IKIGAI

Hector Garcia & Francesc Miralles

Logotherapy – helps people find their purpose in life

Ikigai – “the happiness of always being busy”

An uncommon joy flows from its inhabitants and guides them through the long and pleasurable journey of their lives

Ichariba chode: “Treat everyone like a brother, even if you’ve never met them before.”

Feeling like part of a community

Nurturing friendships, eating light, getting enough rest, and doing regular, moderate exercise are all part of the equation of 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 reason we get up in the morning

Many Japanese people never really retire – they keep doing what they love for as long as their health allows.

5 Blue Zones

• 1. Okinawa, Japan

• 1. 1. Diet rich in vegetables and tofu typically served on small plates
     2. Moai – close-knit group of friends

• 1. Sardinia, Italy

• 1. 1. One or two glasses of wine per day
     2. Cohesive nature of community

• 1. Loma Linda, California
  2. Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica

• 1. 1. Wake up early

• 1. Ikaria, Greece

• 1. 1. Lifestyle dates back to 500 B.C.

 

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 in order to reduce stress, consume little meat or processed foods, and drink alcohol in moderation.

They don’t do strenuous exercise, but they do move every day, taking walks and working in their vegetable gardens. People in Blue Zones would rather walk than drive. Gardening, which involves daily low-intensity movement, is a practice almost all of them have in common.

80% Secret – “hara hachi bu”

Fill your belly to 80%

We should stop eating when we are starting to feel full.

By presenting their meals on many small plates, the Japanese tend to eat less.

• 1. 5 plates on a tray, four of them very small and the main dish slightly bigger

The Okinawan diet is rich in tofu, sweet potatoes, fish (three times per week), and vegetables (roughly 11 ounces per day)

Moai – An informal group of people with common interests who look out for one another

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.

Being part of a moai helps maintain emotional and financial stability.

The feeling of belonging and support gives the individual a sense of security and helps increase life expectancy.

Imagine a sign far off in the future with a number on it that represents the age of your death. Every year that you live, you advance closer to the sign. When you reach the sign, you die.

Now imagine a rabbit holding the sign and walking to the future. Every year that you live, the rabbit is half a year as far away. After a while, you will reach the rabbit and die.

But what if the rabbit could walk at a pace of one year for every year of your life? You would never be able to catch the rabbit, and therefore you would never die.

The speed at which the rabbit walks to the future is our technology. The more we advance technology and knowledge of our bodies, the faster we can make the rabbit walk.

Aging’s escape velocity is the moment at which the rabbit walks at a pace of one year per year or faster, and we become immortal.

Maintaining an active, adaptable mind is one of the key factors in staying young.

Lack of mental exercise reduces our ability to react to our surroundings.

Expose yourself to change, even if stepping outside your comfort zone means feeling a bit of anxiety.

Our neurons start to age while we are still in our twenties. This process is slowed, however, by intellectual activity, curiosity, and a desire to learn. Dealing with new situations, learning something new every day, playing games, and interacting with other people seem to be essential antiaging strategies for the mind. Furthermore, a more positive outlook in this regard will yield greater mental benefits.

The greater the stress, the greater the degenerative effect on cells.

Adrenaline raises our respiratory rate and pulse and prepares our muscles for action, getting the body ready to react to perceived danger, while cortisol increases the release of dopamine and blood glucose, which is what gets us “charged up” and allows us to face challenges.

The central premise of this stress-reduction method is focusing on the self: noticing our responses, even if they are conditioned by habit, in order to be fully conscious of them. In this way, we connect with the here and now and limit thoughts that tend to spiral out of control.

One way to reach a state of mindfulness is through meditation, which helps filter the information that reaches us from the outside world. It can also be achieved through breathing exercises, yoga, and body scans.

People who maintained a low level of stress, who faced challenges and put their heart and soul into their work in order to succeed, lived longer than those who chose a more relaxed lifestyle and retired earlier. From this, he concluded that a small dose of stress is a positive thing, as those who live with low levels of stress tend to develop healthier habits, smoke less, and drink less alcohol.

Add a few ingredients to our everyday habits:

• 1. Walk to work, or just go on a walk for at least twenty minutes each day
  2. Use your feet instead of an elevator or escalator. This is good for your posture, your muscles, and your respiratory system, among other things.
  3. Participate in social or leisure activities so that you don’t spend too much time in front of the television.
  4. Replace your junk food with fruit and you’ll have less of an urge to snack, and more nutrients in your system.
  5. Get the right amount of sleep. Seven to nine hours is good, but any more than that makes us lethargic.
  6. Play with children or pets, or join a sports team. This not only strengthens the body but also stimulates the mind and boosts self-esteem.
  7. Be conscious of your daily routine in order to detect harmful habits and replace them with more positive ones.

