IKIGAI: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.
IKIGAI
The Japanese Secret to
a Long and Happy Life.
--- Hector Garcia And Francesc Miralles
The art of staying young while growing
old.
Our ikigai is the reason we get up in the morning – says
people of Okinawa, the island with most centenarians in the world.
Having a clearly defined Ikigai, brings satisfaction, meaning
and happiness to our lives.
Don’t retire: Many Japanese people never retire, they keep on
doing what they love as long as their health allows.
Eternal Youth: The Okinawa people live much longer,
have fewer chronic illnesses, have less rate of dementia and fewer free
radicals.
Keys to Longevity: Diet, exercise, finding a purpose in
life(Ikigai) and forming strong social ties.
Food/Drinks : Consume little meat or processed foods and drink
alcohol in moderation.
Exercise: Move, take walks rather than drive and Gardening which
all of them have in common.
80 percent secret: “Hara Hachi bu” – Fill your
belly to 80 percent.
o
We
should stop eating when we are starting to feel full.
o
By
presenting their meals on small plates, the Japanese tend to eat less.
o
They
consume a daily average of 1800 – 1900 calories and have BMI between 18-22.
o
Okinawan
diet is rich in tofu, sweet potatoes, fish( thrice a week) and vegetables( 11
ounces per day).
Moai: Connected for life :
o
Moai
is an informal group of people with common interests who look out for one
another.
o
Being
a part of Moai helps maintain emotional and financial stability.
o
The
feeling of belonging and support gives the individual a sense of security and
helps increase the life expectancy.
Anti Aging Secrets
Aging’s escape velocity :
o
What
would happen if we had the technology to add a year of life expectancy every
year? We would achieve biological immortality having reached aging’s “escape
velocity”.
Active mind, youthful body:
o
A
classic saying “means sana in corpore sano” – a sound mind in a sound body.
o
Having
a youthful mind drives you toward a healthy lifestyle that will slow the aging
process.
o
Give
your brain a workout – Learning something new everyday, Interacting with
others, playing a game helps prevent the depression that comes with solitude.
o
Expose
yourself to change, even if stepping outside your comfort zone means feeling a
bit of anxiety.
Stress: accused of killing longevity:
o
Most
health problems are caused by stress.
o
As
it helps us survive in hostile surroundings, we have used this response to deal
with difficult situations and to flee from predators.
o
Stress
in moderation is beneficial, as it helps overcome the challenges in our daily
lives.
o
But
being in stress all the time brings degenerative effect over time.
Be Mindful about reducing stress:
o
Stress
not only causes anxiety but it also highly psychosomatic, affecting everything
from our digestive system to our skin.
o
Best
way to avoid its toll on us is – practicing mindfulness.
o
Try
to connect with the here and now and limit thoughts that tend to spiral out of
control.
o
To
reach a state of mindfulness, you can practice meditation, breathing exercises,
yoga and body scans.
A little stress is good for you:
o
Small
dose of stress is a positive thing.
o
A
study by Dr. Howard S. Friedman revealed that people who maintained a low level
of stress, who faced challenges and put their heart and soul into their work in
order to succeed, leved longer than those who choose a more relaxed lifestyle
and retired early.
A lot of sitting will age you:
o
Rise
in sedentary behaviour has led to numerous diseases such as hypertension and
obesity which in turn affect longevity.
o
Just
make a few changes in your lifestyle and renew your body and mind:
§ Walk to work or just walk for 20 min
a day.
§ Use stairs instead of elevator.
§ Participate in social activities and
spend less time in front of tv/phone.
§ Include fruits in your diet and you
will have less urge to snack.
§ Get the right amount of sleep.
§ Play with children or pets or join a
sports team
§ Be conscious of your daily routine in
order to detect harmful habits and replace them with more positive ones.
A model’s best-kept secret.:
o
Take
great care of your skin as it tells us the most about people’s age.
o
Sleep
is a key antiaging tool because when we sleep we generate melatonin which is a
powerful antioxidant and helps us live longer.
o
Although
melatonin production decreases after 30 years of age but we can compensate for
this by:
§ Eating a balanced diet and getting
more calcium.
