Ikigai is a Japanese term which stands for the sense of purpose. Every person born on this earth has some purpose in life and to discover one’s Ikigai is only one’s destiny. How can we know that it is our Ikigai? When we do a work in which we lose sense of our time and our mind is in a natural flow state, and we become totally focused on our work away from all the distractions that is our true Ikigai.

 

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In a village known as Okinawa of Japan the average life people live there is more than 100 years. A lot of research was done and interviews of people belonging to Okinawa town were conducted in order to find the secret of such longevity. They found that Japanese live a very healthy and active life. They eat more amount of vegetables and adopt a 5 course meal in which they divide different dishes into small portions and that way they can avoid eating food till their stomach gets full instead they only fill their stomach by 80%. The another secret to their healthy living is exercise, the people in okinawa don’t believe in doing high intensity exercise instead they do low intensity exercise every day like walking, gardening, yoga, tai chi and quigong which consists of slower body movements. They also consider breathing as a very important part of exercise and hence they concentrate on breathing while doing any of the above mentioned exercise.

Apart from diet and exercise the most important reason behind longevity is every person lives with an Ikigai. Japanese strongly believe that every person should live with a purpose. In order to find their purpose they follow the principal of logotherapy and Morita therapy. Japanese believe that less is more hence they focus more on providing better quality. They believe in simplicity and attention to detail and hence there focus is more on the process of carrying out work rather than result. They apply this principal of Ikigai to most mundane and routine task as well. In order to carry out even routine task in a flow like state, Japanese apply the principle of mindfulness. In order to become mindful and remain distraction free they inculcate the habit of meditation as a part of their routine. Daily meditation helps them to live a balance life and decrease their stress levels and anxiety. It also helps them to become more resilient and anti fragile to life’s failure and hence they can easily accept all the negative emotions without getting overwhelmed by it.

Another aspect that centenarians give credit to their long life and well being is surrounding themselves with good friends. Nurturing friendships by talking each day to the people they love or doing fun activities like dancing, playing games and celebrating each day together helps them to live a long and happy life. The important attribute of Japanese culture is their strong desire to connect with nature. Most of the people of Okinawa plant vegetables in their own garden which helps them to generate income as well as connect with earth.

Conclusion

Our ikigai is different for all of us; however our intuition and curiosity can helps us to connect with our ikigai. A purpose can be big or small it doesn’t matter. Once you have found your true purpose life becomes meaningful, enjoyable and worth living for.