Nurture Your Nature
In order to Nurture our Nature, we must first define our nature.
“There is a great deal of human nature in people.”
Nurture Your Nature
What is our Nature?
In order to Nurture our Nature, we must first define our nature. From a physiological standpoint, our body’s inherent nature is to maintain balance. This is called homeostasis. We contain over 50 trillion cells in our body and of these, 10 trillion are somatic cells (our physical body), the remaining 40 trillion constitute our microbiome. Our cells are grouped into tissues that organize into organs and these into physiological systems. These systems must work in synchrony and balance to achieve homeostasis and maintain health.
Failure to maintain homeostasis can result in many disease conditions and many can be life-threatening.
One example often cited is thermoregulation. When someone is healthy, their body maintains a temperature close to 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). Humans can increase or decrease temperature internally to keep it at an optimal level. Whether you are enjoying the summer sun or playing in the winter snow, your body temperature only changes by a degree or two. That is an example of homeostasis being maintained. When you get shivery in the cold, or sweat in the summer, that is your body trying to maintain homeostasis.
If your body's homeostasis mechanisms are compromised, you might have a problem producing heat from the food you eat and the air you breathe. If you are exposed to extreme cold, your body temperature could fall, resulting in hypothermia. This can slow organ function, producing confusion and fatigue and for long periods of time, death. In extreme heat, your body might be unable to cool down, which could result in heat stroke or hyperthermia. You might experience muscle cramps and exhaustion. If unabated, hyperthermia can result in seizures, unconsciousness, and death.
Our Amazing Bodies
We replace six billion cells a day, in the time you just read this statement, you have replaced about 50 million cells. This is our nature to stay healthy. An article published in the New York Times stated that regardless of our chronological age, physiologically we are about 10 years old. This viewpoint comes from the fact that we are constantly renewing our cells, tissues, organs, and systems. For example, we replace our largest organ, our skin every 27 days, and our second largest organ, our skeletal system, every 10 years.
To accomplish this are bodies have five vital requirements. We all need air, water, sleep, food, and the natural energies from the earth, sun, and motion.
If we look at the present-day condition of each of these elements, I believe we would all agree, that they have been drastically altered from the way Mother Nature intended them to be. Contaminated, polluted air, water, inadequate or poor-quality sleep, over-processed, under-nourishing food, and we have blocked or altered the natural energies we receive from the earth, sun, and motion.
Here is a quote from Daniel Vitalis, “We’ve become strangers to Nature. The best way to live longer, healthier lives is to re-wild ourselves by returning to Nature whenever we can.”
This may sound inviting but in a practical sense re-wilding as Daniel describes it, is not for everyone.
So how can we provide our bodies with Nature’s five vital elements as Nature intended? Through the process of biomimicry Nikken has developed the solution, the Wellness Home. Where we utilize science and technology to replicate nature in all five vital requirements we need for life.
The Wellness Home brings Nature into your living space with clean healthy air, water, quality sleep, whole food nutrition, and the natural energies of the earth, sun, and motion. It has been called a “Greenhouse for Humans”. It is a home where we can Nurture our Nature and thrive.
Starting a Nikken Wellness Home is a decision to bring these principles of nature to yourself and your loved ones and to live in harmony with Nature. To quote journalist and author Ricard Louv, “The more high-tech our lives become, the more nature we need”. We at Nikken and our Global Wellness Community are transforming the concept of wellness one home at a time.
Be Healthy by Choice
Biomimicry and the Wellness Home
Last week’s Impetus discussed the process of biomimicry where we derive inspiration from nature then imitate nature for designs or processes with the goal of solving human problems. This has been the underlying process that Nikken has…
“Home is a shelter from storms - all sorts of storms. ”
Examples of Biomimicry in the Nikken Wellness Home
Last week’s Impetus discussed the process of biomimicry where we derive inspiration from nature then imitate nature for designs or processes with the goal of solving human problems. This has been the underlying process that Nikken has utilized for over 46 years, even before the term biomimicry was coined. Examples of biomimicry are prevalent in our product line and the Nikken Wellness Home.
