Urban Zen Tip #4: Un-Plug! A Challenge To Try…

Happy March everyone!!! My favourite time of year when I know Spring is looming closer. How have you liked the previous monthly challenges so far? (Jan’s 21 Day Affirmations & Feb’s Daily Meditations). Remember, these can be started at any time – so if you missed one, give it a try 🙂

Well, this one is combined with our urban zen tips… Let me a share a little recent experience 🙂

I had my first week in AGES recently, while I was away, to actually unplug!

OK, not completely – I had my phone and radio on… and only ever checked my texts for work. But the internet was completely out of reach – including all those social networking sites that I check often.

((Pause))

Silence.

… I was reminded how much time I spend online lol! And how much my focus and energy was spent on exploring/reading/analysing/writing/sharing/typing/etc and so much more…

Suddenly, I had all that same energy and drive to my Self alone. All that amazing energy that is used up on doing stuff that I could probably do without.

It felt really liberating lol 🙂

I admit, when you get into a routine (like many of you might connect with) of starting your day off with emails and fb between work, meditations and sessions, it can be hard to just cut it out – it oddly felt like something was really missing. How silly, right? I guess with all habits, it can feel that way when you suddenly choose to stop doing it at first… I never even really thought of my Self as a ~~slave~~ addict to technology lol!

But to add some humour in this, I felt like I was missing out on something BIG… as if by chance there was this certain something SO important that would happen if I no longer was connected online. And I’d be the only human on this planet to be clueless lol! No doubt this was a side-effect of constantly being wired and bombarded by updates every minute from news/fb/email/TV/phone/etc from everyone, every where, all the time! The need to feel like I knew what was going on every minute lol… Again, silly mind chatter 🙂

And It was funny watching how my mind was so attached to super unnecessary things – And by day 2, it was complete utter BLIIIIIIIS. I’m telling you lol! I dedicated so much extra time and energy on things that I could quite easily have done back home also if I made more time offline.

It’s true to say modern-day living means technology (in all forms) is part of our daily lives… and it is very useful as a tool in expanding our Self!

But maybe there is a lesson to be learnt by taking time out from it. And I don’t mean by going off camping in the middle of nowhere only (although that sounds does like bliss too lol!)… I mean by re-claiming our time and exercising time management in how we use technology in our every day life also.

… Or by even taking space to completely have your very own technology detox lol 🙂 …To clear and re-focus all that energy on YOU again – to actually spend more time listening to your mind chatter, to what it is you are attached to when you are using technology and re-direct your energy to something creative, as well as things that you love instead!

Some simple tips to think about:

Re-claim time you usually spend on meaningless internet time…

Reflections: Which part of the day (morning/afternoon/night) do you spend most of your leisure time on the internet or TV? Is there anything that you can do (examples: enrol in a new local class, something creative, reading, working out, etc) to slowly substitute your time with the internet/TV in the next week? What are your weekends like? Could you slowly decrease the time you spend on social network sites during the weekends or cut it out completely?

A Challenge – A Technology Detox Weekend:

To organise a whole weekend with NO or limited media technology…

So the main ones I’m talking about are – No TV. No internet. No radio (Optional: except for music that nourishes you for yoga/meditation/dance practice). Phone – Optional: phone on for emergencies calls only – But otherwise – No calls/texts from your side.
Plan to do things that you love on this weekend – Get back to activities that maybe you haven’t done in a while. Maybe do some extra long yoga and meditation practice. Make a plan so you won’t be bored with your new-found time!
Wake up early and get moving – This is not a weekend to spend in bed snoozing lol! Get active and get out there… maybe try walking and exploring areas/places that you are attracted to.

For this month’s challenge:

Now try to combine these 2 and see how far you can slowly re-claim free time from your technological world… Maybe you could try cutting out social networking sites and other websites that you visit for fun over the weekend and do other things, even try totally new things out of your comfort zone. Expand, grow, tune in… listen to your mind and see what you are unconsciously attached to with your daily life and technology. And of course, enjoy 🙂