Ikigai

Introduction

Ikigai is a book co-authored by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles that explores a Japanese concept potentially explaining the extraordinary longevity of the Japanese, especially on the island of Okinawa, where there are 24.55 people over the age of 100 for every 100,000 inhabitants.

• Ikigai is a Japanese concept that translates roughly as "the happiness of always being busy".
• Rather than harbouring animosity towards outsiders, Okinawans live by the principle of ichariba chode, a local expression that means "treat everyone like a brother, even if you have never met them before".
• From an early age, they practice yuimaaru, or teamwork, and so are used to helping one another, making every resident feel like part of a community.
• Nurturing friendships, eating light, getting enough rest, and doing regular, moderate exercise are all part of the equation for good health, but at the heart of the joie de vivre that inspires these centenarians to keep celebrating birthdays and cherishing each new day is their ikigai.

Ikigai - The Art of Staying Young While Growing Old

What is your reason for being?

In Japanese, ikigai is written as 生き甲斐, combining 生き, which means “life”, with 甲斐, which means “to be worthwhile”.

• 甲斐can be broken down into the 甲, which means “armor”, “number one” and “to be the first” (to head into battle, taking initiative as a leader), and 斐, which means “beautiful” or “elegant”.

According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai.

• Some people have found their ikigai, while others are still looking though they carry it with them.
• Our ikigai is hidden deep inside each of us, and finding it requires a patient search.
• Our ikigai is the reason we get up in the morning.

Having a clearly defined ikigai brings satisfaction, happiness and meaning to our lives.

• Having a purpose in life is so important in Japanese culture that our idea of retirement simply does not exist.
• This cultural difference potentially explains why many Japanese people remain active after they retire: they keep doing what they love for as long as their health allows.
• Recent medical studies of centenarians from Okinawa and other so-called Blue Zones reveal that they not only live longer but enjoy enviable levels of vitality and health that would be unthinkable for people of advanced age elsewhere (e.g., fewer chronic illnesses and lower rates of dementia).

The island of almost (eternal youth)

According to scientists who have studied the five Blue Zones, the keys to longevity are diet, exercise, finding a purpose in life (an ikigai), and forming strong social ties - that is, having a broad circle of friends and good family relations.

• Members of these communities manage their time well to reduce stress, consume little meat or processed foods, and drink alcohol in moderation.
• They do not do strenuous exercise, but they do move every day, taking walks and working in their vegetable gardens. People in the Blue Zones would rather walk than drive. Gardening, which involves daily low-intensity movement, is a practice almost all of them have in common.

The 80 percent secret

One of the most common sayings in Japan is "Hara hachi bu", which is repeated before or after eating and means something like "Fill your belly to 80 percent".

• Ancient wisdom advises against eating until we are full.
• There is no objective way to know if your stomach is at 80 percent capacity, but it simply means we should stop eating when we are starting to feel full, rather than overeating (the extra side dish or snacks) and wearing down our bodies with long digestive processes that accelerate cellular oxidation.

The locals eat a diet rich in vegetables and tofu, typically served on small plates.

• The Okinawan diet is rich in tofu, sweet potatoes, fish (three times per week), and vegetables (roughly 11 ounces per day).
• By presenting their meals on many small plates, the Japanese tend to eat less.
• A typical meal in a restaurant is served on five plates on a tray, four of them very small and the main dish slightly larger. Having five plates in front of you makes it seem like you are going to eat a lot, but what happens most of the time is that you end up feeling satisfied. Hence, Japanese typically stay trim.

Moai: Connected for life

It is customary in Okinawa to form close bonds with local communities.

• A moai is an informal group of people with common interests who look out for one another. For many, serving the community becomes part of their ikigai.
• The moai has its origins in hard times, when resources were scarce and communities had to help one another. To illustrate, farmers would get together to share best practices and help one another cope with meagre harvests.
• Members of a moai make a set monthly contribution to the group. This payment allows them to participate in meetings, dinners, games of go and shogi (Japanese chess), or whatever hobby they have in common. The funds collected by the group are used for activities, but if there is money left over, one member (decided on a rotating basis) receives a set amount from the surplus. In this way, being part of a moai helps maintain emotional and financial stability.
• If a member of a moai is in financial trouble, he or she can get an advance from the group’s savings. While the details of each moai’s accounting practices vary according to the group and its economic means, the feeling of belonging and support gives the individual a sense of security and helps increase life expectancy.

Antiaging Secrets - Little Things that Add Up to A Long and Happy Life

Active mind, youthful body

There is much wisdom in the classic saying "mens sana in corpore sano" ("a sound mind in a sound body"): It reminds us that both mind and body are important and that the health of one is connected to that of the other.

• It has been shown that maintaining an active, adaptable mind is one of the key factors in staying young.
• Having a youthful mind also drives you toward a healthy lifestyle that will slow the aging process.
• Just as a lack of physical exercise has negative effects on our bodies and mood, a lack of mental exercise is bad for us because it causes our neurons and neural connections to deteriorate and, as a result, reduces our ability to react to our surroundings.

Mental training is required to ensure the brain stays in shape.

