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Birthday 70!

I have turned 70.
I can’t believe it!

A long time ago, a fortune teller told me I probably live till 60 but do not live long.
I do not believe it seriously, but it stays in my mind when I hear something like that, so I did not forget about it.

Since I was born, I have had many near-death experiences, so it may be a miracle that I am still alive and enjoying a fulfilling life. I try to live each day with gratitude.

Now that I’m 70, I can definitely feel my body aging. I have aches and pains all over my body, and I often find myself looking for things every day because I can’t find them, but for some reason, I feel young at soul and mostly upbeat.
I don’t feel that old yet, so isn’t 70 that old after all?

However, compared to when I was younger, I’ve become calmer, so I guess that’s the benefit of age.
I did many things when I was younger, like skydiving, scuba diving, and bungee jumping.
Now I’m satisfied with my situation, have no desire to do anything extreme, and enjoy relaxing each day.
It may be just me aging.

After my 69th birthday, I told Eric I wanted to go to Europe, specifically Rome (Italy), to celebrate my 70th birthday and made a plan with him.
Going to Rome has been on my bucket list since I saw Audrey Hepburn in “Roman Holiday” when I was 9 years old.

The movie was released in 1953 before I was born, so I do not remember how I watched it, but it must have been with my father since he loved to see foreign movies and took me to many French movies, too.

In 1997, I went to Europe for three weeks alone, cooking at macrobiotic centers and helping out at cooking classes. I also went to several places in Italy, but my luggage was stolen on the train from Venice to Rome, so I didn’t go to Rome. Eric didn’t go to Rome when he was working in Italy, so I showed him Audrey Hepburn’s “Roman Holiday,” he liked the scene where she toured Rome on a Vespa.

But our beloved eldest golden retriever, Lumi, is 15 years old.

Lumi two weeks ago at dog family gathering.

She had a heart attack in December and a weakened lung in February, so we don’t know how long she can live.
Lumi still eats well and lives a relaxed life but needs help getting up because of arthritis. We tried to get her to wear diapers, but she didn’t like it. She has a pride who gets up and tries to go outside to the bathroom, even in a diaper.
But I understand how she feels.
She takes homeopathic and Chinese medicine every day. I massage her legs and spine daily and give her moxibustion, making her feel good.
She’s a precious family member, so we do our best to make sure she lives his life to the fullest.

So, we decided not to go to Rome or Europe.
Eric asked me what I wanted to do for my 70th birthday.

My favorite thing to do is to spend time in nature with my whole family: Eric, our dogs (Lumi, Nalu, Kai, Lani, Makani), and our cats (Tin Tin and Mai Mai).

I asked Eric to take all of us on a camping trip to one of our favorite places, Morro Bay State Park.

Going camping with five dogs and two cats, lots of stuff to prepare their food since we make homemade food for them.
But we’ve been camping before, so we know what to do. It just takes time. We can do it.

We stopped by Santa Barbara on the first day to see our good friend Kelly. She just moved to a lovely new house. She had a big persimmon, loquat, guava, and ginko trees.
Kelly loves to use my organic botanical skincare products ( I have been using my organic botanical skincare products for about 20 years).
I look forward to showing her how to make tinctures there.
She took us for lunch at Santa Barbara Yacht Club.

She gave me glass flower bases for my birthday. The box said “Kin.”
I and my first golden retriever, Kin, met her and her golden retriever, Daisy, at the dog beach in Santa Barbara almost 30 years ago.
I appreciate our friendship so much!

We arrived at Morro Bay State Park just before Sunset after Santa Barbara.
We have come to this camping ground before.
It is near the ocean and the Museum of Natural History.
Makani had never come to this campground, but she had been on a camping trip with us before, so she had fun with her dogs family and the cats were relaxing in the kitty condo.

We brought homemade lentil soup for dinner for us.
We had a simple, delicious meal in the van.
I sew the moon and stars with the ocean wind at night, celebrating my last night in my 60s.