Skin – takes on different textures and colors according to processes going on beneath the surface.

Melatonin – helps us live longer and also:

• 1. Strengthens the immune system
  2. Contains an element that protects against cancer
  3. Promotes the natural production of insulin
  4. Slows the onset of Alzheimer’s disease
  5. Helps prevent osteoporosis and fight heart disease

Increase melatonin by:

• 1. Eating a balanced diet and getting more calcium
  2. Soaking up a moderate amount of sun each day
  3. Getting enough sleep
  4. Avoiding stress, alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine, all of which make it harder to get a good night’s rest, depriving us of the melatonin we need.

The secret to keeping the body young is keeping the mind active – 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. 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; unhurried, deliberate lifestyles.

Centenarian 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.

“The life you live is equally or more important for longevity.” – Alexander Imich

To keep healthy and have a long life,

Eat just a little bit 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.

It helps you find reasons to live.

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 mental chains of the past and overcoming whatever obstacles they encounter along the way.

Logotherapy:

• 1. A person feels empty, frustrated, or anxious.
  2. The therapist shows him that what he is feeling is the desire to have a meaningful life.
  3. The patient discovers his life’s purpose (at that particular point in time).
  4. Of his own free will, the patient decides to accept or reject that destiny.
  5. The newfound passion for life helps him overcome obstacles and sorrows.

“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.” Victor Frankl

Logotherapy does not see this frustration as mental illness, the way other forms of therapy do, but rather 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 doing so to find greater satisfaction in life. It helps them change their own destiny.

Based on his own experience, Frankl believed that our health depends on that natural tension that comes from comparing what we’ve 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.

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.

He did not have to envy those still enjoying their youth, because he had amassed a broad set of experiences that showed he had lived for something.

Better living through logotherapy:

• 1. We don’t create the meaning of our life, as Sartre claimed – we discover it.
  2. We each have a unique reason for being, which can be adjusted or transformed many times over the years.
  3. Just as worry often rings about precisely the thing that was feared, excessive attention to a desire (or “hyper-intention”) can keep that desire from being fulfilled.
  4. Humor can help break negative cycles and reduce anxiety.
  5. 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.

The prisoners with the greatest chance of survival were those who had things they wanted to accomplish outside the camp, those who felt a strong need to get out of there alive.

…In this way, by imagining herself on her deathbed and looking back, the suicidal mother found the meaning that, though she was not aware of it, her life already had.

Morita 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.

Basic Principles of Morita Therapy

• 1. Accept your feelings. If we have obsessive thoughts, we should not try to control them or get rid of them. If we do, they become more intense. Regarding human emotions, the Zen master would say, “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 use, and we have to accept them. The trick is welcoming them. Morita likened emotions to the weather: We can’t predict or control them; we can only observe them. To this point, he often quoted the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who would say, “Hello, solitude. How are you today? Come, sit with me, and I will care for you.”
  2. Do what you should be doing. We shouldn’t focus on eliminating symptoms, because recovery will come on its own. We should focus instead on the present moment, and if we are suffering, on accepting that suffering. Above all, we should avoid intellectualizing the situation. The therapist’s mission is to develop the patient’s character so he or she can face any situation, and character is grounded in the things we do. Morita therapy does not offer its patients explanations, but rather allows them to learn from their actions and activities. It doesn’t tell you how to meditate, or how to keep a diary the way Western therapies do. It is up to the patient to make discoveries through experience.
  3. Discover your life’s purpose. We can’t 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?” The key to achieving this is having dared to look inside yourself to find your ikigai.