• We have a tendency to stick to routines because we can get them done quickly and efficiently on "automatic pilot".
• However, once the brain develops ingrained habits, it no longer needs to think. The neurons start to age.
• This process is slowed, however, by intellectual activity, curiosity, and a desire to learn.
• When presented with new information or situations, doing a task for the first time, learning something new every day, playing games, and interacting with other people, the brain creates new connections and is revitalized, thereby preventing the aging of the mind.

Stress: Accused of killing longevity

Research into the causes of premature aging has shown that stress is a significant factor, because the body wears down much faster during periods of crisis.

• This stress, in turn, is a major contributor to many health problems.
• Stress has also been found to accelerate cellular aging by weakening telomeres, the structures responsible for cellular regeneration. Consequently, the greater the stress, the greater the degenerative effect on the cells.

Stress is a natural response to information being perceived by the body as potentially dangerous or problematic.

• Theoretically, this is a useful reaction to help us survive in hostile surroundings. It triggers the release of adrenaline and cortisol, preparing us for a fight-or-flight response.
• Unlike in the old days, when we needed to flee from predators, the frantic pace of modern life and a nearly constant state of competition have kept us in a constant state of stress, where the brain associates the ping of a cell phone or an email notification with the threat of a predator. This sustained, intense flow of cortisol creates a range of health problems, such as adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome, insomnia, anxiety, high blood pressure, and depression.

Hence, many experts recommend practicing mindfulness (e.g., meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, and body scans) as a stress-reduction method.

• Even if our responses are conditioned by habit, we need to be fully conscious of them and try to keep thoughts from spiralling out of control.

That said, a low level of stress can be a positive thing.

• People who face challenges and put their heart and soul into their work to succeed live longer than those who choose a more relaxed lifestyle and retire earlier. Hence, many supercentenarians have lived intense lives and worked well into old age.

A lot of sitting will age you

Remember, the rise of sedentary behaviour in the Western world (e.g., lack of physical activity, a lot of sitting) has led to numerous diseases, such as hypertension and obesity, across all ages.

A more active lifestyle that makes us feel better inside and out is encouraged.

• Walk to work, or just go for a walk for at least 30 minutes each day.
• Use your feet instead of an elevator or escalator.
• Participate in social or leisure activities so you do not spend too much time in front of the television or scrolling social media.
• Play with children or pets, or join a sports team.
• Be conscious of your daily routine to detect harmful habits and replace them with more positive ones (e.g., replace junk food with fruit).

A model's best-kept secret

Though we age both physically and mentally, one of the things that tells us the most about a person's age is their skin.

• Most of those who make their living as models claim to sleep between nine and ten hours the night before a fashion show. This gives their skin a taut, wrinkle-free appearance and a healthy, radiant glow.

Science has shown that we should get the right amount of sleep (i.e., 7–9 hours; any more than that can make us lethargic). During sleep, we generate melatonin, which is a powerful antioxidant that preserves youth, helps us live longer, and offers the following benefits:

• Strengthens the immune system
• Protects against cancer
• Promotes the natural production of insulin
• Slows the onset of Alzheimer's disease
• Helps prevent osteoporosis and fight heart disease.

To compensate for the decreased melatonin production after age thirty, we can:

• Eat a balanced diet and get more calcium.
• Soak up a moderate amount of sun each day.
• Getting enough sleep.
• Avoid stress, alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine, which prevent a good night's rest and deprive us of the melatonin we need.

Antiaging attitudes

The secret to keeping the body young is keeping the mind active - a key element of ikigai - and in not caving in when we face difficulties throughout our lives.

• People who live the longest have two dispositional traits in common: a positive attitude and a high degree of emotional awareness. In other words, those who face challenges with a positive outlook and are able to manage their emotions are already well on their way toward longevity.
• A stoic attitude - serenity in the face of a setback - can also help keep you young, as it lowers anxiety and stress levels and stabilizes behaviour.
• Many centenarians and supercentenarians have similar profiles: They have had full lives that were difficult at times, but they knew how to approach these challenges with a positive attitude and not be overwhelmed by the obstacles they faced.

From Logotherapy to Ikagai - How to Live Longer and Better By Finding Your Purpose

Logotherapy and The Search for Meaning

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

A study conducted by Viktor Frankl in his Vienna clinic found that among both patients and personnel, around 80 percent believed that human beings needed a reason for living, and around 60 percent felt they had someone or something in their lives worth dying for.

• Using questions like "Why do you not commit suicide", logotherapy pushes patients to consciously discover their life’s purpose in order to confront their neuroses.
• Their quest to fulfill their destiny then motivates them to press forward, breaking the mental chains of the past and overcoming whatever obstacles they encounter along the way.

Existential frustration arises when our life is without purpose, or when that purpose is skewed.

• In Viktol Frankl’s view, however, there is no need to see this frustration as an anomaly or a symptom of neurosis (mental illness); instead, it can be a positive thing - a catalyst for change.
• In logotherapy, the frustration acts as spiritual anguish - a natural and beneficial phenomenon that drives those who suffer from it to seek a cure, whether on their own or with the help of others, and in so doing to find greater satisfaction in life. It helps them change their own destiny.
• Based on his own experience, Viktol Frankl believed that our health depends on that natural tension that comes from comparing what we have accomplished so far with what we’d like to achieve in the future. What we need, then, is not a peaceful existence, but a challenge we can strive to meet by applying all the skills at our disposal.

Existential crisis, on the other hand, 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.

