Live as long as these guys
The Japanese art of ikigai, or the joy of staying busy, could unlock longevity
P ACK up those cozy blankets and candles you purchased in last year’s hygge-fueled Ikea spree. Fall’s biggest imported lifestyle trend is ikigai, and it might help you live to 100.
If hygge is the art of doing nothing, ikigai is the art of doing something — and doing it with supreme focus and joy.
In the new book “Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life” (Penguin, out Tuesday), coauthors Héctor García and Francesc Miralles explain that ikigai translates loosely to “the happiness of always staying busy.”
But not just any activ- ity will do, García says. In speaking with elderly residents in Japanese towns — such as Ogimi, known as the Village of Longevity — the authors found that busy folks with the longest lives tended to frequently enter a state called flow.
“Flow is that feeling we experience when we’re really focused on doing a task, [and] we kind of lose that feeling of the passing of time,” García, a Barcelona, Spain, native who’s lived in Tokyo for 13 years, tells The Post.
In a flow state, ideas come easily and productive work feels enjoyable instead of grueling, he adds. It’s that natural Zen effect that boosts a person’s happiness and well-being.
As an example, García describes an older woman he met in a town near Hiroshima who specializes in placing bristles into the heads of makeup brushes. Her confident movements flowed like a dance, García recalls, and her pride in her work was apparent.
The first thing flow requires is a focused objec- tive. What are you hoping to accomplish?
Then, García recommends beginning with a ritual.
“I like to prepare a nice cup of green tea, put it on the table, and say, ‘OK, now I’m starting,’ ” he says. “You could also do it with a song, if it’s always the same song — something that marks your beginning.”
Finally, it’s important to protect flow time from distractions, which can shatter the magic. García advises turning off any unnecessary electronics and shutting the door or slipping on a pair of noise-canceling headphones. “Of course, there are going to be people interrupting you, but [ideally] people will start respecting your system.”
Here’s how four New Yorkers get their flow on.