Chewing is in some ways the most important of the seven steps to strengthening health. However, it is important to enjoy chewing and not to feel “This is labor. I have to do this to get well.” If you feel satisfied by your food and if you really enjoy it, naturally you will want to chew more. If you are satisfied, you will put yourself in the best position to chew well. If you are starved when you sit down to eat and you are not satisfied or you don’t really enjoy the food, then it is hard to chew well. If you do these other things, practice the other steps, you will feel more satisfied, your taste will have more sensitivity, and you will enjoy the food more. Then it is easy to chew, sometimes you may forget and then you remind yourself, gently. It all works together.

It is the same thing for people who have the habit of eating before sleep. This is a very difficult habit to break. Very strong, active people like to eat before sleep and at night they relax and want to eat more. You can tell yourself “I am not going to eat tonight,” and you might not on some nights, but it always creeps back again.

Appetite always wins. Food is our strongest desire. This is the movement of nature. It is like a tidal wave. You can’t go against it.

That means, if your food during the day is not satisfying, that is the problem. Eating before sleep is not the problem. What you eat during the day is the problem. If you make your meals more satisfying, then naturally you can change that habit. In this way, practicing the habits of Strengthening Health macrobiotics leads naturally to health.

If we think “Life is wonderful; life is a long process; it goes on and on” then we are not too rushed. We are open. We can receive things and let things out. But if we think “Life is very short, we really have a lot of things to do; I must work hard every day, accomplish a lot and make a lot of money” then our minds get very closed, very tight. Whatever else we do with our diet and activity, in this case we are constantly sending heavy yang energy throughout our whole body. Throughout our so-called spiritual channel, our chakras, throughout every meridian, every cell. Very heavy condensed vibrations. These heavy condensed vibrations keep generating more pressure. Even though we are trying to eat well, in a balanced way, and have good activity, this heavy yang energy works against that. At the same time, opportunities are being shut of. We close things off because we do not allow openness, or for things to come in.

If we try to orient our view of life, to change how we see things, then automatically we adjust our condition through that, which affects our diet, activity and everything else, including how we choose foods.

Some people are willing to change their diet, but not their view of life. We like to hold on to certain views. We think that is us, so that is our security. However, by trying to hold on to those views, we often block ourselves from changing. We don’t open ourselves to new change and possibilities. This is an important consideration. There is a common point in the progression of illness, which is that as it progresses, our point of view gets more and more stuck and unchangeable. We cannot get away from the effect of what we receive from our minds and send down through our bodies. Choosing grains and vegetables automatically creates more openness. We also need to try to create more harmonious activity and a harmonious lifestyle. This includes a view of life that is accepting, embracing etc. Otherwise, we constantly generate pressure, difficulties and heaviness.