§ Soaking up a moderate amount of sun
everyday.
§ Getting enough sleep.
§ Avoiding stress, alcohol, tobacco and
caffeine.
Antiaging attitudes:
o
Most
doctors agree that the secret to keeping the body young is keeping the mind
active.
o
People
who live the longest have two special traits: a positive attitude
and a high degree of emotional awareness.
An ode to Longevity:
o
A
song by a woman in Ogimi who was about to turn 100:
To keep healthy and live a long life,
Eat just a little of everything with relish,
Go to bed early, get up early and then go out for a walk,
We live each day with serenity and we enjoy the journey.
To keep healthy and have a long life,
We get on well with all of our friends.
Spring, summer, fall, winter,
We happily enjoy all the seasons.
The secret is to not get distracted by how old the fingers
are;
From the fingers to the head and back once again.
If you keep moving with your fingers working, 100 years will
come to you.
From LOGOTHERAPY to IKIGAI
What is Logotherapy?
o
It
pushes patients to consciously discover their life’s purpose in order to
confront their neuroses.
o
It
helps you find reasons to live.
The Search for meaning.
o
Here
is the process of Logotherapy:
§ A person feels empty, frustrated or
anxious.
§ The therapist shows him that what he
is feeling is the desire to have a meaningful life.
§ The patient discovers his life’s
purpose.
§ Of his own free will, the patient
decides to accept or reject that destiny.
§ This newfound passion for life helps
him overcome obstacles and sorrows.
o
Everything
can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedom – to choose
one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
Fight for yourself
o
He
who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.
o Existential crisis, is typical of
modern societies in which people do what they are told to do or what others do
rather than what they want to do.
o Sunday neurosis, is what happens when
without the obligations of the workweek, the individual realizes how empty he
is inside.
o Acc to Logotherapy, discovering one’s
purpose in life helps an individual fill that existential void.
o A man who faced his problems and
turned his objectives into actions, could look back on his life in peace as he
grew old.
Better living through Logotherapy
o
We
don’t create the meaning of life, we discover it.
o
Excessive
attention to a desire can keep that desire from being fulfilled.
o
Humor
can help break negative cycles and reduce anxiety.
o
The
side of the equation we end up depends on our decisions and not the condition
in which we find ourselves.
Morita Therapy
o
Shoma
Morita, a Zen Buddhist, created his own purpose centered therapy in Japan
called as Morita Therapy.
o
This
therapy focuses on teaching patients to accept their emotions without trying to
control them, since their feelings will change as a result of their actions.
o
It
is not meant to eliminate the symptoms; instead it teaches us to accept our
desires, anxieties, fears and worries and let them go.
o
He
believed that people with obsessive thinking become more trapped in their own
suffering when they try to escape from their fears and discomfort.
Basic Principles of Morita Therapy
o Accept
your feelings :
§ If we try to get rid of one wave with
another, we end up with an infinite sea.
§ We don’t create our feelings, they simply
come to us and we have to accept them.
o
Do what you should be doing.
§ We should focus on the present moment
and if we are suffering, accept that suffering.
§ It doesn’t offer its patients
explanantions, but rather allows them to learn from their actions and
activities.
o
Discover your life’s purpose:
§ We cant control our emotions but we
can take charge of our actions everyday.
The Four phases of Morita Therapy
o
Isolation
and Rest( 5-7 days)
o
Light
Occuoational Therapy ( 5-7 days)
o
Occupational
Therapy(5-7 days)
o
Return
to Social Life and the Real World
Find Flow in Everything You do
The power of flow:
o
Flow
is a state of pleasure, delight, creativity and process when we are completely
immersed in life.
o
To
achieve this optimal experience, we have to focus on increasing the time spent
on activities that bring us to this state of flow rather than be involved in
activities that bring us immediate pleasure
o
When
we flow, we are focused on a concrete task without any distractions.
