Are you worried about the changes this lockdown has brought to your lifestyle? Are you stressed about the stress you have and the stress it puts on your body and mind(joke!)? Well, there is a perfect book for you which will tell you all about living a healthy way of life by following some very easy things-
“Ikigai- the Japanese secrets to live a long and happy life”.
Why Japanese, you ask?..Japan is the country that has second highest life expectancy rate, and has the most centenarians (people of 100 years of age) per capita. The book, written by Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia, looks into Japanese lifestyle, particular of the Okinawa Island, which lies to the south of Japan.
(images from instagram)
As you can see, this small island is farther away from the mainland of the country, and the people here speak some ancient dialects and not formal Japanese, but the habits still are similar through Japan.
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The book dwells into some common traits observed in Okinawa community, and explores the lifestyle of the community while measuring it in terms of Psychology and Science.
The preface of the book tells you about the interesting story of how the writing of the book started in the first place, so don’t miss it, and it only gets interesting as you read further. If you are a religious reader, you might finish this 123 paged book in a go!
The term Logotherapy is mentioned quite a few times in the book, which is a psychological concept based on the premise that, every individual’s primary motive is to find a meaning to life. The word Ikigai, written as 生き甲斐, also translates to ‘one’s purpose in life’. The language of the book is simple to understand, and the facts are supported by logic and reasoning, and all foreign concepts are adequately explained too.
Japanese people have a very strong community sentiment, and are very disciplined and follow rules no matter where they go, what they do. Mental stress and sedentary lifestyle have become a part of the some parts of Japan, but this very island is far from these negative effects of Westernization.
-By Aditi Teredesai
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