Japanese empathy towards boredom snacking — I was recently asked by a reader, “I once read this Japanese word, “Kuchisabishii” — would you mind sharing the meaning of it?” Ah, yes. Kuchisabishii. I’ve been hearing it a lot more these days in Japan, sometimes over Zoom calls and sometimes thrown around the house. When I catch…

Visit a McDonald’s in Japan and you’ll understand why — Whenever I talk to someone who has visited Japan, an ex-pat who has lived there or a tourist just passing by, they will more often than not mention something about the fast-food chains there. “If they tried to pull the same stunt in the United States, there would literally be…

For people stressed or intimidated by fitness culture — In the United States, I’m often bombarded with images and ads of fitness culture. Athleisure is the craze, and it seems that the majority of people are members of gyms like Anytime Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, or LA Fitness. Any decent hotel or typical college campus…

Heart-warming healthy meals for the busy, cold, and tired — What is nabemono? Nabemono, or often known as hot pot in the United States, is a popular wintertime dish in Japan. Like how American households may bring out their winter shovels or clean out their fireplaces when it gets cold, Japanese households bring out their clay pots and counter-top stoves so they can…

What is your purpose? — I was challenged to describe my identity in a way that was separate from the things I do, the things I have, and the people I know. I thought it would be easy, but it was actually quite difficult. And I think this said something about me. To find inner peace, reflect on your identity How we see…

Identifying those central heart objects which act as a keystone presence to the environment in which it is placed — When it comes to healthful behavior change, I think a lot of the time we are made to believe that there is something intrinsically wrong with us and that we need to do something incredibly drastic to force ourselves against these “bad” impulses — counting calories, cutting out entire food…

How to nudge a healthier lifestyle with simple, single objects — A warm-light lamp. That was the only difference between me reading a book every two weeks, and going an entire 6 months without reading anything and being chronically underslept. It was a minor detail I thought, when I was moving apartments and had forgotten to get a little lamp to…

If I only had 60 seconds to give my younger self some health advice — Why did I do that? You log off from work, and your eyes are strained and tired from sitting at a desk and staring at a screen all day. Your brain feels foggy, heavy even, and you’re desperate for relief from the dullness behind your eyes. So you get up…

It happens to the best of us, but that doesn’t mean we’re trapped in it — To wish you looked different or to wish you have a different body is a natural feeling, yet that doesn’t mean we need to find ourselves stuck in that feeling — like taking care of a cut, we should take our psychological injuries and heal them with kindness and care. …