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Create a Superhealth Community

Post written by Leo Babauta.

This article in the N.Y. Times about the superhealthy community on the little Greek island of Ikaria is enlightening.

Ikarians are living much older than most other Westerners, and are healthy, active, purposeful and happy well into old age. What’s their secret? Is it diet, or exercise, or no smoking, or a little bit of red wine?

Sure, it’s a bit of those things, but more importantly, it’s the community.

Ikarians live in a community where it is the norm to eat mostly plant foods (beans, potatoes, veggies from the garden), drink some wine with neighbors, walk everywhere, garden during the day, take naps in the afternoon, not stress about time, wake naturally, socialize with the community every day.

In the U.S., we often live in communities where it is the norm to drive everywhere, sit most of the day, eat fast food or at chain restaurants or convenience foods, eat lots of meat and fried foods and dairy, be isolated, be inactive, hurry up and stress out about time.

The problem isn’t so much forming individual healthy habits, but forming a community that fosters healthy habits.

This bears out when you look at other communities that are healthy, even well into old age: the Okinawans, the Seventh-Day Adventists in Loma Linda, California, the Sardinians, and so on. They all have communities that foster healthy habits.

So what can we do if we’re in the wrong kind of community? Create a superhealth community.

Let’s look at our options.

Outline of a Superhealth Community

There isn’t one single definition of what a “Superhealth” Community would entail — if you look at the examples above, there are all slightly different kinds of habits that people in these communities have. But here are some of what seem to be important:

  1. Interact daily. Socializing is an important function in community, whether that be visiting neighbors, meeting in a marketplace, going to church, or talking in some way.
  2. Walk or exercise. Most of the communities mentioned above feature daily walking — sometimes a daily walk for exercise and socializing, other times just to get around to the store or neighbors’ houses.
  3. Eat plants. While not all communities mentioned above are vegetarian, plants make up the huge majority of their calories. Cow’s milk doesn’t, and meat is usually a small part of their meal. Okinawans (traditionally) eat soy and purple sweet potatoes and lots of veggies and a little fish, Sardinians eat beans and potatoes and veggies and goat’s cheese. Lots and lots of vegetables and fruits are good. Read about forming a plant-based diet.
  4. Eat in moderation. All of the communities mentioned eat in moderation. The American standard, however, is to super-size and pile plates high. Moderation is a good thing.
  5. Garden. It seems like almost everyone in these communities has a garden, and they garden daily. This is one area I haven’t included in my life yet.
  6. Wine. Actually, I think the Okinawans drink a nasty tasting home-brewed alcohol, but the Ikarians drink wine, so I’ll choose their method. They do it in moderation, and socially.
  7. Tea. There are lots of good things in tea, and drinking it in the late afternoon is a good ritual, also socially if possible.
  8. Purpose. Have a reason to get up in the morning. In the U.S., the retired (or unemployed) often don’t have this purpose, and don’t feel they have anything useful to do each day. The community should integrate them and draw upon their knowledge and experience — the elderly are great teachers and can be very active into old age.

You might also include attitudes about time, taking naps, waking naturally, and having a positive outlook on life. But I think the seven things outlined above would be a good start.

Now let’s look at some of our options if we live in a modern society.

Option 1: Friends & Family Community

If you friends and family aren’t that healthy yet, start talking to them about doing a monthly challenge, where you adopt one of the healthy habits above. See how many of them you can get on board — it might only be one or two at first, but two people is all that’s needed to form a community. Others might be inspired to join you in later months when they see the healthy changes you’ve made.

So for the first month, simply form the habit of walking. The next month, aim to eat more plants and less meat and dairy. The third month, simply get together and drink tea on a regular basis. And so on.

Get together on a regular basis — daily if that’s possible, but at least a couple times a week. And if you can’t get together daily, talk on the phone, on Facebook, or via email on a daily basis. This regular contact helps you get support from each other, keep each other accountable, forms a bond of doing something together.

Option 2: Find Like-Minded Friends

If you don’t have friends or family who can join you in a Superhealth Community, find some new friends. I’ve found good ones online who are in my area, and also by joining a running club. You can go to vegan meet-ups, or join a fitness bootcamp class or yoga class, and meet people there.

