Positive thinking and the Ikigai Diet. While many diets focus on just food, the Ikigai Diet regards positive thinking to be a main part of the diet because it is a diet to support our intestines. What do I mean by that? Well, that’s what I am going to talk about, so stick around.
My name is Sachiaki Takamiya. I am the founder of the Ikigai Diet, which is based on ancient Japanese natural philosophies and modern understanding of health.
It is a cherry blossom season in Japan, and many people are celebrating this festive occasion. I am here to conduct Ima Iwai which is celebrating the present moment — celebrating my life right here right now. The things I have such as my family, house, car, the fact that I live in this beautiful countryside. I think of all the great things happening in my life at the moment.
I usually do it as my walking meditation. I come here a lot going Nordic walking. I appreciate the things I have.
Ima Iwai is an exaggerated version of my walking meditation. I don’t just appreciate my life; I celebrate it from the bottom of my heart to feel joy and happiness. I make it a monthly ritual, usually doing it at a particular timing such as spring equinox, full moon, and cherry blossom. It is April 8th today which is the birthday of Buddha, and in Japan, many schools are conducting an entrance ceremony. Many people are starting their new life. The spring is beginning. It is a perfect day to celebrate.
You may be wondering but what if nothing good is happening in your life, can you still celebrate it?
Sure you can. There are some negative things happening in my life, too, but I don’t pay attention to them. I pay attention to all the positive things happening in my life. This is positive thinking, and I have been practicing it for many years, and I have conditioned myself to focus on the bright side.
Okay, but what has it got to do with diet?
If you regard your diet to be the way of health, how you think affects your health. What you eat is essential. That’s why I teach what you eat. You are what you eat. We have 3 meals a day. Eating is a huge part of our life. Definitely, the food you eat counts. But how you eat also counts and how you think is part of how you eat.
Do you know anybody who is very health conscious and is on supposedly a very healthy diet, and yet, still get sick often?
How come?
Well, one reason could be that this person was sick before starting this diet. Quite often that is the reason why people begin a diet in the first place. And the effect of the diet hasn’t happened yet. That is possible.
But also sometimes people are too conscious about their food, and they feel negative about the food they eat if they couldn’t eat food they wanted to eat. Sometimes they feel negative about food others are eating.
A thought is a vibration. Every thought you have send a vibration to your body, especially to your intestines. This is my idea by the way. It isn’t a scientific fact or anything so if you don’t believe it, it is perfectly fine.
In Japan, intestines are considered to be the second brain, and if that is the case I feel how we think affects our intestines, and our thoughts echo through our intestinal bacteria.
It isn’t only what you eat feeds our intestinal bacteria, but our thought does as well. The thought is nourishment. You are feeding yourself with every thought you have.
So, please think positive and appreciate things you have every day. And once a month or so do Ima Iwai.