Recently, I went to see a new chiropractor who was recommended to me by some people I know. I’ve always been in pretty good condition and have not suffered from any acute pain, but because the chiropractor is still studying under a supervisor at a chiropractic school, the cost of the examination was a lot cheaper. So I thought why not take advantage of this, which is the main reason I went to see him. (more…)

I couldn’t sleep much the night before the performance because I was so worried about my physical issues and the multiple roles I would have to play in one show. Fortunately, I felt better than expected when I woke up. Even so, I wasn’t that optimistic about my neck problem as I still felt uncomfortable in my neck and back areas.

As I was looking at my yoga DVD collections, I saw the Yoga Now 3 Set DVD produced by Giam. Because I wasn’t sure how much my body could handle the exercise (the previous night, while doing some yoga practice with another DVD, I was out of breath and dizzy, and almost became sick), I chose a 30-minute core workout instead of a 50-minute one. I grabbed the DVD, spread out a yoga mat, and popped the DVD into my computer. It was time to practice yoga. (more…)

So this is exactly what happened.

The day before the performance, my neck started to hurt badly.

Some of you who have read my previous blogs know that I have a chronic neck pain, but so far it’s only affected my right side. Well, this time it was on my left side, which was a first. Luckily it wasn’t as painful as my past experiences with the right side of my neck had been. Believe me – that really was awfully painful!! But it still hurt when I moved my neck and, at the same time, the left side of my back felt icky and stiff too. The pain in my neck was coming from my back – I could feel it. But even with the pain, I was still able to move my neck – and since there was a rehearsal in the morning on that day, I had to go! (more…)

My daily schedule the last few weeks was crazy. First of all, the promotion at YogaHub started, so all of us team members were (and still are) totally focused on it.

On top of that, even though I’d been so busy putting in a lot of hours at work, I also had to look for a place to live because I’m moving out of the current place I’m staying at. I opened up several websites so that I could check any vacancies, make appointments, and personally check all potential places that are near the office. That was a lot of time-consuming work during and after work hours. (more…)

As mentioned in my last few blogs, I’ve been practicing Koto (a traditional Japanese instrument) for months. I know myself well enough to realize that once I start practicing, I can’t stop. I don’t know when to stop because it’s fun to play.

That’s when all the pressure of playing affects my arm. It’s like a pitcher in baseball. He uses only one arm and practices everyday. You can imagine how much pressure the arm has to deal with from one pitch, two pitches, ten pitches, a hundred pitches…. If you are too lazy to release the stress of the arm right away, it stays and becomes pain. Yup, that’s me. I could feel that the muscles of my arm were exhausted, and sometimes I couldn’t even lift my arm up. (more…)

I hear a lot about how everyone has been so busy lately, and so have I. I don’t even feel like I’ve been sleeping enough. Why have I been so busy? Well, the list I’ve drawn up on things I have to do is too long to show you, but here is the partial stuff: regular work; acting class; assignment for the class; networking by attending film festivals; meeting with my fellow actors about possibly making films together; writing scripts; rehearsing the play I’ll be doing this month; and practicing Koto for more performances – and there’s still much more on my list!

The ultimate priority is that I have to find a place to stay during this busy schedule. Sigh… It’s all too much, but sometimes you just have to keep moving. (more…)

I started learning Koto – a Japanese traditional music instrument – when I was small, and I studied it for 16 years. I did a lot of concerts, at least once a year, at different places in Sapporo, Japan. Before leaving Japan for America, however, I decided to take a break from Koto for a while.

Umm…but a strange thing happened: Koto came to me. Now, you must be wondering what I mean by that.

I never thought about buying a Koto here because I already have two at home in Japan and I didn’t think I would play it here in US. One day, however, my classmate suddenly asked if I was interested in taking a look at a Koto that her friend had just been given from his old friend in San Francisco. I was surprised – how did she know that I played Koto? She said she remembered it from one of our regular conversations! Good memory, I must say…because I don’t even remember mentioning it!! Ha, ha! (more…)

It’s been a long time since I posted my last blog, although it feels just like yesterday. I can’t seem to catch up with my daily life – it’s that fast how the days have been passing by.

Even though I have such a busy schedule, however, I sometimes play with Christina’s child. The other day he was in a “Yoga mood,” which started in the morning when he was teaching yoga to his baby-sitter. That evening, I decided to look for a yoga video on YouTube and started watching it with him. (more…)

Christina was right. After two or three days of fasting, I wasn’t “seriously” thinking and looking at food anymore. Yeah, I still felt like “I wish I could eat this or that” but not in the way I’d been craving it on day one. And I was actually waking up lightly before the alarm went off. Plus my co-workers told me that I looked much better and brighter, even in the morning!? (Yes, I’m a pure night person and grouchy in the morning!? bad….) (more…)

Yes, I did it! Five days of fasting with carrot juice.

What happened was that, since September/October last year, my face had been breaking out with pimples and I was always feeling fatigued. My mentor, Christina, kept telling me that I should fast but I was too stubborn, or I should say “scared,” so I always made excuses to postpone the fasting. (more…)