• They often try to fill the gap between what is expected of them and what they want for themselves with economic power or physical pleasure, or by numbing their senses. It can even lead to suicide.

A few key ideas to better living through logotherapy

• We don’t create the meaning of our life, as Sartre claimed - we discover it.
• We each have a unique reason for being, which can be adjusted or transformed many times over the years.
• Just as worry often brings about precisely the thing that was feared, excessive attention to a desire (or “hyper-intention”) can keep that desire from being fulfilled.
• Humour can help break negative cycles and reduce anxiety.
• We all have the capacity to do noble or terrible things. The side of the equation we end up on depends on our decisions, not on the condition in which we find ourselves.

NOTE: In Viktor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning, the psychiatrist details his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp and the development of his school of psychotherapy, logotherapy. Logotherapy posits that the primary human motivation is the "will to meaning" and that finding purpose is crucial for mental well-being, especially in the face of suffering. Finding this clear purpose (a goal to achieve) allows us to persevere amid constant suffering and doubt, thus affirming the deeper meaning of life.

Morita Therapy

Another psychotherapist, the Zen Buddhist Shoma Morita, developed a therapy that focuses on teaching patients to accept their emotions without trying to control them, believing that their feelings will change as a result of their actions.

• Morita Therapy, therefore, seeks to "create" new emotions through deliberate action.
• This is in direct contrast to the popular Western view, where we tend to believe that what we think influences how we feel, which in turn influences how we act.

The basic principles of Morita therapy

• Accept your feelings, instead of trying to control or get rid of them.
• We do not create our feelings; they simply come to us, and we must accept them.
• Morita linked emotions to the weather: we cannot predict or control them, but we can only observe them.
• Do what you should be doing
• We should not focus on eliminating symptoms, because recovery will come on its own.
• We should focus instead on the present moment: accept the suffering and focus on what we can do.
• Discover your life's purpose
• We cannot control our emotions, but we can take charge of our actions every day.
• This is why we should have a clear sense of our purpose, and always keep Morita’s mantra in mind: "What do we need to be doing right now? What action should we be taking?"

At the end of Morita Therapy, one is reborn with a sense of purpose, free from being controlled by social or emotional pressures.

• This is often related to Naikan introspective meditation (though not an identical part of Morita Therapy), where we deepen our sense of personal responsibility instead of identifying others as the cause of our problems.

And now, Ikigai

Logotherapy and Morita therapy are both grounded in a personal, unique experience that you can access without therapists or spiritual retreats: the mission of finding your ikigai, your existential fuel.

• Once you find it, it is only a matter of having the courage and making the effort to stay on the right path.

Finding Flow in Everything You Do - How to Turn Work and Free Time into Spaces for Growth

Going with the flow

We have all felt our sense of time vanish when we lose ourselves in an activity we enjoy.

• There is no future, no past; there is only the present.
• You are completely immersed in the experience, not thinking about or distracted by anything else.
• Your ego dissolves, and you become part of what you are doing.
• This is the kind of experience Bruce Lee described with his famous "Be water, my friend".

The opposite can also happen.

• When we have to complete a task we do not want to do, every minute feels like a lifetime, and we cannot stop looking at our watch.
• The funny thing is that someone else might really enjoy the same task, but we want to finish as quickly as possible.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called this state of being completely immersed in what we are doing "flow", described it as the pleasure, delight, creativity, and process in which we are completely immersed in life.

• There is no magic recipe for finding happiness or for living according to your ikigai, but one key ingredient is the ability to reach this state of flow and, through this state, to have an “optimal experience”.
• In order to achieve this optimal experience, we have to focus on increasing the time we spend on activities that bring us to this state of flow, rather than allowing ourselves to get caught up in activities that offer immediate pleasure - like eating too much, abusing drugs or alcohol, or stuffing ourselves with chocolate in front of the TV.

When we flow, we are focused on a concrete task without any distractions. Our mind is "in order". The opposite occurs when we try to do something while our mind is on other things.

If you often find yourself losing focus while working on something you consider important, there are several strategies you can employ to increase your chances of achieving flow.

• Choosing a difficult task (but not too difficult)
• Owen Schaffer’s model encourages us to take on tasks that we have a chance of completing but that are slightly outside our comfort zone.
• If the rules for completing a task or achieving a purpose are too basic relative to our skill set, we will likely get bored. Activities that are too easy lead to apathy.
• If, on the other hand, we assign ourselves a task that is too difficult, we won't have the skills to complete it and will almost certainly give up - and feel frustrated, to boot.
• The ideal is to find a middle path, something aligned with our abilities but just a bit of a stretch, so we experience it as a challenge.
• Have a clear, concrete objective
• Video games (played in moderation), board games, and sports are great ways to achieve flow because the objective tends to be very clear: Beat your rival or your own record while following a set of explicitly defined rules.
• With a clear objective as a guiding compass, we can finish faster and more efficiently, even if the path to your goal may not be straight.
• Having a clear objective is important in achieving flow, but once the journey has begun, we should keep this objective in mind without obsessing over it.
• Concentrate on a single task
• This is perhaps one of the greatest obstacles we face today, with so much technology and so many distractions (e.g., YouTube videos, Facebook, chat messages).
• We often think that combining tasks will save us time, but scientific evidence shows that it has the opposite effect. Even those who claim to be good at multitasking are not very productive.
• Multitasking is simply us switching back and forth between tasks very quickly. We end up wasting time, making more mistakes, and remembering less of what we have done.
• In order to focus on a task, we need to be in a distraction-free environment (e.g., turn off the phone, read and respond to email only once or twice daily in clearly defined time blocks) and to have control over what we are doing at every moment (e.g., start your work session with a ritual you enjoy and end it with a reward, practice mindfulness or another form of meditation).

