September 30, 2019　=========

☆  alfresco  野外の

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And, we’ve come to our final day, and the Q&A for the month and topic of Spending time outdoors. Our question is, “Do you like to dine alfresco?”

I love it. A BBQ with friends, or a coffee outside the café people watching. And some of my favorite memories of living in Japan are of the yakitori shop Iseya in Kichijoji. Actually, the seating is all inside, but you can get takeaway and go to Inokashira park and picnic! Perfect alfresco dining!

So, what is your answer? Do you like to dine alfresco?

Bye,

Chris

September 29, 2019　=========

☆  underestimate  軽く見る

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When you underestimate something, you do not realize how large or great it is or will be. This verb is often used together with “never” as in “never underestimate…” For example, “Never underestimate what you can do / achieve.” Or, “Never underestimate the benefit of 10 minutes of exercise each day.”

Of course, you can also use it without “never.” Some examples are:

I underestimated how long the run would take me.
She underestimated the elevation in the hike.
I think I underestimated his ability!

Bye,

Chris

September 28, 2019　=========

☆  relax  リラックスする

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Do you prefer to relax indoors or outdoors? I love going to the park, and picnicking with friends. However, with young kids running around, it’s hard to actually relax, because we need to watch them and make sure they don’t hurt themselves.

On the other hand, I know my house is pretty safe for kids, so when we have people over for a BBQ in our backyard, it’s much easier to relax and enjoy myself. I know the kids are safe, and they are playing with each other.

How about you? What is your favorite way to relax? Indoors or outdoors?

Bye,

Chris

September 27, 2019　=========

☆  picnic ピクニックに行く

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Now, I know you are familiar with this word as a noun, as in let’s have A picnic. However, did you know, it can also be used as a verb? One of the useful phrases this week is, “We should picnic more often, it’s fun!”

Here are a couple more examples:

Afterwards, we picnicked at the beach.
It is a perfect day for picnicking!

Of course, you could just use the word picnic as a noun, for example, “We should have picnics more often, it’s fun!” but why not try using it as a verb instead?

Bye,

Chris

September 26, 2019　=========

☆  exercise  運動をする

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I think if you are someone that loves to exercise, then you are very lucky! I like running, in fact most of the time, I love running. Despite this, it’s easy to stop exercising as soon as life gets busy. As you know, I’m training for a marathon, so I really should be exercising a lot… but some days, it’s just too hard! Luckily, I exercised yesterday! Phew!

So, how about you? Do you exercise? Do you like to exercise? Do you schedule it in your calendar and make sure you never miss a workout? Or are you more like me, and sometimes let life get inRead more about September 26 – exercise[…]

September 25, 2019　=========

☆  sweat 汗をかく

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Ha ha, I just came back from an early morning run, and boy am I sweating now! How is the weather in Japan at the moment? In Adelaide, it’s still early spring, so there are cool days and warm days, but even in the cool morning, going for a run means you will sweat a lot.

As always, there’s lots of research about sweating and sweat. Is it good for you? If so, should you sit in a sauna for hours every day? Or is exercising enough? I don’t the answers, but I do know that I have sweated enough for this morning and it is timeRead more about September 25 – sweat[…]

September 24, 2019　=========

☆  check out 調べる

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One of the useful phrases this week is, “Do you want to check out the new running path with me?” This is a phrase I have used both in Japan and now in Australia. Actually, I probably said, “a new running path” rather than “the” … do you understand the difference?

“the new running path” would refer to a path that both me and my friend knew about. It would also be talking about a new path, as in a path that has been recently built. In this situation, it’s probably a new local running path.

On the other hand, “a new running path” could be anyRead more about September 24 – check out[…]

September 23, 2019　=========

☆  schedule  計画を立てる

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The most common reason for not exercising is, “I’m too busy.” Right? The best way to combat this excuse is to schedule in your daily exercise, right? Have you ever tried that? I know that I need to schedule running into my day in order to find the time to do it, but I never used to actually schedule it. I would “think”

My next running goal is a marathon, so I need to schedule a lot of runs! Some long ones, some short ones, some fast ones, and some hilly ones. I have scheduled all the runs into a calendar, and have been following it forRead more about September 23 – schedule[…]

September 22, 2019　=========

☆  Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)  季節性感情障害

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Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that is related to the changes in the seasons. It starts and ends at the same time each year. For most people, it starts in autumn, and continues through winter. If you are suffering from SAD, you might feel depressed and moody, and have no energy.