4 Phases of Morita Therapy

• 1. Isolation and Rest (5-7 days). During the first week of treatment, the patient rests in a room without any external stimuli. No television, books, family, friends, or speaking. All the patient has is his thoughts. He lies down for most of the day and is visited regularly by the therapist, who tries to avoid interacting with him as much as possible. The therapist simply advises the patient to continue observing the rise and fall of this emotions as he lies there. When the patient gets bored and wants to start doing things again, he is ready to move on to the next stage of therapy.
  2. Light Occupational Therapy (5-7 days). In this stage, the patient performs repetitive tasks in silence. One of these is keeping a diary about his thoughts and feelings. The patient goes outside after a week of being shut in, takes walks in nature, and does breathing exercises. He also starts doing simple activities, such as gardening, drawing, or painting. During this stage, the patient is still not allowed to talk to anyone, except the therapist.
  3. Occupational Therapy (5-7 days) In this stage, the patient performs tasks that require physical movement. Dr. Morita like to take his patients to the mountains to chop wood. In addition to physical tasks, the patient is also immersed in other activities, such as writing, painting, or making ceramics. The patient can speak with others at this stage, but only about the tasks at hand.
  4. The Return to Social Life and the “Real” World. The patient leaves the hospital and is reintroduced to social life, but maintains the practices of meditation and occupational therapy developed during treatment. The idea to reenter society as a new person, with a sense of purpose, and without being controlled by social or emotional pressures.

3 Questions of Naikan Meditation:

• 1. What have I received from person X?
  2. What have I given to person X?
  3. What problems have I caused person X?

Through these reflections, we stop identifying others as the cause of our problems and deepen our own sense of responsibility.

It is only a matter of having the courage and making the effort to stay on the right path.

You have to accept that the world is imperfect, but full of opportunities for growth and achievement.

“Be water, my friend.” – Bruce Lee

“Flow” – the pleasure, delight, creativity, and process when we are completely immersed in life

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.

“The state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.

Flow is the same among individuals of all ages and cultures.

When we flow, we are focused on a concrete task without any distractions. Our mind is in “order.”

7 Conditions for Achieving Flow

• 1. Knowing what to do
  2. Knowing how to do it
  3. Knowing how well you are doing
  4. Knowing where to go (where navigation is involved)
  5. Perceiving significant challenges
  6. Perceiving significant skills
  7. Being free from distractions

Strategy 1: Choose a difficult task (but not too difficult!)

• 1. Schaffer’s model encourages us to take on tasks that we have a chance of completing but that are slightly outside our comfort zone.
  2. 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. This is what Ernest Hemingway meant when he said, ” Sometimes I write better that I can.”
  3. Books: if the book is appropriate to our knowledge and abilities, and builds on what we already know, we’ll immerse ourselves in our reading, and time will flow. This pleasure and satisfaction are evidence that we are in tune with our ikigai.

Strategy 2: Have a clear, concrete objective

• 1. What is my objective for today’s session in the studio?
  2. How many words am I going to write today for the article coming out next month?
  3. What is my team’s mission?
  4. How fast will I set the metronome tomorrow in order to play that sonata at an allegro tempo by the end of the week?

Having a clear objective is important in achieving flow, but we also have to know how to leave it behind when we get down to business. Once the journey has begun, we should keep this objective in mind without obsessing over it.

Days, weeks, and months pass, and the writer still hasn’t gotten anything down on the page, when all it would have taken was to sit down and get that first word out, then the second…to flow with the project, expressing their ikigai.

Strategy 3: Concentrate on a single task

Concentrating on one thing at a time may be the single most important factor in achieving flow.

In order to focus on a task, we need:

• 1. To be in a distraction-free environment
  2. To have control over what we are doing at every moment.

• 1. Don’t look at any kind of screen for the first hour you’re awake and the last hour before you go to sleep.
  2. Turn off your phone before you achieve flow. There is nothing more important than the task you have chosen to do during this time. If this seems too extreme, enable to “do not disturb” function so only the people closest to you can contact you in case of emergency.
  3. Designate one day of the week, perhaps a Saturday or Sunday, a day of technological “fasting,” making exceptions only for e-readers (without Wi-Fi) or MP3 players.
  4. Go to a café that doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
  5. Read and respond to email only once or twice per day. Define those times clearly and stick to them.
  6. Try the Pomodoro Technique: 25 & 5 to 50 & 10. Be disciplined in completing each cycle.
  7. Start your work session with a ritual you enjoy and end it with a reward.
  8. Train your mind to return to the present when you find yourself getting distracted. Practice mindfulness or another form of meditation, go for a walk or a swim – whatever will help you get centered again.
  9. Work in a space where you will not be distracted. If you can’t do this at home, go to a library, a café, or, if your task involves playing the saxophone, a music studio. If you find that your surroundings continue to distract you, keep looking until you find the right place.
  10. Divide each activity into groups of related tasks, and assign each group its own place and time. For example, if you’re writing a magazine article, you could do research and take notes at home in the morning, write in the library in the afternoon, and edit on the couch at night.
  11. Bundle routine tasks – such as sending out invoices, making phone calls, and so on – and do them all at once.