Flow in Japan: Takumis, engineers, geniuses and otakus

What do takumis (artisans), engineers, inventors, and otakus (fans of anime and manga) have in common? They all understand the importance of flowing with their ikigai at all times.

• One widespread stereotype about people in Japan is that they are exceptionally dedicated and hardworking, even though some Japanese people say they look like they are working harder than they really are.
• There is no doubt, though, about their ability to be completely absorbed in a task, or about their perseverance when there is a problem to be solved.
• Japanese people often apply themselves to even the most basic tasks with an intensity that borders on obsession, reaching a sophisticated simplicity and attention to detail in their works.
• Many have learned to take pleasure in their work, losing their sense of time in the state of flow, due to the firm belief that their work is their ikigai.
• For example, at Studio Ghibli that produces the film Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki is so passionate about his work that he cannot stop drawing even the day after his "retirement." In Miyazaki's films, forests have personalities, trees have feelings, and robots befriend birds.

Artists know how important it is to protect their space, control their environment, and be free of distractions if they want to flow with their ikigai.

Microflow: Enjoying mundane tasks

Our ability to turn routine tasks (e.g., washing the dishes) into moments of microflow, into something we enjoy, is key to our being happy, since we all have to do such tasks.

Instant vacations: Getting there through meditation

Training the mind can get us to a place of flow more quickly.

• Meditation is one way to exercise our mental muscles.
• There are many types of meditation, but they all have the same objective: calming the mind, observing our thoughts and emotions, and centering our focus on a single object.
• The basic practice involves sitting with a straight back and focusing on your breath. By fixing your attention on the air moving in and out of your nose, you can slow the torrent of thoughts and clear your mental horizons.
• One of the most common mistakes among people starting to meditate is worrying about doing it "right", achieving absolute mental silence, or reaching "nirvana". The most important thing is to focus on the journey.

Humans as ritualistic beings

Life is inherently ritualistic.

• We could argue that humans naturally follow rituals that keep us busy, such as hunting, cooking, farming, exploring, and raising families.
• In a less obvious way, rituals still permeate daily life and business practices in modern Japan. The main religions in Japan - Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shintoism - are all ones in which the rituals are more important than absolute rules.

Rituals give us clear rules and objectives, which help us enter a state of flow.

• When we have only a big goal in front of us, we might feel lost or overwhelmed by it; rituals help us by giving us the process, the sub-steps, on the path to achieving a goal.

Focus on enjoying your daily rituals, using them as tools to enter a state of flow.

• Don’t worry about the outcome - it will come naturally.
• Happiness is in the doing, not in the result.

The happiest people are not the ones who achieve the most; they are the ones who spend more time than others in a state of flow.

Using flow to find your ikigai

In the answers to which activities in your life make you enter flow, you might find the underlying ikigai that drives your life.

• If you don’t, then keep searching by going deeper into what you like and by spending more of your time in the activities that make you flow.
• Also, try new things that are not on the list of what makes you flow but that are similar and that you are curious about.

Masters of Longevity - Words of Wisdom from the Longest-Living People in the World

Eat and sleep, you'll live a long time. You have to learn to relax. - Misao Okawa (117)

I've never eaten meat in my life. - Maria Capovilla (116)

I see badly, I hear badly, and I feel bad, but everything's fine. - Jeanne Calment (122)

If you keep your mind and body busy, you'll be around a long time. - Walter Breuning (114)

I don't know. I just haven't died yet. - Alexander Imich (111)

Ikigai artists

We want to drop dead onstage. That would be a nice theatrical way to go. - Christoper Plummer (actor)

Please, just let me work! - Osama Tezuka (manga artist)

Everybody complains about their aches and pains and all that, but my friends are either dead or are still working. - Frederick Wiseman (filmmaker)

I am always waiting to finish the next thing. Absurd, I know. I go day by day. - Carmen Herrera (painter)

Lessons From Japan's Centenarians - Traditions and Proverbs for Happiness and Longevity

Keys to the Ogimi Lifestyle

• One hundred percent of the people we interviewed keep a vegetable garden, and most of them also have fields of tea, mangoes, shikuwasa, and so on.
• The moai are a group of people who help one another.
• They are not organized around any concrete objective but function more like a family.
• Volunteer work, rather than money, drives much of what happens in Ogimi. This structure ensures everyone can be useful and feels like a part of the community.
• They help each other with everything from work in the fields (harvesting sugarcane or planting rice) to building houses and municipal projects.
• They celebrate all the time, even little things.
• Music, song, and dance are essential parts of daily life.
• The main religion in Okinawa is known as Ryukyu Shinto.
• Ryukyu Shinto combines elements of Chinese Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shintoism with shamanistic and animistic elements.
• Ancestor worship is another important feature of spiritual practice in Okinawa, and in Japan in general.
• The home of each generation’s firstborn usually contains a butsudan, or small altar, used to pray for and make offerings to the family’s ancestors.
• They have an important purpose in life, or several.
• They have an ikigai, but they do not take it too seriously.
• They are relaxed and enjoy all that they do.
• They are passionate about everything they do, however insignificant it might seem.
• The locals' lifestyle always seems to be busy with important tasks, but upon closer inspection, they do everything with a sense of calm and are never in a rush.
• They are always busy, but they occupy themselves with tasks that allow them to relax.
• They are very proud of their traditions and local culture.

