Secrets of a Japanese Island Where People Live Forever (100+ Years)

what do the longest living humans on the planet know that we don't doctor of scientists and dietitians have been looking for the secrets of longevity for centuries and in that process we've now uncovered healthier ways of living cured diseases and technology has given us virtually everything we'd ever want at our fingertips with rapid advancement in technology over the past Century however you'd think we'd have mastered Peak human health instead we're noticing an increase in levels of high stress mental health issues heart disease cancer and dementia this begs the question that in our pursuit of perfecting The Human Experience what have we forgotten are there core Universal truths and ways of living a healthy life that we've known around the world for Millennia that we've left behind in our Pursuit for more well there are a few places around the world who have unknowingly even to them somehow preserved this magic and because of this many live way above the age of 100. one of these places is an island hidden in the East China Sea some call the land of Immortals this begs the glaring question what are they doing differently what are the Forgotten truths core to our well-being as humans that we've forgot and is it too late to remember them well after weeks of back and forth while we were filming our Series in Japan we got in contact with some locals from this island who agreed to host us for a few days and in our final story in the country of Japan we were lucky enough to be joined by a full team including Amar Corey staffan Tommy and myself for the very first time this is The Avengers huh wow to go discover the hidden secrets of the island of Okinawa we're here this is really exciting like we've never done a trip all together like this ready to be 110. to get to the specific Village we have to rent a car and drive higher up north to the Wilderness like it says heartful friendship in Okinawa hey [Music] what's your first impression it's not very pretty the southern part of Okinawa feels like it's very industrial but in my mind I was like oh we're gonna arrive for this like very tiny Community it's definitely like the complete opposite of what I landed thinking that we're gonna be yeah but hopefully we'll see where we're going we're like still an hour away you know [Music] and we are rolling into okay spell that what is it no I don't want to smell Adventure Yogi music can we go to the you know farming right well we just arrived but yeah you guys want to go farm you're some help in the cropping the uh some turmericans that's good for longevity yes my dad would be proud right now I actually grew up working in my that's farm so no problem guys how to farm well ladies and gentlemen as we are getting thrown straight into the action and finding our first two core truths spending quality time in nature and working with our hands I'd like to welcome you to the magic little village of oogiemi in the last few decades this is one of only five places on Earth that have been labeled as blue zones a region where the residents for some reason consistently live abnormally long lives and experience much fewer health concerns we've already visited two of these five blue zones one last year in seoulosardinia in Italy where we stumbled upon a village Festival it's my first 100 year old plaster I made in my life and the other in Loma Linda California you're how old 78. I just ran a half marathon we're not ready to dive deeper once again in our third and very special Blue Zone heading straight to one of their Farms yeah we're at a farm now you look like the biggest city boys coming out to the countryside like we're so not dressed for Farming Farming shoes yeah over there they have okay I don't know what's happening this makes us ready to farm just boots it's very nice for health and it makes and the younger local people you go see the four medicine one not again can you show us how to do it like this working Outdoors being in motion often on their own Farms seems to be a pattern across the blue zones even the elders keep their minds fresh and their bodies active with a gentle routine I know I did turmeric was a root really smell that did you know that yeah learn things every day he's saying that we're doing a really good job foreign [Music] there's something about touching the soil and just seeing how abundant the land is that actually affects you in a psychological level like I feel so much more peaceful you really feel the connection for the land you feel connection to what you eat and it's something that you know City living now you're you have none of it [Music] [Music] oh the fruit of our Harvest [Music] and unbeknown to us from time to time our translator yogisan would get bored and start to completely making up translations leaving us totally confused so he said he make with wife two times a day [Music] [Music] any Grandma anywhere in the world you're right grandmas and grandpas are my new favorite yesterday characters [Laughter] Okinawa thanks so much what a lovely start it couldn't have actually began any better it sets the tone for how lovely the energy is in these people and the sense of community if you don't understand what she's saying but we just feel everything that is just flowing through her and she feels what's flowing through us and yeah it's the most incredible thing to experience much like in Solo Italy where people literally left their keys outside of their doors to welcome anyone in at any time leading to no one ever feeling alone okinawans seem to be truly living with an open Spirit but with this wholesome start nothing could have prepared us for the chaos that was waiting for us at our Homestay where are we going like what we keep going from confusing to Wholesome to confusing this is where our home stay is [Laughter] there a chicken people in Okinawa have a sense of humor that's for sure wow this looks great Thomas [Laughter] wow this is a lot of bottles of sucking we quickly realized that our host has an endless supply of humor and drinks [Music] [Laughter] it's not thank you he wants to drink all day I thought he was saying something sentimental yeah [Music] so this is alcohol this is for drinking yes wait what no no no no no no no no no no don't do it no I'm not doing that I don't want to touch it I'm way different vitamins how long has this been in here 20 years this has been in there and he's gonna give you a sip of that power in my room two snakes in here that have been brewing with this wine for 20 years and I'm about to put that into my body you're a crazy man you know that they really understood [Music] it tastes like something's been sitting in there for a while [Music] okay how long will I live now does that mean finish this he wants you to go the moment yeah [Applause] come on it was meant to be the most wholesome video out of the Japan series and it's turning into the craziest run for your lives on the strongest venom in the world you know many people died before yeah we just drank [Laughter] Although our Local Host was full of life we wanted to go a lot deeper into the community and connect with the elders to truly understand what helps them live such long and healthy lives [Music] how old are you 85 years old the guy working out there this is