Japanese people often apply themselves to even the most basic tasks with an intensity that borders on obsession.

They have a unique talent for creating new technologies while preserving artisanal traditions and techniques.

Sophisticated simplicity

The key is always having a meaningful challenge to overcome in order to maintain flow.

When someone – whether an artist, an engineer, or a chef – sets out to create something, his or her responsibility is to use nature to give it “life” while respecting that nature at every moment. During this process, the artisan becomes one with the object and flows with it. An ironworker would say that metal has a life of its own, just as someone making ceramics would say that the clay does. The Japanese are skilled at bringing nature and technology together: no man versus nature, but rather a union of the two.

Recluses might seem misanthropic or reclusive, but what they are really doing is protecting the time that brings them happiness, sometimes at the expense of other aspects of their lives. They are outliers who apply the principles of flow to their lives to an extreme. – Microflow

Instant vacations: Getting there through meditation

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. Anyone can do it, and you feel a difference after just one session. 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.

The most important thing is to focus on the journey.

We simply label it as a thought and let it pass like a cloud, without judging or rejecting it.

When doing business in Japan, processes, manners, and how you work on something is more important than the final results. Whether this is good or bad for the economy is beyond the scope this book. What is indisputable, though, is that finding flow in a “ritualistic workplace” is much easier than in one in which we are continually stressed out trying to achieve unclear goals set by our bosses.

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 the result. As a rule of thumb, remind yourself: “Rituals over goals.”

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.

After reading this chapter you should have a better idea of which activities in your life make you enter flow. Write all of them on a piece of paper, then ask yourself these questions: What do the activities that drive you to flow have in common? Why do those activities drive you to flow? For example, are all the activities you most like doing ones that you practice alone or with other people? Do you flow more when doing things that require you to move your body or just to think?

In the answers to these questions you might find the underlying ikigai that drives your life. If you don’t, then keep searching by going deeper into what you like 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. For example, if photography is something that drives you into flow, you could also try painting; you might even like it more! Or if you love snowboarding and have never tried surfing…

Flow is mysterious. It is like a muscle: the more you train it, the more you will flow, and the closer you will be to your ikigai.

“Eat and sleep, and you’ll live a long time. You have to learn to relax.”

“I’ve never eaten meat in my life.”

“I just haven’t died yet.”

Art, in all its forms, is an ikigai that can bring happiness and purpose to our days. Enjoying or creating beauty is free, and something all human beings have access to.

Of those still living, none have retired, and all still enjoy their passion, which they plan to pursue until their final breath, demonstrating that when you have a clear purpose, no one can stop you.

Never stop learning.

The idea that we lose our faculties with age, is in part, a myth, because instead we develop a greater clarity and capacity for observation.

The sense of community, and the fact that Japanese people make an effort to stay active until the very end, are key elements of their secret to long life.

If you want to stay busy even when there’s no need to work, there has to be an ikigai on your horizon, a purpose that guides you to make things of beauty and utility for the community and yourself.

Moai – groups of people who help one another; not organized around any concrete objective; they function more like a family.

Volunteer work, rather than money, drives much of what happens. Everyone offers to pitch in, and the local government takes care of assigning tasks. This way everyone can be useful and feels like a part of the community.

Menus boasts in large letters that it serves “slow food.”

“Food won’t help you live longer. The secret is smiling and having a good time.”

There are no bars and only a few restaurants in Ogimi, but those who live there enjoy a rich social life that revolves around community centers. The town is divided into seventeen neighborhoods, and each one has a president and several people in charge of things like culture, festivals, social activities, and longevity.

Celebrate each day, together

In addition to playing and celebrating as a community, spirituality is also essential to the happiness of the village’s residents.

The gods of Okinawa

Main religion: Ryuku Shinto; combines elements of Chinese Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shintoism with shamanic and animalistic elements.

“According to this ancient faith, he world is populated by an infinite number of spirits divided into several types: spirits of the home, of the forest, of the trees, and of the mountains. It is important to appease these spirits through rituals and festivals, and by consecrating sacred grounds.

Okinawa is full of sacred jungles and forests, where many of the two main kinds of temples are found: the utaki and the uganju. We visited an uganju, or small, open-air temple adorned with incense and coins, next to a waterfall in Ogimi. The utaki is a collection of stones where people go to pray and where, supposedly, spirits gather.

In Okinawa’s religious practice, women are considered spiritually superior to men, whereas the opposite is true of traditional Shintoism in the rest of Japan. Yuta are women chosen as mediums by their communities to make contact with the spirit realm through traditional rites.