The next morning was supposed to be cooler, but it got warmer, and the sun showed the face and whispered, “Happy 70th Birthday, Sanae.”

As Eric was feeding the dog family breakfast, a couple of people passing by were surprised we had many dogs and said, “Wow, five dogs! Dogs are from God!” I thought right away that maybe living with a dog means being protected by God!

After breakfast, we hiked a little and visited the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History.

There were many elementary kids for their field trip.
Beautiful Morro Bay rock!

I love learning about nature and the local habitat. I did not know that Morro Bay was founded in 1870.

We enjoyed there a lot and got an extraordinary seaweed book.

Then, we went to Cuyucos Dog Beach.
This dog beach is Morro Bay Rock in the back of the scene.

It’s the best dog beach I have ever known.
As we got our dogs out of the van, someone said, “Oh, many dogs, dog is God!”
It was the second time people commented on Dog and God that morning.
I know that when our dogs are happy, we are happy, too; it must be God’s work!

We put our recently bought cart on the sand at the beach so that Lumi could enjoy it, too. I pulled the cart for Lumi on the beach.

She couldn’t walk well, but she was happy to feel the breeze and smell the ocean.

Nalu, Kai, Lani, and Makani enjoyed running, chasing each other, and eating seaweed.

After Dog Beach, we went to Cambria to window shop and to a natural food store, where we bought some local boysenberry jam.

Our camping toaster!

Then, Harmony (a small town with a population of 18) where Eric tasted some wine and bought some.

The birthday dinner was at Harbor Hut, one of the oldest restaurants we like to visit in Morro Bay. Eric reserved our favorite seat so we could see the sunset by Morro Bay Rock.

What a precious, thoughtful gift filled my heart.

On this day, I got birthday calls from my friends Masayo, Angel, and Mark. Thank you, everyone!

On the morning of the second day, we decided to go somewhere we’d never been before and headed to a town called Los Osos.
Eric bought some sourdough bread at a local bakery.

We also went to dip in a mineral bath at Avila Spa.

The mineral bath helped ease my legs and lower back pain.
I didn’t have a swimsuit, so I wore black underwear and a tank top (lol).

Then, in the afternoon, we saw another good friend, Laura, who lives nearby. She went to Kushi Institute to learn macrobiotics and used to cook macrobiotic food for my client. We had a late lunch / early dinner at Shine Cafe. We both ordered Tempeh Reuben sandwiches, but they looked different than what we thought. The waiter said they were a tempeh sandwich, and just difference was no sauerkraut this one. Do you want sauerkraut?
Laura and I said at the same time.” Of course, sauerkraut!” and laughed so much!!!

A farmers’ market was nearby, so we walked around and checked local vegetables, fruits, and artist crafts. Laura got a ceramic pin matching my hat – a cute orange bird from a local ceramist for my birthday.

Then, I came up with the idea of getting a foot massage to relax. Eric said no, but I said it was my birthday, so you need to celebrate with a foot massage.
We all got massages and feel so much better.
In the evening, we returned to the campground and talked with Eric’s banana muffin, Los Osos’s sourdough bread, vegan cheese, and kukicha till we got tired.

It was no stressful, simple, happy weekend for my birthday.

Now, I have returned home and connected with the trees and plants in my garden that I have been helping to grow for almost 40 years.
I am happy they are around me and give me a botanical vibe.

Nancy, my frined who live behind us brought me a birthday card and flowers from the garden, and we made plans to go out for sushi.
I got a birthday call from Amanda, a kind friend who remembered my birthday even though she lost everything in the wildfires in January.
My long-time friend, Jessica, took me to a birthday brunch in Marina del. It was a fun time with delicious food.

My longest-time friend (since Pepperdine University), Judy, is taking me to dinner next week; I am lucky to have good friends and feel happy to continue celebrating my 70!

I am grateful to age slowly and find my interest in everyday life to move forward.