Few meaningful and inspiring statements captured in the interviews

• Don't worry
• The secret to a long life is not to worry. And to keep your heart young - don’t let it grow old. Open your heart to people with a nice smile on your face. If you smile and open your heart, your grandchildren and everyone else will want to see you.
• The best way to avoid anxiety is to go out in the street and say hello to people. I do it every day.
• Cultivate good habits
• I plant my own vegetables and cook them myself. That’s my ikigai.
• I get up at four every day. I set my alarm for that time, have a cup of coffee, and do a little exercise, lifting my arms. That gives me energy for the rest of the day.
• Working. If you don’t work, your body breaks down.
• To live a long time you need to do three things: exercise to stay healthy, eat well, and spend time with people.
• Nurture your friendships every day
• My main hobby is getting together with friends and neighbours.
• Talking each day with the people you love, that’s the secret to a long life.
• Chatting and drinking tea with my neighbours. That’s the best thing in life. And singing together.
• Live an unhurried life
• My secret to a long life is always saying to myself, ‘Slow down,’ and ‘Relax.’ You live much longer if you’re not in a hurry.
• Doing many different things every day. Always staying busy, but doing one thing at a time, without getting overwhelmed.
• The secret to long life is going to bed early, waking up early, and going for a walk. Living peacefully and enjoying the little things. Getting along with your friends. Spring, summer, fall, winter . . . enjoying each season, happily.
• Be optimistic
• I’m ninety-eight, but consider myself young. I still have so much to do.
• The most important thing in Ogimi, in life, is to keep smiling.
• There’s no secret to it. The trick is just to live.

The Ikigai Diet - What the World's Longest-Living People Eat and Drink

While life expectancy in Japan is high overall, Okinawa exceeds the national average for several reasons.

• Experts point out that, for one thing, Okinawa is the only province in Japan without trains. Its residents have to walk or cycle when not driving.
• It is also the only province that has managed to follow the Japanese government’s recommendation of eating less than ten grams of salt per day.

Okinawa's miracle diet

Okinawa's miracle diet

• Locals eat a wide variety of foods, especially vegetables; variety seems to be key.
• They eat an average of eighteen different foods each day, a striking contrast to the nutritional poverty of our fast-food culture.
• They eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day, with Okinawans consuming at least seven types of fruits and vegetables on a daily basis.
• The easiest way to check if there is enough variety on your table is to make sure you’re “eating the rainbow”. A table featuring red peppers, carrots, spinach, cauliflower, and eggplant, for example, offers great colour and variety.
• Vegetables, potatoes, legumes, and soy products such as tofu are the staples of an Okinawan’s diet.
• More than 30 percent of their daily calories comes from vegetables.
• Grains are the foundation of their diet.
• Japanese people eat white rice every day, sometimes adding noodles.
• They rarely eat sugar, and if they do, it’s cane sugar.
• Okinawans eat fish an average of three times per week.
• Unlike in other parts of Japan, the most frequently consumed meat is pork, though locals eat it only once or twice per week.
• Okinawans consume, in general, one-third as much sugar as the rest of Japan’s population, which means that sweets and chocolate are much smaller part of their diet.
• They also eat practically half as much salt as the rest of Japan: 7 grams per day, compared to an average of 12.
• They consume fewer calories: an average of 1,785 per day, compared to 2,068 in the rest of Japan. In fact, low caloric intake is common among the five Blue Zones.

Hara hachi bu

One easy way to start applying the concept of hara hachi bu (eating until you are 80% full) is to skip dessert or to reduce portion size.

• The idea is to still be a little bit hungry when you finish.
• This is why portion size tends to be much smaller in Japan than in the West.
• Food is not served as appetizers, main courses, and dessert. Instead, it is much more common to see everything presented at once on small plates: one with rice, another with vegetables, a bowl of miso soup, and something to snack on.
• Serving food on many small plates makes it easier to avoid eating too much, and facilitates the varied diet.

So, eat less to live longer?

Without taking it to the extreme of malnutrition, eating fewer calories than our bodies ask for seems to increase longevity.

• The key to staying healthy while consuming fewer calories is eating foods with a high nutritional value (especially "superfoods") and avoiding those that add to our overall caloric intake but offer little to no nutritional value.

Calorie restriction is one of the most effective ways to add years to your life.

• If the body regularly consumes enough, or too many, calories, it gets lethargic and starts to wear down, expending significant energy on digestion alone.
• Another benefit of calorie restriction is that it reduces levels of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1) in the body, a protein that plays a significant role in the aging process.
• Data increasingly indicate that moderate calorie restriction with adequate nutrition has a powerful protective effect against obesity, type 2 diabetes, inflammation, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease and reduces metabolic risk factors associated with cancer.

An alternative to following the 80 percent rule on a daily basis is to fast for one or two days each week.