Even if you can just find one like-minded friend, that’s a good start. Then ask your new friend to join you in the monthly challenges outlined in the first option above.

Option 3: Create or Join an Online Community

If you can’t find people near you, then find them online. Today there’s no excuse for not being able to find people interested in what you’re interested in — they exist in troves online.

Don’t know where to start? How about Facebook friends, or Facebook groups? Or go to large healthy blogs and join the commenting community. Or find online forums that are about the topics you’re interested in changing.

If you can find a few online friends, start your own group. There are a few dozen ways, at least, to form an online group that talks on a regular basis, that can support each other in healthy changes.

Option 4: Change Your Neighborhood

This is the hardest option, because it involves changing a large group of people who don’t talk to each other often (probably), and who might not want to change. That’s OK — don’t focus on that part.

You can start by creating something new, or joining something already there:

  • A community garden
  • A group that walks every morning or afternoon
  • A gardening class
  • A running club
  • A vegan meet-up
  • Get-togethers featuring tea or wine and plant foods
  • Community projects where people work together with purpose
  • Classes taught by the elderly

Those are just a few ideas. You don’t have to get everyone to change — but you can start the change by leading by example.

A Superhealth Community might sound difficult, but really it’s not. It’s getting together (in real life or online) with at least one other person, and supporting each other in a healthy lifestyle. After you have one other person, maybe later you’ll have two. Then you’ll have changed the world.


The Simple Fitness Habit

Speaking of creating a superhealthy environment: I’ve created a new program called The Simple Fitness Habit.

I’ve gotten together with a group of health & fitness experts to create this program that focuses not only on a diet & exercise program to follow, but how to create the habit. It’s the component that’s missing from almost every fitness progam: they don’t tell you how to form the habits to get the changes you want.