Love,

Sanae ❤️

Sharing My Feelings After The Wildfires…

It has been over two weeks since the most devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. My heart goes out to people affected by the wildfire.

I appreciate all of you contacting me and showing your concerns. Eric and I are safe with five dogs and two cats’ family here in Santa Monica.

Although we did not have actual fire damage, I have been emotional and feeling fear. I wrote this blog to move forward in response to the fear of this wildfire and my sad feelings.

The fire occurred on Tuesday, January 7th, around 10:20 am.

That day, I left home at 8:40 am and went to a Qigong class.

I had a habit of looking at the sky, and I remembered it was blue, so I was grateful as I walked.

After the class, I was at home making a sample for the Sashiko Workshop; Eric phoned me and told me about the wire.

I asked Eric, is it close?

He said it was Pacific Paracede, about 11 miles from our house.

I went outside and saw the gray-pinkish big smoke over the north side of our house.

I noticed the wind started to get so intense, and our trees in the garden were swinging like children’s parks. It was a twisting swing I never saw before. The wind got so bad it broke the branches of the trees as they twisted off. We could not sleep that night, watching the news all the time and checking Watch Duty – Wildfire Maps & Alerts

When the second area of Santa Monica received mandatory evacuation (about 3 miles from our house), we packed our passports and some of our belongings, set up a large cat crate with a litter box for cats and dog beds in the van, and got ready to evacuate.

Seeing the smoke and flame from the rooftop of our house, I let out a speechless scream.

The next day, amidst the black smoke, the sun was dyed red, which I had never seen in my life. I had to face the horrors of reality.

When the news showed about 12,000 houses were burned down, I felt like I was just staring at the screen in a daze, unable to believe it, as if I was watching the devastation of war.

Finding out some of our friends lost their houses in the wildfire and some are still evacuating made us feel such sad and heavy feelings.　
My heart hurts when I think about how long everyone has to go.
We meditated more to send love and compassion to these people. We also did what we could by making donations, but I felt helpless.
In the meantime, we cared for ourselves to find even the slightest joy and happiness.
I can’t ignore the indescribable emotions that can’t be put into words in the air.

Over the first weekend of Eric’s day off, we escaped the smoky air and went to Santa Barbara’s dog beach.

Last week, we celebrated Lumi’s 15th birthday. It lifted up our spirits! Thank Lumi so much for her strength to live!

Today, I’m listening to Cheri Huber’s audiobook “The Fear Book” as I prepare material kit for my first sashiko workshop at JACCC this weekend. I hope the Sashiko workshop helps people heal during challenging times.

What fear is (from Cheri Huber’s book)

…fear is the hunted, not the hunter.

Fear is not what you think it is.

…..Fear is a very useful signal along the path to freedom.

Cheri Huber’s Free Audiobook site

https://www.livingcompassion.org/audio-books

New Year’s Resolutions and Goals 2025

Happy New Year!

I stayed away from social media for the first week of the New Year, so I want to send you my New Year’s greetings now.

Wishing you everyone 2025 filled with prosperity, joy, health, vitality, and *Ikigai!!

*Ikigai (生き甲斐）is a Japanese abbreviation for the expression Ikirukaigaaru (生きる甲斐がある) “It’s worth living,” and it means feeling the joy and vitality of living.

My Ikigai for New Year’s Day has been going to see New Year’s Sunrise.

New Year Sunrise in 2024

I started around 1992, so it is a ritual that has been around for about 33 years.

There is a New Year proverb in the Japanese:

一年の計は元旦にあり- Ichinen no kei wa gantan ni ari

Free translation: “New Year’s Day is the year’s key!”

The proverb’s direct meaning is that The year’s plan is made on New Year’s Day.

Unlike in Japan, there is nothing special about New Year’s Day here, so I started going to see the first sunrise of the year, which made me feel refreshed as I approached the New Year.

I once saw the New Year’s Sunrise in Izu, Japan, with my mother. We saw the most amazing New Year’s Sunrise together. I am so glad that I was able to do with my mother before she passed. The trip we did together was unforgettable in my heart.

