pay attention on how our
behavior changes.
Our
primary focus needs to be on our health and how to act for our well-being. Body
equals mind equals soul, with posture balance to maintain our calm, patience
and resilience. Toward this objective, proper food selection is most important,
such as eggs (ideally pasture-raised), bone broth-based soup, more-than-24
hours fermented yogurt (ideally from raw milk), and lacto-fermented vegetables.
And naturally, high-quality supplements are key, starting with probiotics, cod
liver oil and vitamin C.
Our
well-being behavior is the action of the Zen mind, which is cultivated in our
healthy gut—the center of our physical being—where our minds need to be
grounded. In doing so, we will overcome hardships and build a better place to
be.
Makiko Oka-Castro is the founder of Natural
Healing Artists, Inc., located at 32 Union Square E., Ste. 912, in New York
City. For more information, email [email protected] or visit NaturalHealingArtists.com and their online
supplement store at GutForLife.US.
