In this episode of the ikigai podcast, Nick discusses with Dr. Katharina Stenger the connection of Ikigai to mental health, and how she uses Ikigai as part of her mental health counselling.
Take the time to evaluate your life
"Try to be mindful and actively reflect on your life; take the time and think it through because we are not used to having long thoughts because our life is so fast and high-paced." - Katharina Stenger
Podcast highlights:
- Katharina “Rina Bambina” Stenger. Rina talks about her photo modeling career at 2:44.
- Dr. Katharina Stenger. At 6:06, Rina explains to Nick why she decided to become a psychologist.
- Online Counseling. At 7:46, Rina tells Nick how she started her online counselling business and further explains what she does in her work.
- How did you develop a strong connection with Japan? Nick asks Rina at 12:58 about how she developed a fascination with Japan.
- “I remember the first time I read about ikigai...” At 16:31, Rina tells Nick what led her to discover ikigai.
- The similarities of logotherapy and Gestalt therapy to ikigai. Rina explains what logotherapy and Gestalt therapy are at 21:01, and then talks about their similarities to ikigai.
- Does your personal mission always have to be big and impactful? Rina and Nick talk about what they’ve learned from ikigai and how they learned to appreciate the small and simple things at 26:03.
- Dr. Katharina’s advice. At 37:39, Rina shares some advice that will help you find TRUE joy and happiness in your life.
Dr. Katharina Stenger
Dr. Katharina Stenger is a psychologist, author, stylist and professional photo model. In spring 2019, she started her own online practice where she supports clients from all over the world. She also has a strong connection to Japan that led her to discovering ikigai.
Her mission is to include the art of living ikigai into her work as a mental health counsellor. She’s also ambitious to research more about ikigai and teach others about it in her home country of Germany.
Dr. Katharina Stenger, is a psychologist, author, stylist, and professional model based in Germany. She received her doctorate in Psychology from Saarland University. She offers online counseling and has her own Ikigai coaching program called Ikigai Mindset Coaching. She’s also known as “Rina Bambina” on social media and has a huge number of followers.
As Rina Bambina
In 2011, Rina started working as a professional model in the vintage scene. She loves modelling the fashion of the 1920s up to the 1970s. She has worked with amazing artists and had the chance to travel to different countries doing various photoshoots which lead to her having a great number of followers on social media.On Becoming a Doctor of Psychology
Asked why she decided to study Psychology, Rina shares that she used to have this stereotypical image of Psychologists, which all changed thanks to a conversation she had with her mom about a young man, who was a psychologist, on how he wanted to help people and make the world a better place. That started her interest in psychology.
Growing up, she was a shy girl, but she always had this fascination with observing people and learning from them. She was very interested in what was going on in their lives and inside their heads. She thinks that people’s minds are very complex and mysterious, that’s why she decided to study them.
Rina’s online counseling
When Rina started her career as a psychologist back in 2019, she had the idea to offer online counseling services, which fit her lifestyle back then. It allowed her to work flexible hours from any part of the world.
Her online counseling focuses on supporting people dealing with existential crises. She helps people to find the beauty in life, to focus on the brighter side, rather than being consumed with negativity. For Rina, it is all about the mindset. She believes that if you make a conscious shift away from negativity, not only will you find more joy in your life, but you can also strengthen your mental health and resilience.
Having a positive outlook in life is not that easy, people tend to focus on negative things, so for Rina, it’s her job to support her clients to overcome apathy, and to find motivation and courage to take their first steps towards a happier life.
Life as a digital nomad
Before the pandemic, Rina was a digital nomad and traveled often doing conferences, workshops, events, and photoshoots.
She was able to incorporate her psychological work with her passion for photography. She coached other women from different countries like Japan and the US on how to feel confident about their bodies, how to find their unique style, how to dress in things that make them feel empowered, and how to create wonderful photographs. She was able to use her area of expertise with the things she’s passionate about.
But because of the restrictions caused by the pandemic, having this international digital nomad lifestyle became impossible for Rina. But she’s definitely going to travel again once it’s safe. And, one of the places she would love to visit again is Japan.
Her fascination with Japan
Rina’s love and fascination for Japan started when she got herself into the world of manga and anime during her teenage years. She even dreamt of becoming a mangaka, an illustrator for manga. According to Rina, anime and manga became a place of retreat for her during the struggling times of her teenage years.
In 2017, Rina had a chance to work at the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing. She worked there for three months and before heading back to Germany, she was given one week of vacation. That’s when she decided to visit Japan.
She went to Tokyo, which she considered a great milestone for her because it was her first solo trip. Being alone in a foreign country was kind of frightening but also exciting for Rina. And she managed to get along very well on her own. And over the past years, she’s returned to Japan over and over again. She was able to make new friends and immersed herself even more into the Japanese culture.
Rina’s discovery of Ikigai
Rina read about Ikigai in a random magazine about personal development, that’s where her curiosity with Ikigai started. She wanted to know more about ikigai and started to research about it.
The first thing she encountered on the internet was this Venn Diagram based on the work of Andres Zuzunaga. Then she also started asking her Japanese friends about Ikigai, but their definition of Ikigai was quite different from that of the Venn Diagram.
