Bacura KYOTO Lab

Lazy-aging is one of the methods for gaining health, even if it sounds like a lot of fancy talk. So first, I think we need to define what “health” actually means.

The WHO (World Health Organization) says: “Health is not simply the absence of disease or weakness. It is a state where you are fully satisfied physically, mentally, and socially.”

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare follows this definition too.

I agree with the basic idea, but I feel it’s spreading the blanket a bit too wide. Especially the “social” part — there are many things in society that individuals can’t control by themselves.

The complete opposite of health — “death” — is very clear and the same for everyone. On the other hand, health is different for each person. It’s also relative even for the same person at different times. Sometimes you’re not even sure whether you’re healthy right now or not.

What makes it even harder is that you usually only notice health after you’ve lost it. You experience it unconsciously when it’s there, and only feel it when it’s gone. That’s a tough specification.

Because of all this, I feel it’s quite difficult to strictly define “this state = healthy” and “otherwise = unhealthy.”

A simple definition like “If you don’t have a disease, you’re healthy!” is possible, but that can make you careless and slow to act. It also leaves out people who are living with some illness.

At the beginning I said Lazy-aging is a kind of health method. However, its main focus is “trying not to age as much as possible.” Whether you currently have a disease or not is actually not directly related.

So, for now, in the context of Lazy-aging, let’s define health as “a state where you can still aim for better health.”

• Broad definition: You are healthy if you can control yourself.
• Narrow definition: You are healthy if your purpose (what you want), your thinking (the method), and your actions (the result) are all consistent with each other.

If you feel you’re outside this definition, then stop playing around with Lazy-aging and go get help from a real professional.