Nikken’s first product (introduced in 1975) was the Nikken Magsteps. These shoe insoles use magnetic energy (replicating the earth’s magnetic field) and massage nodules that stimulate reflexology points on the soles of the feet to provide more energy and balance. Nikken’s founder, Isamu Masuda observed that the prevalent use of magnetic products as self-care products in Japan was greatly beneficial and that the massaging effect of nodules on the insoles could replicate the sensation of moving your feet over small pebbles often found in streams and in Japanese baths. Magsteps were a tremendous success and Nikken held many Japanese sales records as a start-up company with just this one product.
This set the stage and direction for many other active wellness products and the creation of the Nikken Wellness Home. The Wellness Home has been described as a greenhouse for humans. It addresses areas of healthy air, healthy water, healthy sleep, whole food nutrition, and the vital energies of nature that we all require from the earth, the sun, and the wind.
One of Nikken’s most popular products is the Nikken PiMag Waterfall and is often the first building block of the Wellness Home. The underlying principles of design and functionality of the Waterfall are to produce water the way nature intended. Healthy, free of contaminants, structured for maximum absorbability, and containing minerals for slightly alkaline water. In addition, and congruent with the principles of biomimicry Nikken PiMag water products are made with recyclable and biodegradable materials, including a polymer that does not leach chemicals into the water or the environment as most plastics do.
Another good example of biomimicry is the Nikken KenkoAir Purifier, inspired by the air quality in pristine areas such as in the forest, beach, or near waterfalls. One characteristic these areas share is that the air contains many more negative ions than the air present in cities and populated areas, where the ions in the air are positively charged. Shinrin-yoku is the term used and coined by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries that translates as forest bathing. To accomplish this example of biomimicry Nikken uses a negative ion generator that does not produce ozone as many other air systems do. When entertaining visitors to our home, one of the first things they say is that there is something different and very relaxing in your home. I point out that they are experiencing forest bathing in our home. For more information, you can visit Air Matters.
The Nikken KenkoAir purifier uses environmentally friendly technology with recyclable materials and a re-usable prefilter for a reduced carbon footprint. The purifier is Energy Star qualified and 35% more efficient than standard models saving a minimum of 215 kilowatt-hours per year.
My last example of biomimicry in the Nikken Wellness Home is the Nikken Sleep System. The sleep system uses the natural technologies of the earth, the sun, and the wind. Advanced magnetic technology, bio-ceramic reflective materials to help regulate temperature and negative ions for relaxation provide a cocoon of comfort for a restful, rejuvenating sleep. Made from sustainable resources it provides another good example of how Nikken uses science and technology to replicate nature. For more information on the Nikken Sleep System visit Sleep Matters.
There are many other examples of biomimicry in the Nikken Wellness Home and I am sure there will be more active wellness products to complement the Wellness Home Program in the future.
For all the challenges we face, nature has a solution and biomimicry is and will play an important role in providing solutions. Never have we been so divorced from nature. According to a study sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American spends 93% of his or her time indoors. Given the current pandemic, we are all spending more time at home. The Nikken Wellness Home is a solution to providing the healthiest environment possible for you and your family, as I said, it is like a greenhouse for humans. For more information on these subjects, Heather and I suggest that you visit Selfcarehub.com. As members of the world’s most influential Global Wellness Community, it is our mission to help you Be Healthy by Choice.
Please join us on February 16th at 6 pm Pacific for our next Healthy by Choice Master Class, “Better Together” in the Self Care Awakening Virtual Classroom. You will need to use the password Nikken1 to join the class.
Biomimicry: Man-Made Nature
In a recent Healthy by Choice MasterClass, I used the term Biomimicry. A few days later several of my colleagues contacted me asking what was that term you used and what does it really mean?
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. ”
In a recent Healthy by Choice MasterClass, I used the term Biomimicry. A few days later several of my colleagues contacted me asking what was that term you used and what does it really mean? This is a fascinating subject and a methodology that has been used for millennia and recently become popular and highly relevant.
What Is Biomimicry?
The term biomimetics was coined by American biophysicist and inventor Otto Schmitt in the 1950s as the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems.
The term biomimicry appeared as early as 1982. But was popularized by scientist and author Janine Benyus in her 1997 book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.
Biomimicry is defined in the book as a "new science that studies nature's models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems". Benyus suggests looking to Nature as a "Model, Measure, and Mentor" and emphasizes sustainability as an objective of biomimicry.