Ancestor worship is another important feature of spiritual practice.

Mabui

Every person has an essence, or mabui. It is our spirit and the source of our life force. It is immortal and makes us who we are.

Looking back, our days in Ogimi were intense but relaxed – sort of like the lifestyle of the locals, who always seemed to be busy with important tasks but who, upon closer inspection, did everything with a sense of calm. They were always pursuing their ikigai, but they were never in a rush.

“The grand essentials to happiness in life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” – Washington Burnap

A Declaration from the Town Where People Live Longest

At 80 I am still a child.

When I come to see you at 90,

Send me away to wait until I’m 100.

The older, the stronger;

Let us not depend too much on our children as we age.

If you seek long life and health, you are welcome in our village,

Where you will be blessed by nature,

And together we will discover the secret to longevity.

• 1. April 23, 1993 – Ogimi Federation of Senior Citizen Clubs

The Interviews

• 1. Don’t worry

1. “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.”
2. The best way to avoid anxiety is to go out in the street and say hello to people. I do it every day. I go out there and say, “Hello!” and “See you later!” Then I go home and care for my vegetable garden. In the afternoon, I spend time with friends.”
3. “Here, everyone gets along. We try not to cause problems. Spending time together and having fun is the only thing that matters.”

• 1. Cultivate good habits

1. “I feel joy every morning waking up at six and opening the curtains to look out at my garden, where I grow my own vegetables. I go right outside to check on my tomatoes, my mandarin oranges…I love the sight of them – it relaxes me. After an hour in the garden I go back inside and make breakfast.”
2. “I plant my own vegetables and I cook them myself. That’s my ikigai.
3. “The key to staying sharp in old age is in your fingers. From your fingers to your brain, and back again. If you keep your fingers busy, you’ll live to see one hundred.
4. “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.”
5. “To live a long time you need to do three things: exercise to stay healthy, eat well, and spend time with people.”

• 1. Nurture your friendships every day

1. “Talking each day with the people you love, that’s the secret to a long life.”

• 1. Live an unhurried life

1. “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.”
2. “I make things with wicker. That’s my ikigai. The first thing I do when I wake up is pray. Then I do my exercises and eat breakfast. At seven I calmly start working on my wicker. When I get tired at five, I go visit my friends.”
3. “Doing many different things every day. Always staying busy, but doing one thing at a time, without getting overwhelmed.

• 1. Be optimistic

1. “Every day I say to myself, ‘Today will be full of health and energy. Live it to the fullest.'”
2. The most important thing in Ogimi, in life, is to keep smiling.

Keys to the Ogimi Lifestyle

• 1. Keep a vegetable garden
  2. Belong to some group, where you feel cared for as though by family
  3. Celebrate all the time, even little things. Music, song, and dance are essential parts of daily life
  4. Have an important purpose in life. Don’t take it too seriously.
  5. Be proud of traditions/culture.
  6. Passionate about everything you do, however insignificant it might seem.
  7. Have a strong sense of yuimaaru – recognizing the connection between people.
  8. Always busy but occupied with tasks that allow them to relax.

Okinawa is the only province in Japan without trains. Its residents have to walk or cycle when not driving. They eat less than 10 grams of salt per day.

Locals eat a wide variety of foods, especially vegetables (18 different foods each day).

They eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day.

A table featuring red peppers, carrots, spinach, cauliflower, and eggplant…offers great color and variety. Vegetables, potatoes, legumes, and soy products such as tofu are the staples of an Okinawan’s diet. More than 30% 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.

They eat fish an average of three times per week.

Eat pork once or twice per week.

Low caloric intake is common among the five Blue Zones.

When you notice you’re almost full but could have a little more…just stop eating!

Easy way: skip dessert or reduce portion size. Still be a little bit hungry when you finish.

Everything presented at once on small plates.

Serving food on many small plates makes it easier to avoid eating too much, and facilitates the varied diet discussed at the beginning of this chapter.

Recommend eating two-thirds as much as you might want to.

Eating fewer calories than our bodies ask for seems to increase longevity.

Key is to eat foods with high nutritional value.

Fast for one or two days each week. 5:2 (or fasting) diet recommends two days of fasting (consuming fewer than 500 calories) every week and eating normally on the other five days.

Fasting helps cleanse the digestive system and allows it to rest.