The 2025 New Year sunrise time in Santa Monica was at 6:59:

It was so foggy and cold when we left home that I had to wear many layers of clothes. When we hiked up the Santa Monica mountain, we were over the fog, and we could see a beautiful horizon line.

We took our dogs, Kai, Lani and Makani. Our friend, Angel, who helps my garden, came with us.

It was much warmer than the last few years, which was so cold and windy.

Once we got to the top, we looked all over – a slite orange color was already on the horizon, so we knew where the New Year Sunrise was coming up.

Other people were there, but I loudly expressed, “Arigatou・Thank you!” from the bottom of my heart. I felt happy to be able to express my gratitude.

I asked Eric and Angle about their New Year “resolution” while waiting for the New Year Sunrise.

Angel said he wanted to do more dancing.

He shared that he started to take a dancing lesson, so I thought it was ballroom dancing, so I said immediately, “What dancing lesson? Is it ballroom dancing?” Angele is a quiet, shy guy and ceramic artist, so I could not imagine that he would dance especially ballroom dancing.

He smiled and said, “Oh, no, no, Hip-hop dance.” I said, “Wow, that’s great!” He said, ” I want to be more active and was thinking of taking a dance lesson, so I took a few last year. I liked it, so I want to continue.” I thought, I want to see him dance one day!

Eric said’ “More free time!” I am sure he meant to spend his free time surfing in the ocean since he helps our animal family and me so much every day. I said, “That’s a great idea, Eric, so let’s think about how you can get more free time and make a plan.”

Angel said, “It is important to have time for yourself since you are very busy.”

I also said, “Mine is go to physical therapy to strengthen my left knee.”

I was glad we could exchange our resolution together in a great place. After talking, I felt refreshed, and simultaneously, the year’s first sunrise rose.

I thought we might not see New Year’s Sunrise when I left home due to the fog, but it was spectacular.

The 2025 New Year Sunrise came up to promise to achieve the resolution we made.

On the way down the mountain, we saw the fog, almost marshmallows laid out all over Santa Monica to the south side to Perlos Verdesand and the east side to downtown Los Angeles.

It was a mysterious feeling to go back down there.

After we came back home, we ate our New Year Mochi Ozouni. I started to write my resolutions and goals.

As I said, my resolution for 2025 is “Go to physical therapy to strengthen my left knee.”

Because I broke my left knee five years ago while I was hiking.

It took two years to heal, and then about one year ago, my neighbor’s dog attacked my dog, Nalu, and me. I injured the same knee and right shoulder. The shoulder got better with therapeutic massage and acupuncture, but the knee is still not fully healed, so I knew I had to do the next step. I believe holistic with a plant-based approach comes to healing, so I do not use any Western medication most of the time, but I do know when to use the Western approach, so I went to see my new primary doctor and discuss my left knee. She was a young doctor, and before I told her my thoughts, she checked my knee and said right away, since your knee is not broken this time, and you need to strengthen the knee, so go to physical therapy.

My goal for 2025 is to fully heal from knee injuries and be physically active. I have started going to Qigong class twice weekly in the morning at a park since last summer, which has also helped me greatly.

I walked two blocks to the park and back, which also helped my heart to be active.

As I was writing this, I also wanted to make my goal for 2025 a more straightforward way to communicate with Eric and remind him at the same time.

One thing I can do is create our monthly calendar and write plans for my needs and also our rendezvous plan there.

I also realized that resolutions and goals are different, so I decided to write about them.

So, here are my New Year’s resolutions and goals for 2025:

My 2025 Resolutions and Goals

Resolution 1: Go to physical therapy to heal my knee in three months.

(The key point is three months)

Goal 1: To be pain-free and get strength.

Resolution 2: Walk 1 ~2 miles daily and continue to Quigong class.

(The key point is 1 ~2 miles daily)

Goal 2: More socialize with people.

