50 life changing lessons from the centenarians to find your Ikigai

IKIGAI- The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles

Hello folks!

Thank you for inspiring me to do this. I used to highlight my most favourite parts of a book, a habit I developed with reading and now I am ready for the world to read it.

IKIGAI is a very practical book which lets us learn the secret to long life from the citizens of Okinawa, specifically Ogimi, a rural town in the north end of Okinawa, Japan with actual encounters with Centenarians(people who live up to 100) and Super Centenarians (people who live up to 110 or above).

The people of Japan believe that ‘Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years’ this comes with the understanding of our mysterious word- IKIGAI.

Just like most of us, the authors of this book also stumbled upon the following questions which lead them to find more to satisfy their quest.

-Why do some people know what they want and have a passion for life, while others languish in confusion?

-Is the point just to live longer, or should I seek a higher purpose?

-What is the meaning of my life?

-With what will I realise that I am finally happy?

-How much do I sacrifice for a fulfilling life?

At some point through all the pondering, our mysterious word will pop up! This Japanese concept translates roughly as "the happiness of always being busy” and “Never retire even if you retire”.

While reading this book, I came across some really cool stuff, 50 of which I have listed here.

If you like it, leave a heart and share!

1. After World War II, nearly 200,000 lives were destroyed in Okinawa. Rather than harbor animosity towards outsiders, Okinawans live by the principle of Ichariba chode that means “treat everyone like a brother, even if you’ve never met them before.” This, emphasises the feeling of being a part of a community and practicing yuimaaru or teamwork.

2. What is your reason for being?

3. The 80 percent secret a.k.a Hara hachi bu that is fill your belly to 80 percent. This being the reason why a typical meal in a restaurant in Japan is served in five plates on a tray all at once, four of them very small and the main dish slightly bigger. This makes you feel like you are going to eat a lot, but what happens is that you end up feeling slightly hungry. Well, goof for your body hah!

4. Find your Moai. It is common for the people in Okinawa to be a part of an informal group that shares common interest and hobbies and look out for one another. Here, serving that community becomes a part of your ikigai.

5.The anti-aging secret. A classical saying “mens sana in corpore sano” meaning a sound mind lives in a sound body. Lack of mental exercises reduces our ability to react to the surrounding. We begin exercising our brain by doing a certain task for the first time. This mental workout offers new stimuli and prevents the depression that can come with solitude and monotony.

6. Stress: accused for killing longetivity. Our bodies releases antibodies against stress just like it does with some pathogen activating a protein triggered immune response. This damages the telomeres (responsible for cellular regeneration) causing premature ageing and leaving our body in a state of emergency. A sustained state of emergency effects the neurons associated with memory causing forgetfulness, insomnia, anxiety, depression, high BP as its secondary effect.

7. A lot of sitting will age you. Rise in sedentary behaviour has shown increases appetite but fall in muscular and respiratory fitness thus increasing obesity, heart diseases, osteoporosis and even some types of cancer. So what can be done.?

• Walk for at least 20 mins

• Use your feet instead of an elevator

• Participate in social or leisure activities

• Replace your junk food with fruits

• Get the right amount of sleep

• Play with children or pets, or join a sports team

• Be conscious of your daily routine

8. Serenity in the face of a setback: a stoic attitude enables you to face difficult and challenging situations with a positive attitude and not be overwhelmed by the obstacles.

9. 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.

10.In Psychoanalysis ‘the patient lies down on a couch and tells you things that are hard to say’. In Logotherapy ‘the patient sits up straight and has to listen to the things that are hard to hear’. It helps you find the reasons to live. Ask yourself, why do I not commit suicide? And there you will have your answers which keeps you alive and makes you want to live.

11. “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how”- Nietzsche’s famous aphorism.

12. "Our health depends on the 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"- Viktor Frankl.

13. Sunday neurosis is what happens when, without the obligations and commitments of the workweek, the individual realizes how empty he is inside. He has to find a reason for getting out of bed.

14. Better living with logotherapy-

• We don't create the meaning of our life, we discover it- Sartre

• We each have a unique reason of being which can be adjusted or transformed many times over the years.

• Excessive attention to a desire can keep that desire from being fulfilled.

• Humour can help break the negative cycle 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 conditions in which we find ourselves.

15. Morita therapy- “Accept your emotions without trying to control them, since your feelings will change as a result of your actions”. This purpose centered therapy believes in creating new emotions on the basis of actions.

16. “In feelings, it is best to be wealthy and generous”- Shoma Morita.

17. “If we get rid of one wave with another, we end up with an infinite sea”- Morita

18. “Hello, solitude. How are you today? Come, sit with me, and I will care for you” Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh

19. 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.

20. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit”- Aristotle

21.“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 sake of doing it.” Csikszentmihalyi on ‘flow’.

22. The seven conditions for achieving flow:

- Knowing what to do

- Knowing how to do it

- Knowing how well you are doing

- Knowing where to go

- Perceiving significant challenges

- Perceiving significant skills

- Being free from distractions

23. "In an increasingly unpredictable world moving ever more quickly, a detailed map may lead you deep into the woods at an unnecessarily high cost. A good compass, though, will always take you where you need to go"- Joi Ito and Jeff Howe. The concept of Compass over maps.

