Using the Kotatsu for Health

    I have owned a kotatsu for many years but the last time it graced our living room was in early 2013, when I lay under it, reading Sandman and pondering if perhaps our attempts to start a family had been fruitful. They had, and almost nine months later, we welcomed my daughter into our family and the idea of having a warm place to relax in winter was the furthest thing from my mind. I was always busy, always getting something, always trying to catch up and never quite making it, like any parent of a young child. As my daughter grew, I reminded myself that she was still so active and silly and messy that I would never have time to enjoy the heated table if I bothered to take it out. All that would happen if the kotatsu were out would be her spilling things all over it or ripping up the blanket portion or ruining it somehow. It wouldn't be her fault, for she was only a little kid, but it would really hurt my feelings to see the thing destroyed, so I elected to keep the thing stored away instead. 

    Last month, things changed. Mostly, this is thanks to an impromptu visit from a friend from high school and her beau, neither of whom had been to Japan before. In the course of the incredible amount of apartment cleaning that had to take place, I elected to bring out the kotatsu. My kid is five-years-old now, capable of sitting down and relaxing with me while we warm ourselves under the heated table. Even if we only had it out for the week that my friends were visiting, it would be worth showing them a real Japanese kotatsu experience.

Chaotic? Yes. Ruined? No. Using the kotatsu with a child is do-able and rewarding.

    After I set it up, it was like an epiphany. This is what winter has been missing. I have never been so happy to have cleaned my house. Pulling out the kotatsu may well save my winter. I had forgotten how nice it was to feel the various aches and pains I suffer from melt away in the heat. These days, when I am having a hard day or exhausting afternoon, I lay under the table on my stomach and let the heat work on my lower back, which is such a frequent source of pain that I sometimes pass out from the relief of it, unintentionally relaxing to the point of unconsciousness and waking up half an hour later. It's as if my back pain is an on/off switch, and as soon as the kotatsu is actively working on it, I don't have to remain functional.

I don't know how you watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but we do it with warm tootsies.

    This relaxation is a huge factor for my mental health as the weather gets colder and colder in addition to the effects of the warmth on my various aches and pains. If you're having a hard winter and can afford it, a kotatsu might just be the thing to turn this cold season around.