10 Japanese concepts that will help you find balance and peace in everyday life.

Your habits define your life,be it good or bad the things that we do daily repeatedly will drastically change our life.That is the power of habits and cultivating good habits that improve our life for the better is need of the hour.To leave out the bad habits and cultivate new ones can be daunting but some of these Japanese concepts and habits have completely changed my life for the better.

Ever since I started adopting them into my life,be it tiny changes from eating mindfully to larger mindsets of caring and showing sincere consideration for others my life’s graph has been constantly moving up.

Japanese habits are deeply rooted in tradition and ancient practices.Japanese people have the highest life expectancies of the whole world.

These habits not only keep us happy,it helps us to live a longer life.They are also very simple to adopt and practice in our life making it better each day.So are you ready to start incorporating them into your life.

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Finding Ikigai – Your Reason for Being

Ikigai is a beautiful concept where we discover our purpose in life,the reason why we wake up every morning,what fuels our passion.Ikigai is a beautiful journey of self reflection that gives us the reason for living.Every human has a meaning and a purpose to life Ikigai is just finding what that is and living our life purposefully.

Ikigai is arises at the intersection of passion,mission,profession and vocation.This is to find your reason for being,something that offers joy,satisfy your needs,provides value to others and can be paid for is your Ikigai.This Ikigai helps us to promote a longer happier life span by doing what we love the most.

A simple way yo find out your Ikigai is through this chart,fill out your passion and intrests and find out if that is our ikigai.

Omoiyari

The concept of empathy and consideration for others is known as Omoiyari.Japanese people have the ability to care on a deeper level for others.It simply means to understand the needs of others and provide it to them before they even ask.

When Omoiyari is adopted into our daily life,we become compassionate and considerate for other living beings.The ways to adopt them into our daily life is through,

• Talking quietly or using headphones in local trains or public transport
• Treating waiters and sanitary workers with respect and dignity 
• Not littering in public spaces and using less plastic 

Seiketsu: The Art of Cleanliness

Cleanliness is a way of living in Japan.We all tend to live in a slump and keep our homes messed.Japanese understood that this is affecting our mental and physical health.The condition of the places where we live in for most of the time,is a direct reflection of our brain and vice versa.

Some of the ways i adopted Seiketsu was in very simple methods of 

• keeping my work desk clean,
• grooming myself and
• keeping my wardrobe organized,

By doing this I could,have good mental clarity was able to make better easier decisions,felt relaxed and at ease 

Ichiju-Sansai: Mindful Eating for Balance and Health

How many of us scoop out the next spoon of food,even before swallowing the first.In this fast paced lifestyle we don’t care about what we put inside our body.We only care about the taste for the tongue.But Japanese food culture revolves around balance and simplicity.

Japanese people follow the rule of 5,their meal will consist of the 5 flavours of salty,sweet,savory,bitter and sour.The same rule applies with the colours of food red, green, yellow, white and black that helps with the nutritional value as well.

Food is consumed slowly and mindfully in small portions.This practice of Ichiju-Sansai helps us to savour the food truly and focus on the quality that finally helps us to get the nutritional value of the food easily.

Ever since I started eating in small portions and mindfully tasting the food,I could feel a difference in the amount of food I consumed and also being mindful about what it was.I started eating more whole foods and consumed less junk.

Mottainai

Mottainai is a simple way to convey regret when something of value is wasted.Japanese follow the culture of using resources like, food,money,objects,materials carefully to their fullest so that they are not let to waste.

Japanese believe that everything in the universe has a spirit and value,so to let it go as a waste is a sin.This also applies to wasted potential and talents one may have been born with.

