Seven practices

 For several years, I've enjoyed videos from a Japanese teacher Samurai Matcha (Aki-san). This week's offering on 7 Japanese habits fits beautifully with my Reiki practice and good sense, and I grew up with many of them, in my rural Oregon home. 

Hara Hachibi bun me 

1. Respect and honor our ancestors - this is one of the Reiki principles, honor your parents and elders; Aki-san speaks of receiving the 'baton of Life' from our ancestors, to help us in our own lives! I grew up taking flowers to my grandparents' graves on Memorial Day, and hearing stories of their lives.
2. Clean up public areas - pick up trash, leave things 'cleaner than you found them! In Oregon, private citizens 'adopt' sections of the highways and beaches, and do regular clean ups. Our Edible Landscaping group adopted the 6 block stretch along Alpine street where our raised gardens are located. My folks loved to camp, and again, cleaned up around the site before and after. Cities find that cleaning up graffiti brings positive effects. If business is down, ... try cleaning up around your home or office! 
3. Hara Hachibi bun me - stop eating when you're 80% full! This practice stimulates a 'longevity' gene, and is a common practice among centenarians in Okinawa, one of the 'Blue Zones.' When my mom began putting on 'mid-life' weight, her doc suggested 'push yourself back from the table' as the best exercise, and recommended she 'budget' for holidays and outings, eating a bit less the day before and after! Choosing smaller, attractive plates is one way to keep portion sizes smaller; and take 1/2 home when you're eating out!
4. Gochiso-sama - give thaks for each meal! Blessing our food and drink is important in many spiritual and healing traditions for good reason! Taking a moment to express gratitude helps prepare our bodies to receive optimal nutrition from what we are ingesting. 
5. Power of spoken words - Koku Damo - positive (or negative) words affect us and those around us. Kind words can even influence plant growth - One of the Reiki Principles, Hito ni shin stisu ne, encourages us to 'be kind to self and everone.'
6. Timeliness - in Japan, trains run on time, and folks applogize when they are even a minute late! Timeliness was one of the 5 pillars of respect in our pioneer one room schools. Once at a workshop, a speaker who'd lived among the Lakota Souix bespoke the difference between 'clock time and people time' - if you're rushing to a meeting, and see Aunt Annie has a flat tire - you stop and help her!! Everyone in tribal cultures understands that taking care of each other includes this taking time to help another!
7. Tidying up. Many became aware of this practice with KanMari's teachings about tidyness! I grew up with a mom who folded towels neatly, kept things tidy, and tried to find places for each object. Offering massage at the Retreat center, we had a linen service for our sheets, and one of my coworkers encouraged us to fold and stack them uniformily in each room, commenting that guests would feel they would get a good treatment, just walking in! He also found the best way to place the sheets on the massage table, so we could unfold them without extra turns!

Clean up along Alpine

Which of these do you practice regularly?

Are there any you'd like to adopt? 

This is the day I do a general tidy of my space, my Weekly Blessing Hour - time to hop to it!