Conditions for achieving flow:
o
Knowing
What to do
o
Knowing
How to do it
o
Knowing
How well you are doing
o
Knowing
Where to go
o
Perceiving
significant challenges
o
Perceiving
significant skills
o
Being
free from distractions
o
Concentrating
on one thing at a time may be the single most important factor in achieving the
flow
Sophisticated Simplicity
o
The
key is to always have a meaningful challenge to overcome in order to maintain a
flow.
o
Simplicity
and attention to detail are the keywords.
o
The
Japanese have learned to take pleasure in their work, to lose their sense of
time.
o
They
are skilled in bringing nature and technology together.
o
Can
someone really retire is he is passionate about what he does? No.
o
They
do what they love until their dying day.
Microflow: Enjoying mundane tasks
o
Our
ability to turn routine tasks into moments of microflow, into something we
enjoy, is key to our being happy, since we all have to do such tasks.
o
Even
Bill Gates enjoy washing dishes every night to relax and clear his mind and he tries
to do it a little better every day.
Instant vacations
o
Training
the mind can get us to a place of flow more quickly.
o
Don’t
worry about reaching ‘nirvana’ and focus on the journey while meditating.
o
When
doing business in Japan, process, manners and how you work on something is more
important than the final results.
o
“Rituals
over goals”.
Using flow to find your Ikigai
o
Note
down all the activities in your life which makes you enter flow.
o
Try
to spend more time in the activities that make you flow.
o
Flow
is like a muscle, the more you train, the closer you will be to your ikigai.
Masters of Longevity
Misao Okawa (117):
“Eat and sleep and you’ll live a long time. You have to learn to
relax”.
Maria Capovilla (116):
“I’ve never eaten meat in my life.”
Jeanne Calment (122):
“Everything’s fine.”
Walter Breuning (114):
“If you keep your mind and body busy, you’ll be around a long time.”
Alexander Imich (111):
“I don’t know. I just haven’t died yet.”
LESSONS FROM JAPAN’s
CENTENARIANS
o The
grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to
love and something to hope for.
o They
are always pursuing their Ikigai but never in rush.
o Open
your heart to people with a nice smile on your face.
o Cultivate
good habits like growing your own vegetables and cooking them yourself.
o Nurture
your friendships everyday.
o Always
staying busy but doing one thing at a time without being overwhelmed.
o There’s
no secret to it. The trick is just to live.
THE IKIGAI DIET
Okinawa’s Miracle diet:
o Variety
seems to be the key.
o Make
sure you are “eating the rainbow”. At least 7 types of fruits and vegetables
should be on the table.
o More
than 30% of daily calories come from vegetables.
o Rice
is the primary food in Okinawa.
o They
rarely eat sugar, and if they do, it’s cane sugar.
o They
eat fish at an average of 3 times per week.
o They
consume less sugar, less salt and overall less calories.
o They
prefer to eat food with high nutritional value ( called superfoods).
o Snapin-cha: A
mix of green tea and Jasmine flowers. They drink an average of 3 cups of this
tea every day.
GENTLE MOVEMENTS, LONGER LIFE
People who live longest are not the ones who do the most
exercise but rather the ones who move the most.
There are multiple easy to do exercises which you can
follow as per your interest.
- Tai chi – Chinese martial art.
- Yoga
- Radio taiso
- Qigong
- Shiatsu
Resilience and WABI-SABI
Resilience is our ability to deal with setback.
Worrying about things that are beyond our control
accomplishes nothing.
Being aware of the impermanence of things does not have to
make us sad; it should help us love the present moment and all those who
surround us.
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese concept which teaches us that
instead of searching for beauty in perfection, we should look for it in things
which are flawed, incomplete.
Ichi-go ichi-e teaches us to focus on the present and
enjoy each moment that life brings us.
I hope you all loved reading this summary of this really
great book and I hope it will guide you to find your “Ikigai” real soon!!
This is Really Helpful #worthreading
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