• The 5:2 (or fasting) diet recommends two days of fasting (consuming fewer than five hundred calories) every week and eating normally on the other five days.

15 natural antioxidants found in the Okinawan diet

Antioxidants are molecules that slow the oxidation process in cells, neutralizing the free radicals that cause damage and accelerate aging.

Because they are rich in antioxidants and are eaten nearly every day in the region, these fifteen foods are considered keys to Okinawan vitality:

• Tofu
• Miso
• Tuna
• Carrots
• Goya (bitter melon)
• Kombu (sea kelp)
• Cabbage
• Nori (seaweed)
• Onion
• Soy sprouts
• Hechima (cucumber-like gourd)
• Soybeans (boiled or raw)
• Sweet potato
• Peppers
• Sanpin-cha (jasmine tea)

Sanpin-cha: The reigning infusion in Okinawa

Okinawans drink more Sanpin-cha - a mix of green tea and jasmine flowers - than any other kind of tea.

• Okinawans drink an average of three cups of Sanpin-cha every day

In addition to all the antioxidant benefits of green tea, it boasts the benefits of jasmine, which include

• Reducing the risk of heart attack
• Strengthening the immune system
• Helping relieve stress
• Lowering cholesterol

The powerful shikuwasa

Shikuwasa is the citrus fruit par excellence of Okinawa, and Ogimi is its largest producer in all of Japan.

• Shikuwasas also contain high levels of nobiletin, a flavonoid rich in antioxidants.
• All citrus fruits - grapefruits, oranges, lemons - are high in nobiletin, but Okinawa’s shikuwasas have forty times as much as oranges. Consuming nobiletin has been proven to protect us from arteriosclerosis, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and obesity in general.
• Shikuwasas also contain vitamins C and B1, beta carotene, and minerals.

They are used in many traditional dishes, to add flavour to food, and are squeezed to make juice.

Gentle Movements, Longer Life - Exercises from the East that Promote Health and Longevity

Studies from the Blue Zones suggest that the people who live longest are not the ones who do the most exercise but rather the ones who move the most.

• Ogimi’s residents do not stay at home looking out the window or reading the newspaper.
• They walk a lot, do karaoke with their neighbours, get up early in the morning, and, as soon as they have had breakfast - or even before- head outside to weed their gardens.
• They do not go to the gym or exercise intensely, but they almost never stop moving in the course of their daily routines.

The Eastern disciplines for bringing body, mind, and soul into balance have become quite popular in the West, but in their countries of origin they have been used for ages to promote health.

• Yoga - originally from India, though very popular in Japan - and China’s qigong and tai chi, among other disciplines, seek to create harmony between a person’s body and mind so they can face the world with strength, joy, and serenity.
• These gentle exercises offer extraordinary health benefits, and are particularly appropriate for older individuals who have a harder time staying fit.

Radio taiso

This morning warm-up has been around since before World War II.

• The “radio” part of its name is from when the instructions for each exercise were transmitted over the radio, but today people usually do these movements while tuned to a television channel or Internet video demonstrating the steps.
• One of the main purposes of doing radio taiso is to promote a spirit of unity among participants.
• Statistics show that 30 percent of Japanese practice radio taiso for a few minutes every morning, but radio taiso is one thing that almost everyone we interviewed in Ogimi had in common.

Yoga (瑜伽)

Yoga similarly strives to unite body and mind, guiding us toward a healthy lifestyle in harmony with the world around us.

The main objectives of yoga are:

• To bring us closer to our (human) nature
• Mental and physical purification
• To bring us closer to the divine

Tai chi （太极拳)

Tai chi is a Chinese martial art that can be traced back hundreds of years to Buddhism and Confucianism; it is very popular in Japan, too.

• According to Chinese tradition, it was created by the Taoist master and martial arts practitioner Zhang Sanfeng (张三丰), though it was Yang Luchan (杨露禅) who in the nineteenth century brought the form to the rest of the world.
• Tai chi was originally a neijia (内家), or internal martial art, meaning its goal was personal growth. Focused on self-defense, it teaches those who practice it to defeat their adversaries by using the least amount of force possible and by relying on agility.
• Tai chi, which was also seen as a means of healing body and mind, would go on to be used more frequently to foster health and inner peace.

Qigong (气功)

Also known as chi kung, its name combines qi (life force, or energy) and gong (work), indicating that the form works with the individual’s life force.

• Though relatively modern, especially under its current name, the art of qigong is based on the Tao yin (导引), an ancient art meant to foster mental and physical well-being.

Qigong involves static and dynamic physical exercises that stimulate respiration in a standing, seated, or reclined position.

• There are many different styles of Qigong, but all of them seek to strengthen and regenerate qi.
• Though its movements are typically gentle, the practice is intense.

Shiatsu (指压)

Created in Japan in the early twentieth century, principally for the treatment of arthritis, Shiatsu also works on energy flow through the application of pressure with the thumbs and the palms of the hands.

• In combination with stretching and breathing exercises, it seeks to create equilibrium among the different elements of the body

Breathe better, live longer

The book Xiuzhen shishu (修真十书), known in the West as Ten Books on the Cultivation of Perfection, dates back to the thirteenth century and is a compendium of materials from diverse sources on developing the mind and body.

