A Grown Up’s Gap Year – The Newsletter #22

Why Japanese wellbeing works (and how to bring it home)

Seasons, onsen, small rituals. A conversation with Six Senses Kyoto’s Director of Wellness.

HELLO – HAPPY SUNDAY!

This week we head to Kyoto for a conversation about wellbeing that isn’t performative – it’s lived. We talk kerbside shrines and small daily reverence, seasonal eating, onsen bathing, and why Japanese approaches to rest, ritual, and nature feel like a balm in mid-life.

Ayako’s philosophy is beautifully simple: wellbeing begins by restoring balance between humanity, the earth, and the heavens, and by being mindful of the moment you are in. It’s not about “fixing” yourself. It’s about rhythm, seasonality, space, and attention.

And because Japan is my happy place, and where I love to travel annually, send me a reply, a simple JAPAN WELLBEING TRAVEL, and I will get to writing a list to share in our community.

Have a super week.

Remember, Why Not You & Why Not Now?

Love

Monique x

YOUR TURN:

Japanese Wellbeing at Home

Season switch: change one thing in food, movement, and rest for current season.

Onsen-at-home: warm bath/shower before bed; lower lights; no devices. Wind-down ritual.

A shrine stop in your postcode: 5 min pause on a daily walk – sit, breathe, notice.

Oshibori moment: offer yourself a warm cloth before meals; a cue to slow down and taste.

“Hara hachi bu (stop at ~80% full): eat to comfortably satisfied, then stop.”

Kakeibo (money journaling): perhaps a little off topic here – the Japanese method of saving money. Yet as our later in life finances underpin so much of our Wellbeing I thought it worthy of mention.“Kakeibo (the Japanese money-journaling method). Read more via CNBC.

Pick one, repeat for two weeks, then reassess.

MY FAVOURITE KYOTO MOMENTS

My home away from home…

Mornings at a temple before the crowds. Every ‘first morning in Kyoto’ I wake around 6.30am (Winter my pick), and walk to Kiyomizu Dera – as the crowds start to gather I walk further along the path behind the temple, up a small hill, to a hidden temple with views over the mist-covered valley below. A hot coffee at Good Good Not Bad awaits on my return.

Walk a less-trodden path (canal paths, residential lanes, small art galleries, tiny boutiques – Stardust my fav).

Book a Japanese Spa day. My Podcast guest this week is, Ayako Fukuda the director of Six Senses Kyoto’s Director of Wellness.

Eat what’s in season; let that be the menu. Oh and in Kyoto – I highly recommend Haru Cooking Classes (tell Taro I sent you). And a traditional temple fare with a modern twist for lunch here.

Additional link to Haru Cooking Class here.

(READ · LISTEN · STAY)

READ | BOOK

Mindfulness Travel Japan by Steve Wide & Michelle McIntosh

READ HERE

LISTEN | PODCAST

A Grown Up’s Gap Year – The Podcast

“Japanese Wellbeing in Real Life” with Ayako Fukuda (Six Senses Kyoto)

LISTEN HERE

STAY | RETREAT

Six Senses Kyoto

What Ayako Fukuda taught me about rest you can actually keep – for season-led care, thoughtful sleep rituals, and a gentle invitation to slow down.

Read Review here.

STAY HERE

DEAR BLOKES

A love letter (with checklist) from the women who carry the mental load.

Consider borrowing a page from countries that have been incorporating ‘Wellbeing Practices’ for decades: heat, cold, and a walk. A weekly sauna + cold dip with a mate is a brilliant catch-up with benefits. Add a short phone-free walk and a ramen after – call it maintenance for body and brain. If your partner is experimenting with small rituals at home (earlier lights out, seasonal eating, a nightly bath), meet her there. Partnering with Purpose is attractive – in it for the delightfully long season.

Happy week, and as ever, thank you for tuning in.
Love from us. x