After publishing
Seitai Method for the Woman's Body

Mutsuko Nomura

 One year has passed since the publishing of "Seitai Method for the Woman's Body" at Nanatsumori Shokan company. During this time, I received many letters, faxes, and email-more than I had imagined-from people across the country. Many women are suffering from serious bodily conditions. There are various people such as those who have uterine endometriosis and have stopped their menstruation by hormone injections; those whose mind and body are out of balance and have ongoing menstrual pains that cause stomach pains and headaches such that the woman is bedridden with each menstrual period; those who have more damage of the mind and body remaining than they had imagined after unnatural childbirth and cannot raise their children well.
 The voices of these women express the unnaturalness of childbirth, work, and lifestyle in modern society. Just as the monthly menstrual period is written as "the way of the moon" in Chinese characters, it is the important cleansing of the uterus that begins from one's first menstrual period. This is a time to spend leisurely without becoming busy. It is important to pass this time comfortably. I keenly hope for the spread of reconsidering childbirth that follows the workings of nature and a way of passing through the menstrual period that does not damage the body.
The book introduces methods that anyone can practice such as those to regain the rhythm from the ankles to the knees and from the hip joint to the lower back, and methods to maintain the body in accordance with each season. I have received many reports expressing joy from people who have started putting into practice the methods in this book and from seminar participants. The following types of cases were reported. Severe menstrual pains that caused a woman to be bedridden disappeared. Menopause symptoms lightened and the body became comfortable. Although surgery to remove the ovaries was scheduled, swelling was relieved, surgery was avoided, and the condition of being chilled was relieved.
I would like to introduce a letter from a woman in her 30's who participated in my course. "Before, I had a lifestyle where my work involving long hours of using a PC was very trying. I always had migraine headaches and always had swelling from biases in my body. I disliked moving my body, felt heavy, and every day after coming home, all I could do was sleep. I participated in the course, did ankle rotations and let my body follow the movements to order the body that arise from inside the body. I also diligently dealt with the changes of my body in each season. Then, I was able to welcome this pregnancy. I have absolutely no morning sickness, and I enjoy talking to the baby in my stomach and taking a walk every day with a feeling of abundance."
For the many women who are suffering, I would like them to realize the importance of living fully with vitality, enjoying child-rearing with bountiful maternal nature, and regaining the woman's bodily rhythm which follows nature. Further, I hope from my heart that this flow of nature spreads across the country and throughout the world.
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The author, a veteran with 27 years of experience in seitai instruction who studied under the founder of seitai, Haruchika Noguchi, offers advice to women.

Chapter 1 The Woman's Body - 6 Important Topics

Topic 1 Menstruation is the perfect opportunity to put your body in order
Topic 2 Considering healthy childbirth
Topic 3 Passage through menopause in a healthy way
Topic 4 Regain resilience of the body through a cold
Topic 5 Be careful of chronic eye fatigue from computers
Topic 6 Nurture femininity and maternal qualities with care

Chapter 2 Maintenance of the body for the four seasons

Spring Spring-cleaning of waste products accumulated in the body
Rainy Season Creative ways to prevent rusting of the body are important
Summer Perspiring well is the theme
Autumn The best season to improve the bodily constitution
Winter Remove chills and dryness and become healthy

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Excerpt from the Afterword

Seeking nature in our lifestyle, we moved from the city to the countryside at the foothills of Mt. Akagi, and twenty years have passed now. We till the fields, partake of fresh vegetables, and in daily life, sense the changes of the seasons and the related changes of the body, energy from the forest, and the good taste of the water and air. In the peaceful quiet of nature, I feel the breath and spirit of the forest. The stars, moon and sun feel close, and I feel that all the cells of my body are breathing with the universe. Further, what gives me the most joy in living are the subtle changes in my body adjusting to the changes of the seasons every year, and the fact that I can experience clearly the comfortable and pleasant feeling of my body as it changes. It is said that most of the body's cells are renewed every few months, and this is what I can actually sense.
It is the same as a tree that starts to prepare buds foreseeing the coming of spring, puts forth buds with the arrival of spring, and then blossoms flowers. The season of fresh young leaves passes, and as summer approaches, the tree spreads out leaves in the midst of overflowing energy. As summer ends, gradually from the tree arises a sense of calm and the leaves begin to take on color. In the season of autumn colors, the tree moves us deeply. Eventually, the leaves fall and as we drift into a quiet atmosphere, preparations for winter have already been completed. Then, in the severe winter, the tree closes and appears to be just enduring, but preparations for the next spring have begun secretly.
As I look at the sky, trees, flowers and grasses, I sense that the human body is the same. These kinds of changes and workings of nature to bring order are occurring in each person's body, in the city and countryside. In particular, women's bodies follow nature's rhythm. The pelvis opens and closes, and from the underside of the feet to the ankles, lumbar region, and spine, the fact that all are connected in their movements can be said to be miraculous.
A midwife who participates in my seminars said, "On full moon days, there are many childbirths. Mothers and babies know the right time to be born into this world. Contractions come with a fixed rhythm like the swell of the ocean at the rising tide."
However, like myself in the past, people are not aware of the workings in tune with the rhythm of life. Instead, more women than we had imagined are suffering because they disrupt the workings of life with medicines and unnatural lifestyles. Perhaps many people have given up on life after having tried various things without attaining desired results. I want to shout from the depths of my heart, "That is not the way things are. If you trust and leave things completely to the nature in the body and the power of the forces toward recovery within yourself, you will definitely head toward recovery and be able to enjoy living life."
Our society is becoming more and more artificial and is becoming separated from nature, but in fact, bountiful nature lies in the place closest to us, that is, within each of us in our body. I feel that now is an important era in which we can listen to the voice of nature within ourselves, regain the rhythm of the workings of nature, and revive the environment of the woman's body.
In this book, I have gathered only things that I thought were effective from my actual practice of the "body's natural lifestyle," and from the many women I have encountered in my seminars, things that are easy to grasp and can be practiced without being a specialist in seitai. There is nothing that would make me happier than to have the readers become healthy by practicing the methods in this book, and gradually attain harmony between the workings of nature and the nature within the woman.