Hello
guys!. Good to see you again on my blog. I would like to tell you about the
review of Chapter 8 and 9 of book IKIGAI
: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. The Chapter 8 is GENTLE MOVEMENTS, LONGER LIFE (Exercises
from the east that promote health and longevity). For
your information, I’ve reached the two last chapters of the book so this will
be the last post of my book review (so sad 😢😢😢). Okay
here we go!
The
author by this chapter state that people who live longest are not the
ones who do the most exercise but rather the ones who move the most. Ogimi,
the Village of Longevity, they discovered that even people over eighty and
ninety years old are still highly active. They don’t stay at home looking out
the window or reading the newspaper. Ogimi’s residents walk a lot, do karaoke
with their neighbors, get up early in the morning, and, as soon
as
they’ve had breakfast—or even before—head outside to weed their gardens. They
don’t go to the gym or exercise intensely, but they almost never stop moving in
the course of their daily routines.
You
don’t need to go to the gym for an hour every day or run marathons. As Japanese
centenarians show us, all you need is to add movement to your day. Practicing
any of these Eastern disciplines on a regular basis is a great way to do so. An
added benefit is that they all have well-defined steps, and as we saw in
chapter IV, disciplines with clear rules are good for flow. If you don’t like any
of these disciplines, feel free to choose a practice that you love and that makes
you move. There are several exercises which Japanese do, here it is:
Radio taiso
One
of the main purposes of doing radio taiso is to promote a spirit of unity among
participants. The exercises are always done in groups, usually in schools before the start of classes, and in businesses before the workday
begins.
Yoga
Popular in Japan as well as in the West, yoga can be done by almost
anyone.
Tai chi
Also
known as t’ai chi ch’uan (or taijiquan), tai chi is a Chinese martial art that can
be traced back hundreds of years to Buddhism and Confucianism; it is very popular
in Japan, too.
Qigong
Also
known as chi kung, its name combines qi
(life force, or energy) and gong (work), indicating
that the form works with the individual’s life force. Though relatively modern, especially under its
current name, the art of qigong is based on the Tao yin, an ancient art meant
to foster mental and physical well-being.
Shiatsu
Created
in Japan in the early twentieth century, principally for the treatment of
arthritis, shiatsu also works on energy flow through the application of
pressure with the thumbs and the palms of the hands. In combination with
stretching and breathing exercises, it seeks to create equilibrium among the
different elements of the body.
Breathe
better, live longer
Sun
Simiao was a proponent of a technique called the Six Healing Sounds, which
involves the coordination of movement, breathing, and pronouncing sounds with
the purpose of bringing our
souls
to a place of calm.
The
six sounds are:
Xu, pronounced like “shh” with a deep sigh, which is associated with
the liver
He, pronounced like “her” with a yawn, which is associated with the
heart
Si,
pronounced like “sir” with a slow exhale, which is associated with the lungs
Chui, pronounced like “chwee” with a forceful exhale, which is
associated with the kidneys
Hoo, pronounced like “who,” which is associated with the spleen
Xi, pronounced like “she, ” which connects the whole body
Chapter
9: RESILIENCE
AND WABI-SABI ( How to face life’s challenges without letting stress and worry age you)
What is
resilience?
Resilience
isn’t just the ability to persevere. As we’ll see in this chapter, it is also
an outlook we can cultivate to stay focused on the important things in life rather
than what is most urgent, and to keep ourselves from being carried away by
negative emotions. Resilience is our ability to deal with setbacks. The more
resilient we are, the easier it will be to pick ourselves up and get back to
what gives meaning to our lives.
Resilient
people know how to stay focused on their objectives, on what matters, without giving
in to discouragement. Their flexibility is the source of their strength: They
know how to adapt to change and to reversals of fortune. They concentrate on
the things they can control and don’t worry about those they can’t.
Emotional
resilience through Buddhism and Stoicism
One
of the objectives of both Buddhism and Stoicism has been to control pleasure,
emotions, and desires. Though the philosophies are very different, both aim to
curb our ego and control our negative emotions.
Meditating
for healthier emotions
Meditation
is a way to become aware of our desires and emotions and thereby free ourselves
from them. It is not simply a question of keeping the mind free of thoughts but
instead involves observing our thoughts and emotions as they appear, without
getting carried away by them. In this way, we train our minds not to get swept
up in anger, jealousy, or resentment.
Wabi-sabi and ichi-go
ichi-e
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese
concept that shows us the beauty of the fleeting, changeable, and imperfect nature
of the world around us. Instead of searching for beauty in perfection, we
should look for it in things that are flawed,incomplete. A complementary
Japanese concept is that of ichi-go
ichi-e, which could be translated as “This moment
exists only now and won’t come again.” It is heard most often in social
gatherings as a reminder that each encounter—whether with friends, family, or
strangers—is unique and will never be repeated, meaning that we should enjoy
the moment and not lose ourselves in worries about the past or the future. Ichi-go ichi-e teaches
us to focus on the present and enjoy each moment that life brings us. This is
why it is so important to find and pursue our ikigai. Wabi-sabi teaches us to appreciate the beauty of imperfection as an opportunity
for growth.
Beyond
resilience: Antifragility
Steps
to get antifragility :
Step
1: Create redundancies
Step 2: Bet conservatively in
certain areas and take many small risks in others
Step
3: Get rid of the things that make you fragile
That is my review about Chapter 8 and 9 of this book. I would like to say
thankyou to everyone who has been following my post from the first review of
this book until the last one. I would also thank to the author of this book for
making a great book to read. See you on the other next book review. 😀😀😀😀😀