Phil behind us [Music] he's saying like that's the difference between just like consuming versus actually experiencing the food security [Music] that's beautiful the little things people look for the big things but it's in the small enough [Music] 85 years old and you're still working but there's this inherent wisdom in within our elders I think we see because Elders can't use an iPad we don't value the wisdom as much as prior Generations used to yeah foreign ERS play together here to bond and further their friendship is called get ball we're gonna try and go join them and learn a little bit [Music] he's 97 years old wow that's like more than three times older than we are um foreign [Music] [Music] woohoo what can I say can you ask her how does she feel about playing get ball and what does he do with her life anybody I've met past 90 is always bed written some spoken in their bed and these guys are all out smiling and laughing and they're walking like normally they're not struggling to walk really it's really impressive it feels like friendship relationships is like it's such a big part of it like communities everything it is like in our previous exploration of blue zones a common tradition that they all had in common was maintaining a strong sense of community and this principle is also so integral to the Okinawan people that they actually have a specific word for it and why do you have uh I know or somebody need help okay I help you like this each other give and take always when you're five years old in this community you get matched with a moai a group of at least five people who take care of each other as you grow older you contribute a small Financial amount each month to your moai which serves as some form of a bank so that whenever anyone needs help of any kind the mawaii is there for you they meet at least once a month your moai can also change and you can have several throughout your life ensuring that you always have a sense of community even beyond your own family it's very important to make a friend an attempt to nurture our community and your ability to participate in it more deeply we created a few years ago our yes fam Community newsletter which if you're looking for community and connection we'd highly encourage you to join signing up for our newsletter is completely free and at the top of the description below it includes news about upcoming events meetups and challenges in your areas the amazing yes fam Community organizers are constantly putting together exciting experiences that bring people together you also want to like have a group go bowling or something what the hell are we doing in your lifetime we ever go bowling okay we never go bowling Tommy was a varsity bowler in high school [Music] when I see them I feel like the problem in our world is stress is high in society and to reduce that we drink more we eat less good food spend more time on our phones you know we're trying to escape the stress to them they don't feel like they have anything figured out but to us from the outside looking in they definitely do right okay bye-bye one thing we noticed about the people of ogimi was their incredibly light and open energy sense of humor and welcome attitude anywhere we went yesterday we met this lovely lady who owns a cafe up here how old are you well you look 40 years old and we wanted to come back and learn more about her story and have more of her lovely tea good morning oh how are you good good [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] one of the biggest things that I've noticed here is that the perception of Aging is very different than the West I feel like in the west people fight aging but here it just feels like people really embrace it like what does she think about aging um enjoy something that I've been wanting to ask these Okinawan residents about which I thought could help explain their longevity was the word ikigai ikigai is a concept that has swept through the Western World in recent years and is said to originate from Okinawa and be an all-japanese term which describes the thing that gives a person a sense of purpose made famous using this diagram which describes ikigai is the overlap of doing something that you love something that the world needs something that you're good at and something that you can be paid for if you're able to find one thing that checks all of those boxes you've achieved your purpose in life or your ikigai but it seems that the locals have a slightly more subtle and refined view of what ikigai truly means foreign seems like it's not like this search for the one thing in your life it's it's more of like like being a tennis coach is you know yeah at least my perception of the concept is like oh you just spend your whole life to try to find this one thing but maybe it's actually just nomination where you feel all those are combined them that's the answer from the island simple you need more flowers last question if she has a message the young people in the world today what would that be [Music] oh [Music] our honest main final lesson from both this trip and our last one in Italy is that longevity and happiness really feels like it is meant to be way more effortless than we make it good many of the locals didn't even understand why we were asking so many questions it's not supposed to be this aggressive Relentless approach to happiness that we often believe is the path in the Western World The Pursuit of Happiness May on its own very well be an unhappy path to choose and the pursuit may very well be what's distracting us from the very thing we seek the answer feels more harmonious happening right now but asking questions is good yes but ultimately at some point if we don't simply let go and enjoy the present moment how will we ever learn how to enjoy whatever we eventually get hello everybody okay perfect being thankful for the Small Things finding purpose in your daily life and staying closely connected to your community really feels like an art form these days a rare gift yet a skill we can all practice to master the sweet joy of slowing things down not being in the constant quest to do more achieve more or build more but at some point learning how to let go look someone deeply in the eyes and smile with your full heart these blue zones truly have rare gifts they are holding on to although the modern world is corrupting their future further and further with processed foods and technology so we hope that stories like this can plant seeds in your mind to think about your own life and health to Value what you have and be more intentional get more relaxed about your approach to your daily life as a genuine attempt to nurture Community which we think is lacking everywhere around the world our yes fam Community newsletter is a place to start we hope you will consider joining for free at the link at the top of the description below a harmonious future is possible but will we do what it takes to reconnect with and remember all of these forgotten truths we once knew saying goodbye to our hosts nice guy sorry

Channel: Yes Theory

Views: 1,265,464

Keywords: yestheory, seek discomfort, yes theory strangers, yes theory travel, yes theory subscribers, getting out of your comfort zone, Amazon FBA

Id: Mm-ZhXVGnPg

Length: 25min 33sec (1533 seconds)

Published: Sun May 07 2023