24. “A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell on the future”- Einstein.

25. Concentrating on one thing at a time may be the single most important factor in achieving flow. When we say we are multitasking, what we’re actually doing is switching back and forth quickly and in doing that we waste time, make more mistakes and remember less of what we’ve done. Working on several things at once lowers our productivity by at least 60% and our IQ by 10 points.

26. Taking instant mind vacations with meditation. Calming the mind, observing your thoughts and emotions, and centering your focus on a single object you can slow the torrent of thoughts and clear your mental horizons. Meditation generates alpha and theta brain waves.

27. Rituals give us clear rules and objectives by giving us the process, the substeps, on the path to achieving a goal. Happiness is in doing, not the result, “Rituals over goals”

28. “Learn why the world wags and what wags it. This is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.” -T.H White

29. “You stay in your time. You don't go backwards. I think if you relate to the time you are in, you keep your eyes and ears open, read the paper, see what’s going on, stay curious about everything, you will automatically be in your time”.

30. “Food won't help you live longer”, “The secret is smiling and having a good time” -Yuki

31. Mabui is our spirit and the source of our life force. It is immortal and makes us who we are. A grandmother transfers a part of her mabui when she leaves her favourite bangles for her granddaughter.

32. “The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for”

33. “Don't worry”, “Cultivate good habits”, “Nurture your friendships every day”, “Live an unhurried life”, “Be optimistic”

34. The ikigai diet- “eat a rainbow- fruits and vegetables in all colours and variety ”, “hara hachi bu- follow 80% eating plan”, “5:2 eating- eat 5 days a week and fast for the remaining 2 ”, “Sanpin-cha- the magical mix of green tea and Jasmin flowers ”, “the powerful shikuwasa- the cirtrus fruit with a blast of antioxidants”.

35. The essentials of keep moving with yoga, radio taiso, tai chi, qigong, shiatsu

36. Value the agility of the mind over the strength of the body.

37. The six healing sounds you can practice while meditating-

• Xu (pronounced like shh) with a deep sigh, associated with the liver

• He (pronounced like her) with a yawn, associated with the heart

• Si (pronounced like sir) with a slow exhale, associated with the lungs

• Chui (pronounced like chwee) with a forceful exhale, associated with the kidney

• Hoo (pronounced like who) associated with the spleen

• Xi (pronounced like she) connects with the whole body

38. Movement and breathing help us bring our consciousness in line, instead of allowing our mind to be carried away by the sea of worries.

39. Resilience is when we stay focused on the important things in life rather than what is most urgent, and keep ourself from being carried away by negative emotions.

40. "Nana Korobi ya oki" fall seven times, rise eight- Japanese proverb

41. Serenity prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr-

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.

42. 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.

43. What is the worst that could happen (negative visualisation)? The objective of the virtuous person is to reach a state of 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.

44. “It is not what happens to you, but how you react that matters”- Epictetus

45. Mantra in Buddhism- Om mani padme hūm

• Om (generosity) which purifies the ego

• ma (ethics) which purifies jealousy

• ni (patience) which purifies the passion and desire

• pad (precision) which purifies the bias

• me (surrender) which purifies greed

• hūm (wisdom) which purifies hatred

46. "The things we love are like leaves of a tree: They can fall at any moment with a gust of wind. Changes in the world around us are not accidental but rather form part of the essence of the universe".- Marcus Aurelius

47. Wabi-sabi shows us the beauty of the fleeting, changeable, ephemeral, and imperfect nature of the world around us and that instead of searching for beauty in perfection, we should look for it in things that are flawed and incomplete. Ichi-go ichi-e means that this moment exists only now and won’t come again. It teaches us to focus on the present and enjoy each moment that life brings to us.

48. The most important thing is not to keep the building standing for generations, but to preserve customs and traditions- things that can withstand the passage of time better than structures made by human hands. For example, The Grand Shrine Of Ise has been rebuilt every 20 years for centuries.

49. Beyond resilience: Anti-fragility. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the anti-fragile gets better and stronger. Things/people that get stronger when harmed are antifragile. Like the Japanese construction companies after 2011 tsunami.

How do I become antifragile? Create more options and do not put all your eggs in one basket (eg; primary & secondary occupation), Be conservative in certain areas and take many small risks in others, that might lead to great reward without exposing us to dangers that might sink us. Get rid of the things that make you fragile, do not snack between meals, keep toxic people away etc.

50. “Happiness is always determined by your heart”- Mitsuo Aida and our intuition and curiosity are very powerful internal compasses to help us connect with our ikigai.

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 people who love you.

Surround yourself with positivity and love. Keep toxic people, habits, food at bay to live a longer and a more meaningful life.

Dedicate time to pray, be grateful and thankful for your life and blessings in it. Help each other, be compassionate and kind.

Eat right, exercise, and value people over things.

Choose your company wisely and you shall notice things around you change automatically.

Comment and let me know which one did you like the most!

#ikigai #longlife #HéctorGarcía #FrancescMiralles