Ikaria – The Secret of Long Life
Ikaria is a Greek island thirty miles off the coast of Turkey in the far east of the Mediterranean Sea. The Island is known for nonagenarians and centenarians – people who are above 90 years of age. Because of their long and healthy life some writers have called the place “The Island of long life”.
Dan Buettner, an American National Geographic Fellow and New York Times-bestselling author, in his article, “The Island Where People Forget to Die”, published in the New York Times Magazine on October 28, 2012, writes the story of Stamatis Moraitis, a Greek war veteran of Second World War. Stamatis came to New York, in 1943, to get his badly injured arm treated. In New York, Stamatis found job as a manual worker. Later on, he moved to Florida where he married an American woman of Greek heritage from whom he had three children. He bought a house and a car and started living his life like any other American. In 1976, he felt breathless while walking. His doctor diagnosed lung cancer and gave him six months to live. His diagnosis was confirmed by nine other doctors.
Dan writes that Stamatis had two options: To live in US, go for conventional aggressive cancer treatment and die after six months or to go back to Ikaria, spend the rest of the days of his life in his native homeland and get buried in his ancestral graveyard. He chose the second option because that would save him lot of money as funeral expenses which is a very costly affair in US.
Stamatis was 65 at that time. His children were grown up adults and had their independent life. He, together with his wife, packed up his baggage and came to Ikaria. He settled in his old house with his parents who were still alive. His parents took care of him while he rested in bed. Gradually, he felt an improvement in his health and therefore, started working in his home garden. He planted vegetables thinking that after six months, although he would not be alive, his wife would be able to utilize the produce of the garden.
Dan reports that six months came and passed. Stamatis did not die. Rather, his health improved so much that he extended his vineyard and vegetables garden. He started walking to his church every Sunday, spent his free time with his friends playing Dominoes and drinking home-made wine. He visited the village tavern quite often and stayed there late in the night. Like all other Ikarians, Stamatis would get up late in the morning, work during the day in his vegetables and vine garden and took a peaceful nap in the afternoon. He did not go for Chemotherapy or used any other medicines. He became cancer-free.
The writer reports that, according to official records, Stamatis lived for 98 years, although he claimed that he was 102 when he last met Dan. He visited United States and tried to see those doctors who gave him six months of life. But all those doctors had died.
The question is: What did Stamatis do that extended his life. The answer, obviously, is that he changed his lifestyle. The climate, the diet, the daily living habits in Ikaria are totally different from the kind of life one lives in New York or Florida.
The people of Ikaria lead simple life. They grow vegetables and fruit in their home gardens, drink home-made wine, get up late in the morning, keep themselves happy and free from all kinds of stress. Afternoon nap is a must in the entire Island. There is a hush silence all over the land because everybody takes the afternoon nap.
The purpose of sharing the story of Stamatis is to develop the awareness of how we can make our lives healthy and prosperous. Stamatis left all those activities that gave him stress and instead took up the kind of life that brought joy and relief in his life. He gave up the style of life that brought negative feelings, thoughts and emotions and accepted that kind of life that gave him positivity.
How can we rid ourselves from the stresses of life? How can we improve our body’s immunity level to fight the psychological and physiological diseases? Nature has provided a comprehensive pharmacy in our body. We only need to know how to utilize its supplies.
We need to protect ourselves from stress. When we visit a health practitioner for treatment, they advise us not to take stress. But nobody tells us how we can beat the stress. Medicines are not the solution of the problem. Psychologists suggest different techniques to overcome stress. But fighting the stress with willpower aggravates the problem.
We need to re-program or rewire our mind to fight stress. We need to switch ourselves in happy and pleasant mode. How do we do that? It doesn’t need any special technique. We need to explore the opportunities and activities that bring joy, relaxation and peace.
Let’s look at some of the activities that give us joy and peace. We feel overjoyed when:
- We meet an old friend in person, on telephone or on social media channel.
- We meet our parents, and we hug them.
- We meet our children and pick them up or hug and kiss them.
- We meet our siblings and relatives and share our moments of joy with them.
- We talk to our friends on phone and laugh our heart out.
- We are welcomed by our pets as we enter our house, and we caress them.
- We sing our favourite song loudly in our room.
- We participate in friendly games and sports.
- We go on outings with friends and relatives.
- We create something new.
- We talk to a stranger.
- We volunteer to help our neighbours, community and people who need help.
- We join in a group exercise or walk.
- We love everyone on this earth.
- We forgive our trespassers unconditionally with a loving heart.
- We throw away all negative thoughts, feelings and beliefs, and replace them with positive ones.
These are some of the activities. There are many more such ventures that lead to positive and happy mode. We need to look for these persuits.
The burden of problems of life may not be very heavy, but if we carry it on our shoulders for a long time, we will definitely get tired. It’s just like holding a glass of water in our hand. We can hold it very conveniently for a minute. We will feel the pain in our arm if we keep holding it for an hour. If we hold it for a day, we will definitely have to go to hospital emergency for treatment. We need to take a break to relax our mind and body to refresh ourselves to carry the load of stress. Let’s take a break and free ourselves from all stress, anxiety, disease and problems of life. If we are happy and relaxed, we may live longer.
Mumtaz Shah