Ikigai by Héctor Garcia
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Rating: ★★★★☆
Yesterday, I finished reading Ikigai, a book by Héctor Garcia and Francesc Miralles, which dives into the Japanese concept of the same name, Ikigai (生き甲斐). The reasons for buying this book months ago were not exactly because I wanted to read it, but just because it looked and felt nice. But now that I have read it, I think it was a good purchase.
Ikigai, in its simplest form, is the reason to live. The book goes through the different forms and shapes of this concept, as well as all of other “secrets” for a long and happy life. There are a few things out of this book that I would like to start applying to my life, in one way or another.
Eat less, meaning: never eat until we feel one hundred procent full. This should also include eating slower, such that our bodies have enough time to actually understand how much food we’ve already ingested and how much more is needed. I notice that I usually eat reasonably fast and sometimes I tend to overeat because I didn’t feel soon enough that I was full.
So this is a two fold point: on one hand, be more mindful of how fast I eat. On the other hand, never eat enough to feel completely full, since that makes it also harder for our bodies to digest and process. Some people would say to eat to 70%, the book says 80%. In practice, I think the reasonable thought is: do I feel almost full? Then, I should stop.
Do morning stretching exercises. The book mentions the tradition of radio taiso, so quite literally, radio calisthenics. This was - and still is - a form of exercise instructions that used to be transmitted through radio - and nowadays also on the Internet. I’ve already wanted to do some sort of light exercise and stretching in the morning, but in reality I haven’t done it.
Practice meditation, specifically breathing-centric meditation. I’ve done this in times of my life where I’ve felt more stressful and in need of more peace. But in the end, I’ve never stuck to it. I would like to change this, and maybe somehow pair it with the morning stretching exercises. Something between the 5 and 15 minutes seems ideal to me.
The book goes into more detail into certain aspects of life, such as activities, someone’s ikigai, etc, including interviews of people that live in the blue zones. If you’re into this kind of stuff, I would recommend reading the book. It’s not just about how you could maybe improve your life, but also an insight into other cultures.
- 📕 Title Ikigai
- ✍️ Author
- 📚 Publisher Publisher
- 🪪 ISBN 9781786330895