SHI Celebrates 20 Years of Accessible Macrobiotic Education

Our Philosophy
There are enormous resources spent on health care each year, yet the overall health of humanity is declining. All the while, the awareness of the connection between diet and health is spreading. As a result, more and more people are starting to understand that they can create their own health. Here are some basic steps one can take to get started:

• Add to your diet, don’t subtract
• Start with a primarily plant-based diet
• Get exercise outdoors regularly

After 50 years of guiding and educating people in macrobiotics, SHI founder Denny Waxman decided it was time to update the approach to macrobiotic practice to make it more open and inclusive. Now, the Strengthening Health Institute allows people to learn that approach while making it easier to learn and adapt to the fundamentals of macrobiotics without being too restrictive (a major difference between macrobiotic practice of the past).

The Early Years
Denny started the Strengthening Health Institute in 1997 to educate people to his unique approach to macrobiotics. In 2002, SHI officially became a 501c3 non-profit and began creating educational programs primarily for people who were already familiar with macrobiotics. Most early participants had a strong background in macrobiotic education and were looking to expand their understanding and practice. The first several years focused on advanced studies to  guide people to become macrobiotic teachers and counselors.

At this time, most macrobiotic educational programs and seminars were held on-site at retreat centers and other locations where people could easily study and interact with each other. In 2006, our own physical center was created and included our signature café, called Genmai (Japanese for brown rice). As time evolved, it became clear that to reach more people, SHI would need to develop a strong online presence. The last 7 years have been focused on doing just that!

What We’re Celebrating
Through SHI Macrobiotics’ educational programs, we have had a positive impact on the lives of tens of thousands of people, including our friends, online students, on-site participants, and of course our growing list of macrobiotic educational partners.

Here at SHI Macrobiotics, we have developed videos, webinars, online courses, on-site residentials, healthy vacation adventures, cooking classes, blog articles, conferences, and assisted in the creation of the new macrobiotics definition. Let’s explore a few of these current accomplishments in more detail below.

Educational Programs

• 3 online courses ranging from macrobiotic basics to training for becoming a macrobiotic counselor
• 3 online recorded cooking classes
• 4 online macrobiotic conferences
• 30 webinars for special topics on health including dealing with the coronavirus
• 10 modules for understanding the SHI approach to macrobiotics
• Annual onsite residentials (that we hope to continue again soon)
• 70 blog articles related to health, diet, and lifestyle
• 22 videos in our free website video library about the unique nature of macrobiotic practice
• Many alliances that include: the Kushi Institute, the George Ohsawa Macrobiotics Foundation (GOMF), the Instituto Macrobiótico de Spain (IMS), the Instituto Macrobiótico de Portugal (IMP), La Sanagola (Italy), the Mindful Practice Center Fairfax, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, and others.
• The definition of Macrobiotics was long overdue, and we were able to come together with many other leaders across the globe to align all of our visions into one singular and widely accepted definition.

Planning the Future of SHI Macrobiotics
Counselor and Teacher Training courses are an important aspect of our focus on the future. It is this area that we plan to invest significant resources into so that our message on healthy living can grow to reach even more people.

We are currently creating a Macrobiotic Impact Study that will bring together medical doctors and researchers in macrobiotics to bring in real-world tangible case studies for people to learn about in more detail. Because most modern studies are conducted with a specific outcome in mind, we will show the benefits of a healthy macrobiotic diet and lifestyle through data-driven empirical analysis. The intention of this is to document the impact macrobiotic practice has had personally and socially over the last 50 years.

Continued access to educational programs for those that may have limited resources is a part of our organization’s mission. It is for this reason that we have many free resources that are available to the public, as well as scholarships and sliding-scales.

Adding new courses and improving existing courses will allow us to spread our message even further and reach an audience that may have limited time and resources to spend on learning. Learning and moving towards health at your own pace is much more powerful than a restrictive or “all-or-nothing” approach. By updating some of the audio and visual capabilities we currently have, we shall become more innovative and create much higher-quality content for our students to learn from.

About SHI Macrobiotics

Here at the Strengthening Health Institute, more commonly known as SHI Macrobiotics now, we like to think of ourselves as much more than simply a macrobiotic school. Although, we do pride ourselves on creating genuinely valuable courses and programs that help people to learn more about food, health, lifestyle, and how to keep up with all of the information essential for personal and planetary health.

This knowledge comes from decades of studying, teaching, and interacting with macrobiotic centers around the world. Denny has worked with all the leading macrobiotics teachers across the globe since the 1960’s when macrobiotics made its initial appearance in Western civilization. We strongly invite you to register for a course and attend one of our events so you can personally experience the unique spiritual, physical, mental and emotional benefits that macrobiotics has to offer. You would be surprised how truly delicious and satisfying healthy food can be!