In the past, this Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) used to be thought of as just the “winter blues”, and most people felt like they didn’t need to or shouldn’t go to the doctor. However, now that it is more commonly known, more people go to the doctor for help.Read more about September 22 – Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)[…]

September 21, 2019　=========

☆  green exercise 自然の元での運動

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Green exercise is the kind of exercise you do when you are out in a natural environment. So, it doesn’t mean running through the streets of a big city, but rather running along paths and trails (or walking and hiking of course!) in green areas, where there is a lot of nature. Green exercise is supposed to have the positive effects of reducing stress and mental fatigue.

Blue exercise has recently become popular too. Blue exercise refers to physical activity that is close to water. Exercising near water can help with anxiety, stress and even help you sleep better.

So, if you are feeling stressed, go forRead more about September 21 – green exercise[…]

September 20, 2019　=========

☆  healing 治療

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Healing (noun) is the process of becoming healthy again. It could mean the healing process of a simple cut or graze from falling, or it could be the healing needed for a more serious injury, such as a broken bone. Or, it can also be used to refer to the healing that someone goes through when a bad situation ends or starts to improve.

Here are some example sentences:

This herb is used because of its healing powers.
Get enough sleep to promote healing.
The healing process is going to take a long time.
Cover the wound with new gauze each morning.

Can you use healing in a sentence?

Bye,

Chris

September 19, 2019　=========

☆  wellness 健康

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Your wellness is how healthy you are, and how well and happy you feel. Here are some examples of how it is used:

The university has established a wellness program for its students.
We need to promote health and wellness.
I try to maintain wellness by eating healthily and exercising often.
She has started going to her local community wellness center.

More and more people are focusing on mental and physical wellness, and the industry is now $4.2 trillion dollars apparently! That sounds like a crazy amount of money, but at least it is money being used to make us healthier!

Bye,

Chris

September 18, 2019　=========

☆  stress ストレス

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So, I have a question for you today. Why is “stress” written in Katakana? Is there an actual word in Japanese (hiragana or kanji) that means stress? Is there some way that it is decided, “Oh, this word should be in Katakana” or “this word should be in hiragana.”?

Or, maybe Japanese people never felt stress until the met English speaking people?! Ha ha! 

If you don’t know the answer, no need to feel stress! I won’t mind. It’s just that I couldn’t find the answer on Google, so I thought I’d check in here with you guys.

Bye,

Chris

September 17, 2019　=========

☆  exertion 大変な努力

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If you exert yourself (a verb) you work physically (or mentally) hard to do something. So, exertion is the noun of this meaning effort, exercise, strain, and struggle for example.

Continuing on from yesterday, about cortisol, when you put in a lot of physical exertion in exercise, the body produces cortisol. So, you might here doctors say, “Exercise, but not too much.” What they mean by that is there is a good level of exertion that will allow your body to be fit and healthy, but not produce too much cortisol.

I’m trying to run more regularly, but without too much exertion, so that I can run longerRead more about September 17 – exertion[…]

September 16, 2019　=========

☆  cortisol （ホルモンの一種）コルチゾール

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As you probably know, cortisol is a stress hormone released by the adrenal glands in the body. It helps us deal with stressful situations, however, when the level of cortisol in our body stays too high for too long, we can have problems, such as memory loss, tiredness, weight gain, and of course, a feeling of high stress.

Interestingly, some studies have found that cortisol decreases after an activity outdoors. The research showed that people had less cortisol in their system after gardening outdoors, compared to the people who were reading a book indoors. I think this is interesting, because I love reading books, so that wouldRead more about September 16 – cortisol[…]

September 15, 2019　=========

☆  explore 探検する

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As adults, we probably don’t really “play” in nature, as I said the other day. However, I definitely spend time exploring outdoors, how about you?