It seems to Rina that the word Ikigai is something that is common to Japanese people. It amazed her that when she asked her Japanese friends, it wasn’t hard for them to talk about their Ikigai. That’s when the thought came to her that there’s more to it than just this diagram.
Eager to learn more about Ikigai, she decided to do more research, and that’s when she stumbled upon Nick’s podcast, and his website ikigaitribe.com, which helped her broaden her knowledge about ikigai. It gave her clarity on what Ikigai really is, that Ikigai is a whole philosophy from Japan and not a diagram.
Similarities of logotherapy and Gestalt therapy to Ikigai
According to Rina, both logotherapy and Gestalt therapy are part of the humanistic psychology school. The person is the center of the therapy, not the mental disorder like it is in clinical psychology.
Rina states that in Gestalt therapy, the human being is always seen in connection with its surroundings. It postulates that you are the creator, “the gestalter” in German, of your own life. You have control of your surroundings. You are able to heal yourself if you become conscious of your thoughts and your feelings in the present moment. You are conscious of the things that impact you from the outside world.
You are able to heal yourself if you become conscious of your thoughts and your feelings in the present moment. - Katharina Stenger
So for Rina, if you’re able to make sense of these special connections between your past experiences, the person you are right now, and your goals, you will find purpose in the here and now. And you will feel Ikigai. That’s how Rina sees it, you are the creator of your own life, you can become the source of your Ikigai.
Rina defines logotherapy as having a similar meaning to Ikigai. “Logos” means purpose or meaning. She states that in logotherapy, everyone is free on the inside, free to make revisions, to change something in their lives, and to grow as an individual every day. The therapy is about becoming conscious of this freedom and also taking responsibility for it. It’s about finding your true values, which for Rina is similar to ikigai, and acting according to them. Both ikigai and logotherapy explain that pain and suffering are part of life that we have to accept rather than push away or suppress.
One example that Rina gave was Viktor Frankl, the founder of logotherapy and a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust. Even though he was successful in his job, he was tormented by existential crises and apathy. However, he used all of this negative energy he experienced in his life to create something so beautiful to help the world heal.
A personal mission
Nick and Rina talk about the beauty of simple things. The idea of having a personal mission which doesn’t have to be this big life goal. The sense of purpose that you have can be very small, you can find your purpose on a day-to-day basis, you can find it in the small things.
Nick stated that something he learned from Ikigai is that you don’t always have to be an ambitious person trying to change the world. Everyone can find a sense of purpose starting with the small things.
One’s purpose doesn’t have to be something big or impactful. You can also find purpose in doing simple things, things that make you feel alive, things that give you satisfaction.
You can also find purpose in doing simple things, things that make you feel alive, things that give you satisfaction. - Nick Kemp
Loneliness
Nick and Rina also discussed the topic of loneliness, people having a lack of purpose, life satisfaction, intimacy and connection with others.
As a professional counselor, Rina encounters a lot of people coming to her because of these issues, especially during the pandemic. People feel lonely, lost, or even stuck inside their four walls. And she thinks that Ikigai can be of big help for those people who are suffering from loneliness, Ikigai can help them get another perspective on their lives.
Dr. Katharina’s Pieces of Advice
On her advice as a psychologist for all the people suffering from loneliness, Rina says that what they can do is try to be mindful and actively reflect on their lives, to take the time and think things through.
According to Rina, here are some important questions you can ask yourself and reflect on to find new creative ways to bring back joy into your life.
- What would I like to achieve and experience in my life?
- What brings me joy?
- What brought me joy when I was in a better place?
- What are the small things that I’m grateful for?
- What is it that really matters to me?
Another piece of advice that she gave is to reconnect with being human. The outer world often tells you to do your best, reach your goals, achieve them, and make money. Though those are certainly important to some extent, Rina thinks that it’s more important to find a way back to your natural being, away from the digital world you’re living in.
She would often tell her clients to do some social media detox. She would tell them that sometimes it’s important to take a step back and spend some time in nature or take a day off without feeling guilty.
Rituals and habits
The last piece of advice she gave is for them to try to establish some rituals because for her that will help them to go through their day, especially when they’re having a bad one. Having these good habits that bring them positivity throughout the day, will strengthen their mindset.
Having this idea of habits and rituals is so important. As Nick says, it is something that he learned in Japan, the power of a habit or doing something every day, it makes you present. The more present you are, the more you can enjoy the small things.
Ikigai Mindset Coaching
Rina believes that ikigai is all about mindset. She has an ikigai psychology mindset coaching program, where she connects ikigai to mental health. She does include ikigai practices in her regular online coaching sessions, but she developed her own ikigai mindset coaching program for small groups and individual coaching.
She has also published a workbook on ikigai philosophy and mental health practices to help people get a better sleep routine.
She has her own ikigai related website, Einfach Wertvoll Ieben, which means living with value.
Dr. Katharina is also part of the Ikigai tribe and is now the German head coach of the Ikigai tribe.
Conclusion
For a psychologist like Dr. Katharina, taking care of your mental health is a must. People were battling loneliness even before the pandemic. Seeking professional help is a good way to help you cope during trying times. As Dr. Katharina says, it’s all in the mindset. It’s really important to establish some habits and rituals which can help you get through your day. Do something every day that makes you feel present. It doesn’t have to be something grand, just in the small things where you can find your ikigai.