15 Natural Antioxidants in the Okinawan diet:

• 1. Tofu
  2. Miso
  3. Tuna
  4. Carrots
  5. Goya (bitter melon)
  6. Kombu (sea kelp)
  7. Cabbage
  8. Nori (seaweed)
  9. Onion
  10. Soy sprouts
  11. Hechima (cucumber-like gourd)
  12. Soybeans (boiled or raw)
  13. Sweet potato
  14. Peppers
  15. Sanpin-cha (jasmine tea)

Jasmine tea reduces blood cholesterol levels.

• 1. Reducing risk of heart attack
  2. Strengthening the immune system
  3. Helping relieve stress
  4. Lowering cholesterol

3 cups of Sanpin-cha every day

Green tea

• 1. Controlling cholesterol
  2. Lowering blood sugar levels
  3. Improving circulation
  4. Protection against the flu (Vitamin C)
  5. Promoting bone health (fluoride)
  6. Protection against certain bacterial infections
  7. Protection against UV damage
  8. Cleansing and diuretic effects

In summary: Drinking green or white tea every day can help us reduce the free radicals in our bodies, keeping us young longer.

Shikuwasa

• 1. Grapefruits
  2. Oranges
  3. Lemons

Broccoli & Chard – high concentration of water, minerals, and fiber

Salmon, mackerel, tuna, and sardines – antioxidants in their fat

Citrus, strawberries, and apricots – source of vitamins and help eliminate toxins from the body

Blueberries and Goji Berries – rich in phytochemical antioxidants

Dried fruits – vitamins and antioxidants and give energy

Oats and Wheat – give energy and contain minerals

Olive oil – antioxidant effects that show in your skin

Red wine – in moderation – for its antioxidant and vasodilatory properties

Foods that should be eliminated are refined sugar and grains, processed baked goods, and prepared foods, along with cow’s milk and all its derivatives. Following this diet will help you feel younger and slow the process of premature aging.

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.

Walk a lot, karaoke with their neighbors, get up early in the morning, weed their gardens.

Yoga, qigong, tai chi – seek to create harmony between a person’s body and mind so they can face the world with strength, joy, and serenity.

You don’t need to go to the gym for an hour every day or run marathons.

Add movement to your day.

Radio taiso – morning warm-up (exercises in book)

Promote a spirit of unit among participants – always done in groups

Yoga

Sanskrit term for “yoke” – crosspiece that binds draft animals to one another and to the cart they’re pulling. Unite body and mind in the same way, guiding us toward a healthy lifestyle in harmony with the world around us.

Main objectives:

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

Styles of Yoga:

• 1. Jnana yoga – the yoga of wisdom; the search for discipline and mental growth
  2. Karma yoga – focuses on action, on tasks and duties that benefit oneself and one’s community
  3. Bhakti yoga – the yoga of devotion and surrender to the divine
  4. Mantra yoga – focuses on the recitation of mantras to reach a state of relaxation
  5. Kundalini yoga – combines diverse steps to reach the desired mental state
  6. Raja yoga – aka the royal path; encompasses a range of steps geared toward achieving communion with oneself and others
  7. Hatha yoga – the most widespread form in the West and Japan; characterized by asanas or poses combined in a quest for balance

How to do a Sun Salutation (in book)

Tai Chi

Goals: personal growth

Using the least amount of force possible and by relying on agility

Styles of Tai Chi

• 1. Chen-style – alternates between slow movements and explosive ones
  2. Yang-style – The most widespread of the forms; characterized by slow, fluid movements
  3. Wu-style – utilizes small, slow, deliberate  movements
  4. Hao-style – centered on internal movements, with almost microscopic external movements; one of the least practiced forms of tai chi, even in China

Objectives:

• 1. To control movement through stillness
  2. To overcome force through finesse

• 1. To move second and arrive first

• 1. To know yourself and your opponent

10 Basic Principles

• 1. Elevate the crown of your head, and focus all your energy there.
  2. Tighten your chest and expand your back to lighten your lower body.
  3. Relax your waist and let it guide your body.
  4. Learn how to differentiate between heaviness and lightness, knowing how your weight is distributed.
  5. Relax the shoulders to allow free movement of the arms and promote the flow of energy.
  6. Value the agility of the mind over the strength of the body.
  7. Unify the upper and lower body so they act in concert.
  8. Unify the internal and the external to synchronize mind, body, and breath.
  9. Do not break the flow of your movement; maintain  fluidity and harmony.
  10. Look for stillness in movement. An active body leads to a calm mind.

