Yesterday I read the book “IKIGAI” by Hector Garcia and Francesc Mirallesand I must say it was a delightful read. The book is based on the Japanese philosophy “IKIGAI”, secret to lead a long, happy and healthy life. The authors of this book did research on the supercentenarians (people above 100 years of age) residing in Okinava, an island in Japan. There is a place, Ogimi in Okinava which is known as Village of Longevity. The authors visited Ogimi and interviewed the eldest residents of this village. They found out what these people do to stay active, how they overcome stressful situations, what do they eat and how is their social life. The book starts with an inspirational Japanese proverb “Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years”.
Summary (The book consists of 9 chapters)
Chapter I is about IKIGAI. IKIGAI can be defined as the purpose of our life, the reason for our existence or our motivation to get up from the bed every morning. I was amazed to know that people in Japan never retire but enjoy doing work as long as their health permits. There is a beautiful concept of “Moai” which is a group of people sharing same hobbies and interests. With Moai people find emotional and financial security.
Chapter II reveals secrets of antiaging. This chapter focuses more on mental training. I liked the way they have explained how high level stress causes degeneration of cells over time but at the same time how low level of stress is beneficial for our health.
Chapter III throws light on logo therapy. This therapy helps people, suffering from depression to recover by finding their purpose in life.
Chapter IV describes how we can achieve happiness by being in a state of “flow”. In this state we get so immersed doing our favorite activity that we forget about everything else.
Chapter V is the most interesting one as per my opinion and I feel it could have been longer. This chapter is all about the interviews of supercentenarians. All the interviews are motivating but I liked one interview of a lady, 122 years old who had a very good sense of humor. This woman would ride bicycle till the age of 100, and was managing on her own till 110. She gave up smoking at the age of 120, not for the health reasons but because she could not see the cigarette clearly due to cataract. When she was interviewed on her 120th birthday she sportingly said that though she could not hear, see or feel good still everything was fine in her life.
Chapter VI covers the gist of 100 interviews conducted by the authors in Ogimi. Almost all the people they had interviewed had vegetable garden, enjoyed their work without taking too much stress, followed traditions, did exercise daily and nurtured social relations.
Chapter VII deals with the eating habits and diet of people in Okinawa. They use a common saying before and after their meals which is “hara hachi bu”. It means eat the food till 80 percent of your stomach’s capacity. They usually use small plates to avoid overeating. Their food includes a variety of vegetables, mostly grown in their gardens, fruits, grains, herbs and tofu. They rarely eat sugar and their salt intake is also low. They believe that calorie restriction and fasting are the keys to live longer. In addition to this, they consume green and white tea and eat Shikuwasa (a citrus fruit) to delay premature aging.
Chapter VIII discusses about various forms of exercises that are followed in Okinawa. You will find comprehensive explanation of each form including Yoga, radio taiso, tai chi, and qigong.
Chapter IX is about “Wabi Sabi” (beauty of imperfection)and ichi-go ichi-e (live in present). In this chapter you will find some great quotes from Buddhism and stoicism.
My experience
Ikigai guides us in developing new habits to lead a happy and active lifestyle. Most of the things mentioned in this book are already present in other books but some parts are totally new. The authors have reiterated the teachings very well. Chapter III was like a revision of “Man’s search for meaning-by Victor Frankl” for me. I found chapter V and VI more interesting to read because of the real life examples. My overall experience of reading this book was positive and refreshing. If you are looking for some light and simple self-help book then you should read this book. I would like to mention two quotes from this book which I liked the most
“Once you discover your ikigai, pursuing it and nurturing it will bring meaning to your life.”
“Only things that are imperfect, incomplete and ephemeral can truly be beautiful, because only those things resemble the natural world.”