Resolution 3: Make a monthly communication calendar with Eric and write a plan on the calendar.

(The key point is monthly)

Goal 3: Simplesize communication with Eric, meditating, and doing other things with him more.

Resolution 4: Teach a workshop/class that allows me to relax mentally without exhausting my physical energy.

(The key point is teaching without exhausting my physical energy)

Goal 4: Teaching, which I enjoy, and connecting with people.

Resolution 5: Write every day, even only for a short time, and will finish writing my recovery book by the end of this year. (The key point is every day, even for a short time and finish this year)

Goal 5: Finish my recovery book.

A resolution is a statement of what you want to change/do (Action).”

within a time frame. See what I wrote above as the key point.

A goal is a statement of what you want to achieve, and resolution is the steps you need to take to achieve it, and when you want to achieve it.

The resolution is a word that refers to the determination or plan that you have in your heart. Rather than simply wanting to do 〇〇 or become 〇〇, think about what you will do concretely to achieve those desires. By setting resolutions, your goals and objectives will become more apparent.

Resolutions are different from goals. A goal is a goal that you strive for, and the process of getting there doesn’t matter. On the other hand, resolution includes both goals and the process to achieve them.

Chinese New Year, Nine Star Ki New Year is not January 1st, so you have time to write your resolution for 2025 and achieve your goal.

You can write first:

・Write down your concerns and issues

・Think specifically about your ideals

・ Set specific numbers and deadlines

I wish you luck for 2025.

Love,

Sanae ❤️

Live Life One Stitch at a Time

End of 2024.
I reflected on this year of 2024 as challenging since I felt stuck and not moving forward for me.

However, this was a fruitful year in which I learned that this state of standing still is the time necessary to move on to the next step.
Of course, even though I can write this now, it was not easy, and I got irritated and even sad.

But it allowed me to cherish my feelings, spend each day quietly, and do what I could with gratitude even when my moody feelings were elsewhere. I observed my emotions – breathing in and out, meditating.
It was important to me to see the things I didn’t like about myself.

I lost interest in many things but somehow wanted to hand-stitches.
What is my attraction for wanting to hand-stitches?

One day, I remember when I was in elementary school, a classmate named “Akemi”-chan （a charming classmate）always wore fashionable clothes made by her mother. I dreamed of being able to make my own clothes since my mother was not crafty.
No one in my family did anything like art or crafty, but I have been attracted to making something since I was six years old with my hand, gardening, Japanese calligraphy, crocheting, “hanga” wood print, and embroidery.
I really wanted to master using a sewing machine and make cute, fashionable clothes like Akemi-chan was wearing.

Around that time, a home economics class assignment was to make pajamas using a sewing machine. I was excited and asked my mother to buy one, but the sewing machine she bought me was different from the one at school, and as a 10-year-old, I used it without guidance and broke the machine.
My mother scolded me. I felt so bad and lost confidence in using the sewing machine.

I never wanted to use a sewing machine anymore, but I have continued to enjoy making things with my hand: weaving, knitting, and crocheting.

In 2017, I found a sewing class in my neighborhood where you could sew pants using a sewing machine, so I decided to try it. I finished sewing the pants and got a sewing machine, but I didn’t feel very excited about it.

Why?
I think, I was still scared that I might break it again.
Also, I did not like the mechanical sound.
It might be the same as preparing sesame seeds in a mortar and pestle, but it suits my personality better than using a food processor when cooking.

I continued hand stitching Sashiko (traditional Japanese embroidery) more and enjoyed it very much.
It fits in my lifestyle and quietness.
I realized that whenever I felt stuck, I stitched.
When I got COVID-19 and after a neighbor’s dog attacked one of my dogs, Nalu and me, I was feeling blue.

Moyouzashi Sashiko I did while I had Covid.

This year, I also completed a masterpiece of embroidery, which I had not done since elementary school. It was using natural dye threads. I learned more than ever the joy and enjoyment of stitches by hand.