• It quotes, among others, the celebrated Chinese doctor and essayist Sun Simiao (孙思邈), who lived during the sixth century.
• Sun Simiao was a proponent of a technique called the Six Healing Sounds (六字诀), which involves the coordination of movement, breathing, and pronouncing sounds with the purpose of bringing our souls to a place of calm.

The six sounds are:

• Xu (噓), pronounced like “shh” with a deep sigh, which is associated with the liver.
• He (呵), pronounced like “her” with a yawn, which is associated with the heart.
• Si (嘶), pronounced like “sir” with a slow exhale, which is associated with the lungs.
• Chui (吹), pronounced like “chwee” with a forceful exhale, which is associated with the kidneys.
• Hoo (呼), pronounced like “who,” which is associated with the spleen.
• Xi (嘻), pronounced like “she, ” which connects the whole body.

Summary

The takeaway is that all the Eastern traditions combine a physical exercise with an awareness of our breath.

• These two components - movement and breath - help us to bring our consciousness in line with our body, instead of allowing our mind to be carried away by the sea of daily worries.
• Most of the time, we are just not aware enough of our breathing.

Resilience and Wabi-Sabi - How to Face Life's Challenges Without Letting Stress and Worry Age You

Nana korobi ya oki (七転び八起き(Fall seven times, rise eight)

With a clearly defined ikigai, they pursue their passion no matter what.

• They never give up, even when the cards seem stacked against them or they face one hurdle after another.

Resilience is our ability to deal with setbacks.

• The more resilient we are, the easier it will be to pick ourselves up and get back to what gives meaning to our lives.
• Resilient people know how to stay focused on their objectives, on what matters, without giving in to discouragement or being carried away by negative emotions.
• Their flexibility is the source of their strength: They know how to adapt to change and to reversals of fortune.
• They concentrate on the things they can control and do not worry about those they cannot.

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Emotional resilience through Buddhism and Stoicism

Siddhārtha Gautama (Buddha) was born a prince of Kapilavastu, Nepal, and grew up in a palace, surrounded by riches.

• Not satisfied with his family's wealth, at twenty-nine, he ran away from the palace to live as an ascetic.
• However, neither wealth nor extreme asceticism offer the happiness and well-being he sought.
• He realized that a wise person should not ignore life’s pleasures. A wise person can live with these pleasures but should always remain conscious of how easy it is to be enslaved by them.

Zeno of Citium began his studies with the Cynics, who also led ascetic lives.

• Seeing that Cynicism did not give him a sense of well-being, Zeno abandoned its teachings to found the school of Stoicism, which centers on the idea that there is nothing wrong with enjoying life’s pleasures as long as they do not take control of your life as you enjoy them. You have to be prepared for those pleasures to disappear.
• The goal is not to eliminate all feelings and pleasures from our lives, as in Cynicism, but to eliminate negative emotions.

Since their inception, one of the objectives of both Buddhism and Stoicism has been to control pleasure, emotions, and desires.

What’s the worst thing that could happen?

According to Stoicism, our pleasures and desires are not the problem.

• We can enjoy them as long as the desire for more does not lead to a constant, insatiable pursuit that takes control of us.
• The Stoics viewed those who were able to control their emotions as virtuous.

The goal of the virtuous person is to achieve tranquillity (apatheia) - a state marked by the absence of negative emotions (such as anxiety, fear, shame, vanity and anger) and the presence of positive feelings (such as joy, love, serenity and gratitude).

• To cultivate virtue in their minds, the Stoics employed a technique known as negative visualization: they would imagine the worst-case scenario to mentally prepare for the potential loss of their privileges and pleasures.
• This practice requires reflecting on negative events without allowing oneself to worry about them.

Meditating for healthier emotions

Beyond negative visualization and the practice of emotional self-control, a central tenet of Stoicism is the dichotomy of control: recognizing the difference between what we can change and what we cannot.

• Worrying about things beyond our influence accomplishes nothing.
• We must have a clear sense of our power, which allows us to resist being overcome by negative emotions.
• As Stoic philosophy teaches, it is not what happens to you, but how you react that matters.

In Zen Buddhism, meditation serves as a method for becoming aware of our desires and emotions and thereby freeing ourselves from them.

• This practice is not simply about keeping the mind blank; rather, it involves observing our thoughts and emotions as they appear, without getting swept away by them.
• This observational training helps the mind resist being consumed by feelings such as anger, jealousy or resentment.

The here and now, and the impermanence of things

Another key to cultivating resilience is knowing in which time to live.

• Both Buddhism and Stoicism remind us that the present is all that exists, and it is the only thing we can truly control.
• Instead of worrying about the past or the future, we should appreciate things just as they are in the now.

In addition to living in the here and now, the Stoics recommend reflecting on the impermanence of everything around us.

• The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius famously compared the things we love to the leaves of a tree: they can fall at any moment with a gust of wind.
• He further taught that changes in the world are not accidental, but form part of the essence of the universe - a notion that is, in fact, remarkably Buddhist.

We must not forget that everything we possess and everyone we love is ultimately fleeting.

• This awareness should be embraced, but without succumbing to pessimism.
• Recognizing impermanence should not lead to sadness; rather, it should help us to deeply love the present moment and the people who surround us.

The temporary, ephemeral, and impermanent nature of the world is central to every Buddhist discipline.

• Keeping this always in mind helps us avoid excessive pain in times of loss.