Biomimicry is a technological-oriented approach focused on putting nature’s lessons into practice. According to Janine Benyus, biomimicry sees nature as:
A model. It studies nature’s models and imitates them or uses them as inspiration for designs or processes with the goal of solving human problems.
A measure. It uses ecological standards to judge the rightness of human innovations.
A mentor. It is a new way of observing, assessing, and valuing nature.
When we observe nature, we realize there is no such thing as waste, it is an input for another use.
For all the challenges we face, nature has a solution.
We have only studied biomimicry for the past half-century, yet the earth has been developing efficient methods of life for 3.8 billion years. Our planet is the oldest and wisest teacher we could ask for.
A few prominent examples of biomimicry include:
Rock-Cut Architecture
Caves have been used as a shelter since the monolithic era 6000 BCE, so it makes perfect sense that in India, Buddhist temples and shrines were carved into caves and mountainsides. These temples eventually doubled as trade posts on the Silk Road.
Silk: 3000 BCE
Silk is one of the first examples of biomimicry that we see in human history. The use of the material is dated back to 4000 BC, making it one of the first fabrics invented by humans. It is common knowledge that silk comes from silkworms, and the Chinese were the first civilization to learn from the brilliant worm. This invention was the reason that the Silk Road got its name. Silk could be traded for its weight in gold during the times where only the Chinese had the weaving strategy mastered. 6,000 years later we are still using silk all around the world.
Umbrellas
The first Chinese umbrellas were invented 1700 years ago by a man named Lu Ban, who is now revered in Chinese history. The idea for the umbrella sprouted when Lu Ban saw children using lotus leaves to shield themselves from the rain. He decided to mimic the flexibility and effectiveness of the leaf and create a product of his own. The first umbrellas were, in fact, made of silk.
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci was a student of biomimicry. He is one of the most revered and studied figures from the Italian Renaissance. Regarded as an expert scientist, inventor, artist, architect, and mathematician, Leonardo was a man ahead of his time. Thousands of sketches from his notebooks are still sought after and studied today. The part of his work that relates to biomimicry is his study of birds, he was fascinated by flight and drew out schematics for many flying machines that mimicked the bone structure of birds and bats.
A few more recent examples of biomimicry include:
Velcro: 1955
In 1948, while walking in the woods, Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral noticed how cockleburs stuck to his dog's coat. While it was inconvenient, he saw an opportunity. Upon examination of the burs, he noticed that its surface was made up of many tiny hooks. They stick to things by intertwining these hooks into the loose makeup of surfaces like fabric and animal fur. He invented Velcro by mimicking this surface covered in tiny hooks and partnering it with a surface covered in tiny loops. The result? Velcro: a paragon of biomimicry in practice.
Bullet Train: 1990s
In the late 1990s, Japan implemented biomimicry in the form of trains. The bullet trains they had been using were causing problems for all nearby inhabitants. When the trains zoomed through a tunnel, air would compress around the front of the train before releasing a tremendous booming noise once the train exited the tunnel. The chief engineer was able to solve this problem by looking at one of his hobbies: birdwatching. The kingfisher is a small bird with a long beak that dives into the water for its prey. The engineer redesigned the front of the train to be shaped like the kingfisher’s head, resulting in the train slicing the wind rather than trapping it inside the tunnels, fixing the booming sound.
Wind turbines: 2010
One huge flaw in wind turbines is that when placed too close together, turbulence disrupts and lowers the efficiency of horizontal axis wind turbines (the traditional ones). While studying the way schools of fish swam through water so close together, it was observed that how the fish swam complimented each other and none of them missed a beat. This helped solve this wind turbine flaw. When they rotated the axis so it pointed vertical, the turbines could be placed much closer together without disrupting the others. Increasing efficiency by up to ten times over the horizontal axis.
Sharkskin: 2014
Sharkskin has been mimicked for its rough segmented texture. Bacteria do not like landing on the skin of a shark. Engineers have designed materials with a comparable microscopic texture that repel bacteria in a similar way. This material is especially useful in hospitals where it can be used to cover surfaces and door handles to eliminate the spread of bacteria.
There are countless other examples of biomimicry and most scientists, engineers and designers believe that biomimicry will be of great importance in the future.
Next week we will discuss how Nikken has utilized biomimicry for over 46 years to create the Wellness Home, using science and technology to provide vital elements the way nature intended so that we all can be Healthy by Choice.