I embroidered my signature.

It is unthinkable for me, who was so active and did not have time to sit for a long time before I got ovarian cancer in 1993. At that time, I was going all over the place doing things like scuba diving and skydiving.

After I recovered from ovarian cancer, I started studying and teaching macrobiotics and started traveling here and there again.
Then, in 2001, I was left bedridden after a near-death car accident.
The doctor diagnosed I couldn’t even walk and would be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. Before the car accident, I went to a ceramic studio two or three times a week but could not do it anymore.

I had to learn to find joy and enjoy my life by doing things I could do while sitting in my wheelchair.
Without this challenge, I might not have been able to sit down and slowly hand-stitchche Sashiko and write my books and blogs.

In 2017, I was diagnosed with stage IV lymphoma and was given less than a month to live.
I was shocked to hear I got another cancer. I knew I was grieving losing my precious service dog, Kula, and my husband and I had closed our Seed Kitchen restaurant six months before. I was extremely exhausted from eight years in the restaurant business.

At the same time, I felt it was time to initiate my life again connection with myself; otherwise, I would have lost it. I slowed down and found even a moment of joy each day with myself when I was taking chemotherapy.

One of the things I found is how to live by creating my hand and making something I can enjoy and share with others.

Amid all these challenges, I am overwhelmed by the peace of mind that allows me to accept the changes in my body and mind and do what I can little by little.

Lately, I’ve been thinking that maybe it was planned for me to lead this way of life ever since I broke the sewing machine my mother bought, and my life is annica and impermanent.

Embroided and Sashiko stitched over my eco-print fabric on my 30 years old pillow case fabric.

I observe my breath one breath at a time and do Sashiko as I live my life one stitch at a time.

Sashiko stitched with Sakura (cherry blossom) dye thread and created booties.

As we move into the Year of the Snake 2025, I wish everyone a year filled with wisdom, growth, and good fortune.
I hope to support your healing continuously, even in a small way.

Love,

Sanae❤️

P.S. I am grateful to be able to teach my first sashiko class at Japanese American Culture Community Center (JACCC).
https://jaccc.org/events/sashiko-basics-introduction-workshop-for-beginners/

Rice stitches.

Miracle 2024

The year-end holiday season.

In America, it is said that miracles happen during the year-end holidays- Christmas.

One of my favorite quotes is, “there are two ways to live life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. the other is as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein, 1879~1955

Several miracles happened this year as well.

I want to share with you about a Christmas miracle that happened in my house.

On December 6th, after my usual walk with my dog family, my oldest dog, Lumi, developed a severe heart attack, was breathing heavily, and couldn’t move at all. All I could do was stay by her side.

I applied Animal Reiki, meridian acupressure on her heart and lung pressure points, and administered four drops of Bach Flower Rescue Remedy every 5 minutes.

The youngest puppy, Makani, who is very attached to Lumi, came next to Lumi and watched over her.

Lumi couldn’t move, but she was doing her best.

I video-called my husband, Eric, and let Lumi hear his voice.

Lumi said she would wait for Eric’s father to come home, but Lumi passed out after the call.

Her eyes remained open, unfocused, and unaware of my words and actions.

Lumi turns 15 next month, so I couldn’t help but think this was her last moment.

(Two years ago I wrote a blog about how Lumi came into my life on Lumi’s 13th birthday.)

I took a deep breath, calmed down, remembered what I had learned from raising a family of about 20 animals over the past 30 years and helping many rescue animals as an animal rescue volunteer, and did what I could.

Miraculously, Lumi regained consciousness several hours later.

But she was still breathing heavily and couldn’t move at all, so I communicated with Lumi and told her, “If you need to go to heaven, I will mentally prepare.”

Then Lumi said, “I am still here, Mommy. I am not going anywhere; I would wait for Daddy.”

When Eric came home, Lumi was weak, but she was happy to see him and show the strength of her life force and her presence through her eye movement.