Wabi-sabi and ichi-go ichi-e

Wabi-sabi is a Japanese concept that reveals the beauty in the fleeting, changeable, and imperfect nature of the world around us.

• Instead of searching for beauty in perfection, we are encouraged to seek it in things that are flawed or incomplete.
• Only things that are imperfect, incomplete, and ephemeral can possess true beauty, as they most closely resemble the natural world.

A complementary Japanese concept is that of ichi-go ichi-e, which could be translated as “This moment exists only now and won’t come again.”

• This phrase is often used in social settings as a reminder that every encounter - whether with friends, family, or strangers - is unique and unrepeatable. It urges us to fully enjoy the moment and not lose ourselves in worries about the past or the future.

In the West, we have grown accustomed to the perceived permanence of Europe's stone buildings and cathedrals, which can give us the false sense that nothing changes, leading us to forget the passage of time.

• Greco-Roman architecture adores symmetry, sharp lines, and imposing façades, designing buildings and statues of the gods to outlast centuries.
• Japanese architecture, in contrast, does not try to be imposing or perfect, as it is built in the spirit of wabi-sabi.
• The tradition of making structures out of wood presupposes their impermanence and the need for future generations to rebuild them. Japanese culture inherently accepts the fleeting nature of both human existence and everything we create.

Beyond resilience: Antifragility

Antifragility is a state beyond mere resilience or robustness.

• While a resilient system resists shocks and stays the same, an antifragile system actually gets better and stronger when harmed or stressed.

Here's how to cultivate antifragility in daily life:

• Create redundancies
• Avoid placing all your eggs in one basket, as unexpected always happens, sooner or later.
• Having a single income stream leaves you fragile. If your primary employer faces trouble, you could be left with nothing. Instead, seek ways to earn money from hobbies, secondary jobs, or starting a side business.
• 100% of the seniors we interviewed in Ogimi had a primary and a secondary occupation. Most of them kept a vegetable garden as a secondary job, and sold their produce at the local market.
• The same idea goes for friendships and personal interests.
• Those who focus all their energy on their romantic partner and make them their entire world lose everything if the relationship fails.
• Cultivating a life rich with strong friendships and personal interests provides a support system, allowing you to move on gracefully and become antifragile to relationship shocks.
• Bet conservatively in certain areas and take many small risks in others
• The key to achieving antifragility is to take small, non-lethal risks that possess the potential for huge reward, all without exposing yourself to dangers that could completely sink you.
• To illustrate, consider having $10,000 saved:
• Conservative bet: Put $9,000 into stable investments like an index fund or fixed-term deposit.
• Small, high-reward risks: Invest the remaining $1,000 in ten different high-growth startups. If one fails, you only lose $100; if one succeeds, the gains could significantly outweigh all losses.
• Get rid of the things that make you fragile
• Ask yourself: What people, things or habits generate losses and make me vulnerable?
• While adding new challenges to New Year's resolutions, it is often more impactful to set “good riddance” goals. Examples include:
• Stopping unhealthy habits (e.g. snacking, excessive sweets)
• Gradually pay off all debt
• Avoid spending time with toxic people or on obligatory, unenjoyable activities
• Limiting exposure to distraction (e.g., spending no more than 20 minutes on Facebook daily).

To build true resilience into our lives, we should not fear adversity, because each setback is an opportunity for growth.

• If we adopt an antifragile attitude, we will find a way to get stronger with every blow, constantly refining our lifestyle and staying focused on our ikigai.
• Taking a hit or two is not a misfortune; it is an experience that provides valuable feedback. We continually make corrections and set new, better goals.

Life is pure imperfection, as the philosophy of wabi-sabi teaches, and the passage of time shows us that everything is fleeting.

• But if you have a clear sense of your ikigai, each moment will hold so many possibilities that it will seem almost like an eternity.

Summary

As we explore human psychology, financial philosophy, and seek personal peace (perhaps through mindfulness concepts like "The Power of Now"), the quest to identify a clear life purpose becomes essential.

• A strong sense of purpose provides the willpower to endure hardship and, simultaneously, guides us toward a happy and meaningful life.
• The Japanese concept of Ikigai, for example, offers valuable insights into this connection, drawing from the famed longevity and happiness of certain Japanese communities, such as those in Okinawa.
• Once you discover your ikigai, pursuing and nurturing it every day will bring meaning to your life. The moment your life has this purpose, you will achieve a happy state of flow in all you do.

Modern life increasingly estranges us from our true nature, making it very easy for us to lead lives lacking in meaning. Powerful forces and incentives (money, power, attention, success) distract us on a daily basis.

• Our intuition and curiosity are very powerful internal compasses to help us connect with our ikigai. Follow those things you enjoy, and get away from or change those you dislike. Be led by your curiosity, and keep busy by doing things that fill you with meaning and happiness. It doesn't need to be a big thing: we might find meaning in being good parents or in helping our neighbours.
• Life is not a problem to be solved. Just remember to have something that keeps you busy doing what you love while being surrounded by the people who love you.

The ten rules of ikigai

• Stay active; don't retire.
• Take it slow.
• Don't fill your stomach.
• Surrounding yourself with good friends.
• Get in shape for your next birthday.
• Smile
• Reconnect with natures
• Give thanks
• Live in the moment
• Follow your ikigai