IKIGAI: Purposeful secrets to a long & happy life

IKIGAI is a Japanese concept of living a long, purposeful, healthy and happy life by a meaningful combination of practices that revolve around a individual’s heartfelt and fulfilling life purpose. Having clearly defined ikigai brings satisfaction, satiety and meaning to our lives. Having an ikigai means living a worthwhile life….a life to its fullest potential and joy. The secret of longevity and healthy joyful citizens of japan stems from this deep rooted philosophy of ikigai which helps them live healthier and happier long lives.

An active mind, a healthy body and a happy soul are essential components of a wholesome living. An ikigai has 4 criteria: something which you love to do, something the world needs, something you are good at & something what you can get paid for. Any activity that has these  components can be an individual’s archetype of ikigai. To each one…his own. most people can feel empty and vain inside at certain periods of their life and a strong sense of reminding them of their ikigai might propel them to again start moving meaningfully and joyfully into the flow of their precious lives again. The Japanese have worked deeply over ages on carefully scrutinizing and developing modus operandi towards a long and healthy life. The components they have paid attention to are exercise, sleep, humor, activity, diet, lifestyle, meditation and more such details. With a apt mixture of a balanced tit ration of each of these, they have clearly depicted its working model to the world at large. We will share some of their unique signature styles here.

MORITA THERAPY:

Shoma Morito created this therapy which focuses on accepting one’s emotions without trying to change or control them to treat various anxiety-depression disorders in humans. Its basic principles are:

1.accept your feelings

2.do what you should be doing

3.discover your life purpose.

The therapy involves isolation, light occupational therapy and return to active social life within a period of about 21 days to finish all its phases.

BALANCE OF FLOW & DISCIPLINE:

Multitasking in today’s world has robbed us of the simple luxury of paying slow and meaningful attention to every activity we do , resulting in stress, un fulfillment and chaos. The appropriate mixture of flow & discipline can be cultivated thereby allowing us to deeply relish our life, one moment at a time. The requirements for achieving flow are: knowing what to do, knowing how to do it, knowing how well you are doing it, knowing where to go, perceiving significant challenges, perceiving significant skills and being free of distractions. Setting apart daily slots of time to engage in activities that we are passionate about and not getting distracted by multitasking can be an enriching experience adding fullness to our lives.

COMMUNAL LIVING & ACTIVE LIFE:

Many elder members of the Japanese community share that the secret to them is their constant engagement in some or other activity which does not let them slacken and also sharing shared joy and celebration among their communities as festivals, daily group meetings etc. always remaining active and not letting themselves slip into the monotony and staggering pace of life.

DIET:

What we eat is who we become. the Okinawa’s miracle diet, the concept of hara hachi u, anti oxidants and a variety of nuts, vegetables, fresh fruits are the keys to longevity and less of modern day diseases like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease etc. hara hachi bu is eating only upto the point of 80% satiety always leaving space for more. Daily consumption of fruits, herbal and green teas like jasmine tea, olive oil, dry fruits and shikuwasa fruit helps build immunity and keep the body agile at even aged numbers.

EXCERCISE & MEDITATION:

Simply getting up from sitting position every few hours itself speeds up metabolism. RADIO TAISO is unique set of warm up easy postures done early morning even on community levels such as offices/schools as a daily simple practice which takes 5-10 minutes goes a long way to increasing joint mobility and dynamism in daily life. it helps to practice simple movements that involve stretching of all joints. TAI-CHI ,a chinese martial arts & QIGONG, Another similar one are deep gifts to mankind which help in healing the body and mind and keeping it agile and in tune are signature style practices in japan.SHIATSU massages which carefully work on energy centers in the body and provide deep rejuvenation and ZEN MEDITATION are spiritual practices to deepen the meaning and richness of life.

WABI-SABI &ICHI-GO ICHI-E:

WABI-SABI is a japanese concept that shows us the fleeting, changeable and imperfect nature of the world around us and a complete heartfelt acceptance of life’s imperfection sets us free from our expectations of how life ought to be.

ICHI-G0 ICHI-E means ” this life happens only once in this moment which will never be repeated and one must fully live each encounter without remorsing the past or expecting from the future.

These two are mature ways of conducting our lives.

Thus, each one of us can really tailor make our own enriching and long healthy lives by applying and practicing the role model of ikigai in our lives. All the very best.