You can check it out here: The Simple Fitness Habit page

Zen Habits

Leo Babuata
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Neither Averting Nor Craving in Each Moment How Taking Care of My Finances Changed My Life Tips for Traveling with Kids My Grand Travel Experiment The Parent I Aspire to Be The Best & Less-than-Best Motivations for Learning The Miracle of Suspending Mis-Belief 7 Strategies for Dealing with Toxic People Finding Motivation on Important But Non-Urgent Tasks Learning Tips for the Top 8 Learning Challenges The 30-Day Learning Challenge The Place Where You Are Feeling Determined to Change Practicing Non-Judgment Hold Your Own Feet to the Fire Don’t Waste Your Opportunity How to Beat Procrastination with Daily Training The Time When We’ll Be Present & Content A Simple, Powerful Self-Compassion Method When Others Frustrate You Your Internet Habits Create Your Reality The Case for Replacing Exercise with Play Leave Yourself Wanting More Fail Faster at Habits The Anti-Bucket List Getting Started with the Discipline Habit The Case for Caring About Your Work Questions of Priority The Futility of Always Pushing Myself to Be More Pare Down with the Declutter Habit You’re Not Doing Life Wrong Getting Lost in Just Doing An Addict’s Guide to Overcoming the Distraction Habit The Source of Contentment Savor Discipline: Merge the Interests of Your Future & Present Selves What You Can Say Instead of “I Don’t Feel Like It” The Things That Get in the Way of Doing The Girl Who Saw Through the Illusions A Gradual Approach to Healthy Eating Unconditional Acceptance of Yourself My Typical Day: How I Get People to Think I’m Productive The Contentment Habit The Delightfully Short Guide to Reading More Books In Praise of Limits The Art of Being My Dad 5 Ideas to Create an Amazing 2015 Essential Zen Habits of 2014 Karate Chop Practicing Slowness & Being Present Overwhelmed by All the Changes You Want to Make My 2014 Successes and Failures Finding the Motivation to Change Your Entire Life When You’re Lonely The Brain’s Fast Mode 5 Questions to Simplify Your Life During the Holidays The Zen Habits Holiday Gift Guide The Four Hidden Habit Skills The Power of Delay Overwhelmed & Rushed? Do a Stress Assess Writer as Coder: The Iterative Way to Write a Book Please Support the Zen Habits Book Are You a Lift or Drag Force? When Resistance Smacks You in the Face When Your Plate is Too Full The Quickstart Guide to Quitting a Bad Habit The Zen Habits Book is Almost Done A Quick Guide to Gaining Confidence When You Socialize The Empty Container The Realization A Guide to Changing Self-Destructive Behaviors Pushing Past the Terrifying Dip in Motivation It’s Not Too Late to Change Bad Habits The Smart Way to Stick to Habits My Most Effective Learning Tools What I Do When I Fail How to Put Your Writing in Public The Productive Sprint The Biggest Reasons You Haven’t Changed Your Habits Seized by the Thunderhold of Fear What to Eat for Fat Loss The Heartbreaking Cruelty of Comparing Yourself to Others A Brief Guide to Overcoming Instant Gratification How to Get Motivated After a Vacation 7 Strategies for Facing Your Internet/TV Addiction How to Breathe 7 Discipline-Mastering Practices 7 Rules That Keep My Life Simple An Education in the Majestic Sierra Nevada The Lies Your Mind Tells You to Prevent Life Changes How to Believe in Yourself Don’t Waste a Moment How to Find Your Life Purpose: An Unconventional Approach How to Be Great Making Yourself Work Inhabit the Moment How to Master the Art of Living The Delusional Fantasies We Live With Each Day Living the Simple Life How to Be Prepared for Anything Turn Toward the Problem The End of the Day Philosophy The Painful Beauty of Impermanence How to Change Other People Pursuing Happiness When It’s Already Within You The Quickstart Guide to a Decluttered Home Parental Zen: How to Keep Your Cool as a Parent Looking for Love How to Stop Your Habit Changes From Getting Derailed Why We Have Regret The Essence of Fatherhood: 6 Simple Lessons A Call for Revolt: Advertising is the Anti-Minimalism The Frustratingly Slow Pace of Making Changes My Struggles with Eating Boring Food The No Procrastination Challenge Creating a Lovely Morning A Father’s Manifesto: Raising Young Men Who Respect Women Turn Inspiration Into Action Coming Back From a Setback The Gift A Guide for Young People: What to Do With Your Life No Excuses: Minimalism with Kids How to Make a Marriage Work Love Notes Flavorless: My Month of Food Boringness The Letting Go Ebook, Free The Miracle of the Self-Compassion Habit How I Tackle a Big Writing Project The Habit Action List The Reality of This Moment Confidence in Your Business 10 Ways to Do What You Don’t Want to Do On Making It Through Tough Journeys The Hard Stuff Often Matters Most What to Think About During Exercise You’ll Be OK The Most Important Two Minutes of Your Life A Call for Compassion for the Defenseless The Cure for Your Distraction Syndrome You’re Not Worse Than Other People Being Mindful of Your Stress What if You Didn’t Have to Worry About Yourself? The Universe of a Single Task Simplifying