Imitating clouds

• 1. Extend your arms in front of you with your palms down.
  2. Turn your plans to face in, as though you were hugging a tree trunk.
  3. Open your arms out to the side.
  4. Bring the left arm up and center, and the right arm down and center.
  5. Trace the shape of a ball in front of your body.
  6. Turn your left palm toward your face.
  7. Shift your weight to your left foot and pivot form your hip toward that side, while your eyes follow the movement of your hand.
  8. Bring your left hand to your waist and your right hand in front of your face.
  9. Shift your weight to your right foot.
  10. Pivot toward your right, looking at your raised right hand the entire time.
  11. Repeat this movement fluidly, shifting your weight from one foot to the other as you reposition your hands.
  12. Stretch your arms out in front of you again and bring them down slowly, returning to your initial position.

Qigong

Works with the individual’s life force

Stimulate respiration in a standing, seated, or reclined position

Strengthen and regenerate qi

Benefits of Qigong

• 1. Modification of brain waves
  2. Improved balance of sex hormones
  3. Lower mortality rate from hearth attacks
  4. Lower blood pressure in patients  with hypertension
  5. Greater bone density
  6. Better circulation
  7. Deceleration of symptoms associated with senility
  8. Greater  balance and efficiency of bodily functions
  9. Increased blood flow to the brain and greater mind-body connection
  10. Reduction in the secondary effects of cancer treatments

Methods for practicing Qigong

• 1. Tyau Shenn: (regulating the body) by adopting the correct posture – it is important to be firmly rooted to the ground
  2. Tyau Shyi: (regulating the breath) until it is calm, steady, and peaceful
  3. Tyau Hsin: (regulating the mind) the most complicated part, as it implies emptying the mind of thoughts
  4. Tyau Chi: (regulating the life force) through the regulation of the three prior elements, so that it flows naturally
  5. Tyau Shen: (regulating the spirit) the spirit is both strength and root in battle

5 Elements of Qigong (details in the book)

• 1. Earth
  2. Water
  3. Wood
  4. Metal
  5. Fire

Shiatsu

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.

6 Sounds

• 1. Xu, pronounced like “shh” with a deep sigh, which is associated with the liver
  2. He, pronounced like “her” with a yawn, which is associated with the heart
  3. Si, pronounced like “sir” with a slow exhale, which is associated with the lungs
  4. Chui, pronounced like “chwee” with a forceful exhale, which is associated with the kidneys
  5. Hoo, pronounced like “who,” which is associated with the spleen
  6. Xi, pronounced like “she,” which connects the whole body

Combine a physical exercise with an awareness of our breath.

 

One thing that everyone with a clearly defined ikigai has in common is that 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 isn’t just the ability to persevere…it is also an outlook we can cultivate to stay focused on the important things in life rather than what is most urgent, and to keep ourselves from being carried away by negative emotions.

“Fall seven times, rise eight.” – Japanese proverb

The flexibility is the source of their strengths: They know how to adapt to change and to reversals of fortune. They concentrate on the things they can control and don’t worry about those they can’t.

Neither wealth nor extreme asceticism worked for (Siddhartha). 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.

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.

Eliminate negative emotions. Control pleasure, emotions, and desires. Aim to curb our ego and control our negative emotions.

According to Stoicism, our pleasures and desires are not the problem. We can enjoy them as long as they don’t take control of us. The Stoics viewed those who were able to control their emotions as virtuous.

Tranquility (apatheia): the absence of negative feelings such as anxiety, fear, shame, vanity, and anger, and the presence of positive feelings such as happiness, love, serenity, and gratitude.

Negative visualization: They imagined the worst thing that could happen in order to be prepared if certain privileges and pleasures were taken from them.

“What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

Another central tenet of Stoicism is knowing what we can control and what we can’t.

“It’s not what happens to you but how you react that matters.” – Epictetus

Meditation is a way to become aware of our desires and emotions and thereby free ourselves from them.

The present is all that exists.

Appreciate things just as they are in the moment.

Reflect on the impermanence of the things around us.

The things we love are like the leaves of a tree: They can fall at any moment with a gust of wind.

We should never forget that everything we have and all the people we love will disappear at some point.

Wabi-sabi is a Japanese concept that shows us the beauty of the fleeting, changeable, and imperfect nature of the world around us. Instead of searching for beauty in perfection, we should look for the things that are flawed, incomplete.

This is why the Japanese place such value, for example, on an irregular or cracked teacup. Only things that are imperfect, incomplete, and ephemeral can truly be beautiful, because only those things resemble the natural world.

“This moment only exists now and won’t come again.”