One way to explore outdoors is to go on a “Nature Scavenger Hunt.” Have you ever heard of this idea? Basically, you go hunting for things in nature. They can be simple things like a flower, butterfly, something straight, something round and so on. Or you can make it more difficult, and look for things that are harder to find, like certain animals or insects.

The idea is to get the kids exploring outdoors and having fun. It doesn’t just have to beRead more about September 15 – explore[…]

September 14, 2019　=========

☆  immerse 熱中させる

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One of the useful phrases this week is, “Immerse yourself in nature.”

Recently, they started a Community Garden at the oval near our house. This means everyone in the community can come and help grow things like vegetables, herbs and fruits. If you want to join, it’s only $10 a year to be a member, and you can join in and help grow things, and just immerse yourself in gardening whenever you want. And of course, when all the fruits and veggies grow, they are yours to share with other members.

It’s a fantastic idea, adults make friends in the community, and kids get to immerse themselves inRead more about September 14 – immerse[…]

September 13, 2019　=========

☆  alleviate （病気などを）癒す

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Being and playing outdoors has many benefits. One of which is that it alleviates stress. Research all the way back in 2003, showed that being in nature, or being surrounded by many natural play areas alleviates stress in children. (Research by Wells & Evans, 2003).

I’m sure that being outdoors in nature can help alleviate stress in adults, too. In fact, we often talk about green therapy, which basically means getting outdoors in nature and surrounding yourself with greenery. This kind of “therapy” has been shown to alleviate depression. Even just a 20-minute walk outdoors in a green space can alleviate depression and a lack of focus…Read more about September 13 – alleviate[…]

September 12, 2019　=========

☆  play  遊ぶ

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Most of the time when we talk about playing outdoors, we are talking about children. Kids play outside, doing unstructured things like I mentioned yesterday, climbing trees, jumping over things, picking up sticks and stones to look at or play pretend sword fights with.

Unfortunately, as we get older, we don’t really tend to play in nature anymore. We do things outdoors, but they are usually structured, or organized, like skiing, or hiking, playing tennis. All of these are great fun and good for us, of course, but what about just being in nature, without anything to play or do… can you do that? I’m not sureRead more about September 12 – play[…]

September 11, 2019　=========

☆  promote 促進する

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On a parenting website in Australia, they promote that children aged 0 – 8 years old, should be playing outdoors several times a day. This could something simple like playing in the garden, or at a playground, climbing trees, playing in the sand and water or mud. Older kids can go on nature walks or even build cubbyhouses. Even at elementary school, the teachers promote getting outdoors and running around and having fun.

I wonder why we stop promoting the outdoors and getting outside for teenagers and adults? Teenagers are prone to stress, with so much study to do, so getting outdoors would help with that. AndRead more about September 11 – promote[…]

September 10, 2019   　=========

☆  optimize  最適化する

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To optimize something means to get as much advantage or benefit from it as you can, or to improve something so that it runs more smoothly and efficiently. So, for example you could talk about optimizing your health by drinking juice only, or cutting out sugar, or eating less carbohydrates and so on. There are so many different systems and fads out there to “help” you optimize your health or your weight loss.

Or, you might optimize your exercise routine, by running outdoors rather than on a treadmill, so that you can get the benefit from wind and weather, and the natural ups and downs ofRead more about September 10 – optimize[…]

September 9, 2019   =========

☆  heighten  高める

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If something heightens a feeling, or a feeling heightens, the feeling increases in degree or intensity. It is often used in negative situations, such as “The tragedy has heightened our awareness of the need for improved safety measures.” Or “The tension between the two groups has heightened.”

However, you can use it in a positive way, too. For example, “Being out in nature heightens my senses and I can really smell the fresh air.” Or, “When I close my eyes, I can really heighten my hearing.” And even meditation, many people say that focusing on their breath and slowing it right down, can heighten all theirRead more about September 9 – heighten[…]

September 8, 2019      =========

☆  vigorous  活気のある

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One of the useful phrases this week is, “Vigorous activity each day is good for our health.” Some examples of vigorous activity are running, jogging, swimming laps, tennis, bicycle riding, jumping rope and hiking uphill.

These days, a lot of people wear the activity trackers, the ones with heart rate monitors can also track the intensity, so you know whether it is moderate or vigorous. The Mayo Clinic in the US, suggests that 150 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous activity is good, but if you really want to improve your fitness, aim for 300 minutes!!