Is Painful Becoming Emotionally Self-Reliant How I Cleaned House & Simplified My Work Life The Busy Person’s Guide to Reducing Stress My Month Without a Smartphone What I’ve Learned as a Writer What the Exercise Habit Did For Me Fear is the Root of Your Problems This Moment 36 Lessons I’ve Learned About Habits The 3 Do-What-You-Love Conundrums How I Conduct My Business Constant Task Switching The Habits of Five Amazing Founders The Incredible Importance of Sleep for Habits & Motivation What Really Motivates Us to Stick to a Project? I Tried to Quit & It’s Too Hard! Unwired: A Month With Limited Internet, & Now No Cell Phone Procrastination is a Mindfulness Problem Letting Go of Judging People Don’t Scratch the Itch Become Happy in the Face of Physical Misery How Repetition Can Kickstart a Habit Zen Productivity When You’re Feeling Self-Doubt & a Lack of Motivation The Child That Holds Us Back Stateless Mindset My Month of (Almost) No Internet 12 Changes for 2014 Essential Zen Habits of 2013 The Fear of Being Alone The Calm Approach Things Every Man Should Own Family Gatherings: The Ultimate Mindfulness Training Ground Letter to an 18-year-old on the Career Path Less Traveled A Method to Find Balance 16 Surprising Lessons from My First 50-Mile Ultramarathon The Simple Fitness Habit Holiday Challenge Struggles with My Morning Internet Fast Surrender, Mindfulness & Entrepreneurship How I Learned to Stop Procrastinating, & Love Letting Go Finding Focus When You Run Out of Ideas The Necessary Art of Subtraction Jealousy & Suffering How Creativity Works, & How to Do It Self-Discipline in 5 Sentences Make It Your Job Developing Selfless Compassion Lyrical Learning, & Why We Learn Habits Wrong A Month Without Sugar Why I Read (+ a Dozen Book Recommendations) 12 Indispensable Mindful Living Tools Burn Down the Farm My Most Minimal Travel Setup Yet The Exquisite Habits of the Founder of Blue Bottle Coffee 3 Little Tricks to Deal With People Who Offend You My Healthiest Travel Routine Yet Startup Founder Megan Casey’s Habits of Priorities My Pursuit of the Art of Living A Month Without TV or Video The Way of No Debt Letting Go: How to Live With the Loss of a Loved One The Way to Be Ramit Sethi’s Entrepreneurial Habits The Time to Shut Down The Pain & Beauty of Life Changes 8 Creativity Lessons from a Pixar Animator Zen Mountain: Leave It All Behind Overcoming the Social Costs of Being Different Finding Quiet and Mindfulness Through Food My Failed Month of ‘No Sitting’ The Thinking Habit That Changed My Life Liking Healthy Foods is a Choice Unschoolery: My New Blog on Unschooling My Advice for Starting a Business Creating Your Habit Environment Travel Lessons with My Family Easier Decision-Making: Conduct Experiments Simplify: Let Go of Your Crutches The Fear of Being Found a Fraud The Flexible Mind Declutter Your Life A Month Without Coffee The Healthful Vegan Diet Living the Quiet Life The Art of Tasting Chocolate Mindfully Why Fear of Discomfort Might Be Ruining Your Life The Habits of Happiness How to Keep Habits Going During Travel A Year of Living Without The Key Habits of Organization I Failed Vegan Guide to San Francisco The Futility of Comparing Yourself to Others A Secret to Dad Greatness Habits: A Simple Change in Mindset Changes Everything The Worry That You’re Doing the Wrong Thing Right Now 6 Steps To Being More Creative How I Finally Faced My Weight & Debt Problems Working with the Obstacles in Your Path 9 Rules for a Simpler Day The Little Book of Contentment The Obstacle is the Path 5 Lessons in Contentment from Billionaires Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger Smile in Each Moment A Guide to Practical Compassion 6 Steps To Healing Yourself The 7-Day Vegan Challenge Why You Should Write Daily Achieving Without Goals Flowing with the Stresses of Kids (or anyone else) Habit Mastery: Creating the New Normal Defeat Distraction: Refocusing with Purpose Expanding the Envelope: A Method for Beating Anger A Guide to Practical Contentment The Practice of Work Mind & Vacation Mind, Simultaneously How to Eat Real Food Without Spending Hours in the Kitchen Quitting Your Habits The 38 Best Methods of Successful Exercisers How To Make It Impossible To Fail The Not Knowing Path of Being an Entrepreneur How to Change Your Life: A User’s Guide Getting Your Family On Board with Life Changes How to Stick to a Habit When Life Falls Apart Zen Mind in the Middle of Chaos & Stress Create a Sacred Space in Your Heart Meditation: The Most Fundamental Habit Creating the Genuine Connections We Long For 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Whether Goals Suck The Work You Love is Waiting For You The 7-Step Method to Find Focus for Writing The Buy-Nothing Holiday Survival Guide Challenge: Buy Nothing Until 2013 How to Learn Anything Shaken By Life’s Beauty, Shaken Untrack: Letting Go of the Stress of Measuring 15 Great Excuses Not to Form the Fitness Habit How to Make Health Insurance a Bad Bet Why the Fitness Habit is More Important Than the Plan The Willingness to Think Differently Create a Superhealth Community A Vegan Tour of NYC