The tradition of making structures out of wood presupposes their impermanence and the need for future generations to rebuild them. Japanese culture accepts the fleeting nature of the human being and everything we create.

Preserve customer and traditions – things that can withstand the passage of time better than structures made by human hands.

The refer to the kind of power possessed by the Hydra of Lerna, to talk about things that get stronger when they are harmed, Taleb proposes the term antifragile: “Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shock and stays the same; the antifragile gets better.”

How can we be more antifragile?

Step 1: Create redundancies

Instead of having a single salary, try to find a way to make money from your hobbies, at other jobs, or by starting your own business.

100% of the seniors…had a primary and secondary occupation.

Same goes for friendships and personal interests.

If they’ve cultivated strong friendships and a full life along the way, they’ll be in better position to move on at the end of a relationship.

Step 2: Bet conservatively in certain areas and take many small risks in others

The key to becoming antifragile is taking on small risks that might lead to great reward, without exposing ourselves to dangers that might sink us.

Step 3: Get rid of the things that make you fragile

We’re taking the negative route for this exercise. Ask yourself: What makes me fragile? Certain people, things, and habits generate losses for us and make us vulnerable. Who and what are they?

Setting “good riddance” goals can have an even bigger impact.

• 1. Stop snacking between meals
  2. Eat sweets only once a week
  3. Gradually pay off all debt
  4. Avoid spending time with toxic people
  5. Avoid spending time doing things we don’t enjoy, simply because we feel obligated to do them
  6. Spend no more than twenty minutes on Facebook per day

Taking a hit or two can be viewed as either a misfortune or an experience that we can apply to all areas of our lives, as we continually make corrections and set new and better goals. As Taleb writes in Antifragile, “We need randomness, mess, adventures, uncertainty, self-discovery, hear traumatic episodes, all these things that make life worth living.”

“In the here and now, the only thing in my life is your life.”

“Here, now.”

Mono no aware (a melancholy appreciation of the ephemeral)

“Happiness is always determined by your heart.”

“Keep going; don’t change your path.”

Once you discover your ikigai, pursuing it 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, like the calligrapher at his canvas or the chef who, after half a century, still prepares sushi for his patrons with love.

We are all searching for meaning.

Powerful forces and incentives (money, power, attention, success) distract us on a daily basis; don’t let them take over your life.

Our intuition and curiosity are 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 neighbors.

Just remember to have something that keeps you busy doing what you love while being surrounded by the people who love you.

10 Rules of Ikigai

• 1. Stay active; don’t retire.

Those who give up the things they love doing and do well lose their purpose in life. That’s why it’s so important to keep doing things of value, making progress, bringing beauty or utility to others, helping out, and shaping the world around you, even after your “official” professional activity has ended.

• 1. Take it slow.

Being in a hurry is inversely proportional to quality of life. As the old saying goes, “Walk slowly and you’ll go far.” When we leave urgency behind, life and time take on new meaning.

• 1. Don’t fill your stomach.

Less is more when it comes to eating for long life, too. According to the 80% rule, in order to stay healthier longer, we should eat a little less than our hunger demands instead of stuffing ourselves.

• 1. Surround yourself with good friends.

Friends are the best medicine, there for confiding worries over a good chat, sharing stories that brighten your day, getting advice, having fun, dreaming…in other words, living.

• 1. Get in shape for your next birthday.

Water moves; it is at its best when it flows fresh and doesn’t stagnate. The body you move through life in needs a bit of daily maintenance to keep it running for a long time. Plus, exercise releases hormones that make us feel happy.

• 1. Smile.

A cheerful attitude is not only relaxing – it also helps make friends. It’s good to recognize the things that aren’t so great, but we should never forget what a privilege it is to be in the here and now in a world so full of possibilities.

• 1. Reconnect with nature.

Though most people live in cities these days, human beings are made to be part of the natural world. We should return to it often to recharge our batteries.

• 1. Give thanks.

To your ancestors, to nature, which provides you with the air you breathe and the food you eat, to your friends and family, to everything that brightens your days and makes you feel lucky to be alive. Spend a moment every day giving thanks, and you’ll watch your stockpile of happiness grow.

• 1. Live in the moment.

Stop regretting the past and fearing the future. Today is all you have. Make the most of it. Make it worth remembering.

• 1. Follow your ikigai.

There is a passion inside you, a unique talent that gives meaning to your days and drives you to share the best of yourself until the very end. If you don’t know what your ikigai is yet, as Viktor Frankl says, your mission is to discover it.