In The Blue Zones, Outlook Is Everything

There are four major tips that Dan Buettner found to be consistent in all five blue zones he visited — Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Loma Linda, California; Ikaria, Greece, and Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula — that could help you add years to your life.

The first one is life purpose. All the elderly people in the five blue zones had something in their lives that made them want to get up in the morning. They also had a higher power and gave themselves time to unwind and practice self-care.

The people of Okinawa, Japan have a term called “ikigai,” which roughly translates to “reason for being.”

A person’s ikigai doesn’t have to be anything too intense — it can be as simple as tending to your garden every day or whittling figurines out of wood. It could be writing songs or working as a crossing guard to help people get across the street safely.

In Loma Linda, California, the Seventh-Day Adventist community gets much-needed relaxation time on the Sabbath, or Saturday, when all they do is take it easy. In Nicoya, Costa Rica, the workday ends in the early afternoon, and friends gather at the local bar to drink, dance, and laugh together.

Across all of the blue zones was some type of faith or religion, though they were all different. The people of Sardinia go to church just about every day. In Okinawa, Japan, one man described praying every day for the continued safety of his loved ones.

The faith component of the blue zones can be entirely of one’s choosing: the point is having something to believe in that comforts you in hard times, no matter what it is.