I wish I could do 300 minutes weekly, but itRead more about September 8 – vigorous[…]

September 7, 2019 =========

☆  rugged  でこぼこの

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Rugged is used to describe a place where the land is uneven and covered with rocks, without many trees or plants. I remember climbing Mt. Fuji and the way up was actually OK. Hard word, but OK and I felt like I could do it.

The way back down was crazy! The path was so rugged, with the volcanic rocks, it was hard to grip and I felt like I was going to slide all the way to the bottom! Trying to grip onto such a rugged landscape was really hard work for my legs. All of the pain and muscle aches I felt were fromRead more about September 7 – rugged[…]

September 6, 2019　=========

☆  fresh  新鮮な

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One of the great things about living close to the beach is that there is generally a fresh sea breeze coming in, so the air smells clean. One of my favorite times in Tokyo for smelling fresh air was right after a typhoon. The sky was always so clear and the air was so fresh and clean! Is that still true?

Near our house, there is a big oval where they play football and soccer. Some mornings, when it has been very cold at night, the air smells like a forest! The grass gives the air a fresh grassy smell. It’s hard to describe, but even thoughRead more about September 6 – fresh[…]

September 5, 2019　=========

☆  active  活動的な

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If you are an active person, it means that you do a lot of things. We often hear that it is important to be active to lead a long and healthy life. You might describe someone who is active as energetic or lively or even busy, but busy in a good way – not just busy with going to work every day.

These days, most of us do desk work or have jobs that require us to sit down, rather than be active. The opposite of someone who is active, is someone who is sedentary. A sedentary lifestyle is one where you are sitting down a lotRead more about September 5 – active[…]

September 4, 2019　=========

☆  daily  毎日の

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If something happens daily, it happens every day. At the beginning of the year my friend announced on Facebook that she was going to run 5 kilometers daily. She would take a photo of her run, a runfie (instead of a selfie) and post it.

I was super impressed with her – at first, she actually did run 5KM daily! Sometimes she ran more, but never less than 5KM. But gradually, she has stopped posting every day. Work was busy, family life was busy, and so she wasn’t able to run daily. She was still running a lot, just not 5KM daily.

Running 5KM daily is a prettyRead more about September 4 – daily[…]

September 3, 2019     =========

☆  barefoot 裸足の

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My little girl loves to be barefoot. Inside the house, outside the house – in the mud, and rain, in the sunshine… it doesn’t matter. She loves being barefoot. At her baby-gym class, the teachers insist that all the kids wear no shoes and socks because being barefoot is much healthier for them.

I like going barefoot at the beach, but on grass and other surfaces, I’m not really that keen! I love the feel of sand on my feet, so I’ll always go barefoot at the beach, unless it’s too hot. Sometimes the sand in summer gets so hot, it’s actually impossible to go barefootRead more about September 3 – barefoot[…]

September 2, 2019      =========

☆  unhealthy   健康に悪い

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Unhealthy is the opposite of healthy. It can describe something that is likely to cause illness or poor health, such as cigarettes or too much alcohol. Or it can describe a person that is not healthy, meaning that you are not very fit or well. Here are some example sentences using both:

I try to avoid unhealthy foods like hamburgers and chips.
I always worked overtime at my last job, it was really unhealthy.
In the past, many people worked in coal mines, until they realized it was a very unhealthy environment.

I’m so unhealthy at the moment!
She looked really unhealthy, I hope she is OK.
When I feel unhealthy,Read more about September 2 – unhealthy[…]

September 1, 2019　    =========

☆  nature  自然

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This month’s topic is “Spending time outdoors.” It’s a timely one for both you in Japan, and me in Australia. Is it still hot there? The end of summer and the beginning of autumn is one of the best times to be outside in nature in Japan, I think. How about you?

And, then in Australia, we are finally heading into spring and the warmer season. There are pretty almond blossoms to see, and lovely flowers and roses blooming. It’s not too hot and not too cold. I love being in nature during early spring and autumn.

How about you? Do you have a favorite season whenRead more about September 1 – nature[…]