Mottainai can be practiced in daily life by

• Repairing,Repurposing and Reusing things
• Not wasting food,vegetable scraps to be composed 
• Passing on our old clothes to those in need
• Living a sustainable and simple life 

Relaxing Through Shinrin-Yoku – Forest Bathing

Forest Bathing is a ritual in Japan so much that even Japanese doctors recommend it to their patients to escape the hectic urban life.Forest bathing is a simple exercise where we can go to our nearby forest or even a park and sit between the trees.No phone,no screens nothing to do.Just sit or stand between those landscaped areas and feel the presence of the forest.

Take a moment to appreciate the surroundings,feel the ground and the grass you are standing on,touch the trees bark,feel the essence.Listen to the birds chirping and the sun shining through the leaves,take a breath and bask in nature.

A simple way to connect with nature is also through placing your back on a truck of the tree and imagining that it takes away all your problems and bad thoughts.Allow the stillness of the forest around you escape the constant noise of the urban culture .

Kintsugi – Embracing Damage as Design

Kintsugi is a Japanese art form of restoring and repairing broken pottery.Instead of viewing the damage as a sad thing,the broken pieces are reattached and highlighted with gold or silver lacquer.The damage is seen as a part of the history that the object holds. This again links with the Japanese concept of Mottainai where we are supposed to reuse and repurpose.

This practice of Kintsugi is common among the Japanese tea masters who restore their pottery also appreciating Wabi Sabi- the imperfect beauty.

Ways to adopt Kintsugi into our daily lives is to 

• Repair and use damaged objects 
• Appreciate the beauty in damaged items by giving it a new purpose 

Ikebana – Mindfulness Through Flowers

Ikebana means living flowers in Japanese Culture.This is the Japanese art of flower arranging in the most subtle,vibrant and sophisticated ways.Ikebana helps us to be present by tuning into nature’s beauty through flowers and their colours.

One of the main features of Ikebana is there is no need for many flowers or symmetrical arrangement.Flowers can be easily arranged through minimal asymmetrical ways supporting simplicity and elegance.

Ikebana helps us to be mindful and reduces stress from our everyday life.This practice also helps us to understand to appreciate things when they last,to be grateful for the present moment 

In our daily life we can buy flowers and try arranging them in simple ways and adoring them when they last.There is no pressure for them to be perfect it is the practice of connecting with the nature’s gift and being mindful with it 

Wabi-Sabi: Beauty in Imperfection

Wabi-Sabi is the most famous concept in Japan about embracing beauty in imperfection.Be it when we have beauty marks,the imperfection in broken items are all considered to make us unique.

Everytime i start a new journal I would want every letter i write in it to be perfect and if it doesn’t happen I would contemplate myself.But once i started adopting the habit of Wabi-Sabi, even though i try for perfection,when sometimes it doesn’t happen i accept and embrace the imperfection.

Ways to use Wabi-Sabi in our daily life is even when something doesn’t happen perfectly or the way we want it to,instead of obsessing over it simply embrace the imperfection and try creating harmony with it 

Danshari: Creating a Homely Harmony

Danshari is Japanese concept of minimalism.This reflects to systematic decluttering of the space we live in and having items that provide us value.To lead an easier simple life,refraining from buying unwanted items,decluttering and not depending is the concept of Danshari.

Decorating with minimal items and living with the basic needs ensures harmony A simple comfortable home ensures peace in our mind and improves our mood drastically.Now since adopting this concept I have only items in my wardrobe that i wear regularly and I started mindfully buying clothes as well.

In our daily life we can be mindful of what we bring into our home,does that item sparks joy or it is a clutter in our home.This simple question can help us create a Danshari home 

All these Japanese habits promote simplicity and living a life in the present.They have completely changed my life for the good by helping me to live in the present,appreciate imperfection and living a life below my means.

If you are looking for more resources to learn about Japanese culture,The book Ikigai is a good place to start understanding Japanese secrets to a longer happier life.To know about more self help books those which will level up your life read my recent blog post on 5 Best Self Help Books for Women that will Transform your Life !

Tell me in the comments below which of these habits are you going to start adopting in your life this spring ?