Lumi couldn’t drink or eat anything, so we made her therapeutic drinks and liquid food. Lumi took a little bit of both.

After Lumi had the drinks and food, she seemed calm. I asked Lumi how she felt, and although it took a while for her to respond, she answered, “I didn’t know what was going on, and I couldn’t breathe, so I was scared.”

So I said, “Yeah, it was scary, but it’s okay now. You are still with us.”

I won’t go anywhere and will stay by your side. ” Then Lumi slowly closed her eyes, her breathing calmed down much more, and she fell asleep.

Lumi was going through living and dying and is trying her best to get better through the transition period, so I made a mixture of Bach Flower Remedies for Fear and Transition and sprayed it around Lumi and over her pows every 15 minutes.

I decided to make my bed next to her on the living room floor and sleep on the floor with her.

The first night, she breathed heavily when my hands left her, so I gave her Reiki or a gentle rub, and then she fell asleep for a little while.

I put a diaper on Lumi so she could lie down if she needed to pee or poop, but Lumi kept trying to get up in the middle of the night, and her breathing got worse every time.

But Lumi was stubborn and didn’t want to use diapers, so I didn’t know what to do. When I thought about it, I realized that if I were Lumi, I might be the same, so I thought about what I could do for Lumi. I picked her up and carried her outside the garden.

At that moment, Lumi was breathing very heavily and her heart was beating so fast that I could hear it, and I was filled with fear that Lumi’s heart might stop beating. I started blaming myself for taking Lumi outside, and when I closed my eyes, I realized that the sound of that heartbeat was also my own. So I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. I saw Lumi trying her best to find a place to pee, and I could tell that Lumi was doing her best even in times like this, so I told myself to ignore my whining. The only choice I had was to do everything I could to support Lumi.

Suddenly, I gently hugged Lumi and said, “I’m with Lumi. I love you!”

Then, Lumi’s heartbeat became a little quieter, and she found a place to pee and was looking toward the house, so I carried her back inside.

After that, Lumi asked twice to go outside, so I did the same thing for her, and at dawn, she seemed to be able to sleep soundlessly.

I was able to do what I could for her, just out of love, without doubt, or worry thinking.

I contacted Dr. Lane, a holistic veterinarian, but she was unavailable due to the holiday season, so the next day, I called Nancy, an animal healing specialist at Santa Monica Homeopathic Pharmacy, to discuss Lumi’s condition, and Eric got some homeopathic medicine.

Lumi had already been diagnosed with a heart murmur by Dr. Lane and has been taking herbal and homeopathic medicines for that purpose. After this episode, I suspect that Lumi may have fluid buildup in her lungs and heart, just like Lumi’s daughter Happy, who passed away in February this year. That’s why I decided to have Lumi balance out fluid in her heart and lungs.

We got heart medication, the fluid resolved, and we continued giving her Bach Flower, animal Reiki, massage, animal communication, and meridian point acupuncture with moxibustion.

We decided to try to improve Lumi’s health through all remedies, homeopathic medicine, healing foods, and our love.

Lumi still has a strong will to live.

Lumi’s health condition has been improving.

Thanks to her determination and our family’s efforts, Lumi can now eat her favorite mochi (soft rice cake) in the morning and eat homemade food (not more liquid food) and slowly walk out of the garden on her own.

The other day, she was determined to walk outside our yard, so I took her for very short walks. When Lumi gets tired, she tries to return instead of moving forward, so I respected her wishes and returned home immediately.

Lumi wanted to see Ocean on Christmas day.

Lumi said hello to everyone she passed, lay down on the sand, and enjoyed feeling the breeze.

On the way back, Lumi seemed a little tired and wouldn’t move on the sand, so when I held her, she was happy. She walked along the sidewalk on her own, sniffed many scents, and was satisfied.

Even as I write this blog, Lumi is sleeping comfortably with Makani at my feet, and when I tried to take a photo, Makani looked up.

