腸と体調

よく体調がいいとか悪いとか言うが、何処を治療すればもっと良くなるのだろうか？
心臓などの持病がある方は勿論悪いところを治療すればよいのだが、特に検査で何もひっかからない方達はどうすればいいのだろうか。長年の経験から「腸」がポイントだと言える。ある野球選手は朝目覚めるとトイレでスッキリすること以外は考えないという。前の晩遅くまで飲んでいて、お通じが良くないと試合に負けるという。ある作曲家はお通じがいいと曲が浮かぶという。私なども体験的に下痢をしていると仕事に集中出来ない。これは皆様も経験があると思う。昔から日本には腹を使った言葉が多い。「腹に収める」「腹が黒い」「腹を決める」・・・。人間の胆力や気持ち、感情、考え方などが腹に関係あることを何となく感じ、言葉として使ってきたのであろう。臍下丹田という言葉が示すように腹を大切な場所と考えていた。では腹とは何か。私は腸と考えている。消化吸収は勿論だが、尾籠な話で申し訳ないが、排便力と思っている。多くの方は１日１回お通じがあればいいと思っているが、本来食事の回数あるはずである。食べれば胃が動き、腸も動く。長年食べものとお通じの関係を実験してみて、腸が喜ぶものを食べると食後30分ぐらいでトイレへ行きたくなる。だから日に3食の方は3回のお通じがあるはずである。朝、トイレに行きたくて眼が覚めれば4回のお通じがあるはずである。しかし現実はそういう方は少ないのではないかと思う。我々は腹圧という言い方をしているが、この腹圧を排便によって下げることが、体調維持のコツだと思っている。

Bowel and health condition

What is the key to keeping yourself in good health? If you visit your doctor because you are not feeling well but your doctor says you have nothing wrong after checkups, what would you do? From my long experience, the key is the bowel condition. A famous Japanese baseball player once said that, when he woke up every morning, he thought of nothing but having a good bowel movement. When he did not have a good bowel movement in the morning after eating and drinking too much the night before, he used to lose the game of that day. A composer also said that he tended to have an inspiration for a new song when he had a good bowel movement. I also cannot concentrate when I have diarrhea. Traditionally, Japanese language is rich in expressions related to bowel, such as “tuck away something in the gut,” meaning keeping something to oneself, “dark gut,” meaning evil-mindedness, and “decide in the gut,” meaning making up one’s mind. These expressions reflect the fact that human energy, emotions, and thoughts are related the bowel. As the word “Seika-tanden” (which corresponds to the second chakra) implies, the bowel has been thought as the important area. Then, what is the gut? I think it is the bowel function. I mean not only the digestive function but also a good bowel movement. Although many people think that having a bowel movement once a day is enough, basically you are supposed to have a bowel movement as many times as you eat. Eating stimulates the stomach to start working, which stimulates the bowel to start working. From my long experience, eating ordinary food leads to a bowel movement within 30 minutes. It means that, if you eat three meals a day, you will have a bowel movement three times a day corresponding to each meal. Ideally, you are supposed to be woken up by urge to have a bowel movement in the morning. However, that’s not the case with most people. Having a good bowel movement is the key to keeping yourself in good health.