Our Christmas miracle in 2024!

I hope you all find miraculous moments as we enter the new year.

Love,

Sanae ❤️

*Bonus:

What I found out about dog heart murmur.

“A dog with a heart murmur may experience a seizure-like event called syncope, which is a temporary loss of consciousness:

Syncope – Also known as fainting, syncope can occur when a dog’s heart is unable to pump enough oxygenated blood to the brain. This can be caused by an abnormal heart rhythm or arrhythmia, which can be very fast, very slow, or irregular. Syncope can look like a seizure, but there are some key differences.

Japanese Loquat Leaves and Pine Needles Tincture-Making Workshop

My mother made loquat tinctures for the last 20 years of her life.

As long as I remember, my mother had a weak immune system from a young age and was not able to get up in the morning to make breakfast.　She could not gain weight for many years and sleep well.

My mother was in pain all over her body and took a lot of prescription drugs, so she may have always been looking for what she could do to improve her health.

My mother tried many recommendations from her friends, neighbors, and local news sources, but nothing helped her.

For example, eating prunes, drinking noni juice, eating more meat and only chicken to gain weight, buying expensive electric blankets, worshiping a group of people and buying white china from them for a lot of money. The group told her that worshiping it would improve her health.

I had already been practicing macrobiotics and knew that it would not improve her health, but since I lived far away overseas, I always listened to her with love. When I returned to Japan, I cooked a hearty macrobiotic meal for her. As I did this, my mother’s health started to improve, so I found someone to cook macrobiotic meals for her several times a week, and my mother’s mindset became more positive and she stopped trying so many different things.

One day, my mother called me to tell me that her pain was relieved and she was able to sleep better thanks to the loquat leaf moxibustion and loquat leaf tincture (extract).

Shortly after that, my mother received some loquat leaves from a friend and started making her own loquat leaf tincture.

She got loquat leaves from her friends and made loquat tincture herself.

To make a tincture, she had to separate the leaves from blanches, clean each, cut them, and put them in a glass bottle with shochu.

It was lots of work, but she was determined to make it.　She was tired but enjoyed the aroma of loquat leaves and looked vibrant in the photo she sent me.

Viblant my mother after she started to make Loquat tincture and using it.

She even planted a loquat tree in her yard. She told me if there is a loquat tree in America I need to plant it, too.

Fortunately, there was a large loquat tree next door to the house I moved into around that time (where I still live today), and I received a loquat seedling from there, which I planted in my garden 30 years ago.

My mother many bottles of Loquat tinctures and sent me her loquat tincture many times, and I have used it all for me, my husband, animal family, friends, and clients.

I started to make my own when my loquat tree got big enough.

Making tincture is a gift my mother gave me; I want to share the gift that my mother gave me with as many people as possible. Now I make many other different tinctures.

After I decided to offer this workshop, I remembered that when I was about 3 years old, my grandmother took me to the mountains of Mie to forage wild mushrooms and medicinal plants. My grandmother was a healer. I finally understand why I am so drawn to the power of nature and healing work.

The life I genuinely dedicate is to honoring and healing the great force of nature with my body, soul, and spirit and helping others and their animal families heal as well.

I am grateful to JACCC Emi Osaki for giving me an opportunity to teach the Japanese Tincture Making Workshop.

Here is the detail of the workshop:

Join JACCC and Sustainable Little Tokyo for an immersive, hands-on workshop where you’ll explore the art of crafting botanical tinctures using Japanese loquat leaves and aromatic pine needles. Experience their unique scents, learn how to safely apply them to your skin, and create your personalized tinctures to take home. Along the way, you’ll gain insight into these plants’ numerous benefits and traditional uses while also mastering techniques that will empower you to make tinctures with herbs from your garden.

When: Sun, Oct 27, 2024, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Where: Toshizo Watanabe Culinary Cultural Center

244 S. San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Price: Free with RSVP (donations encouraged)

Japanese Botanical Tincture-Making Workshop