Wellbeing Lifelong

A few weeks ago I attended an interesting workshop at work called Shine Offline.

Yes, you probably guessed it right, it was about reflecting on the role that the Internet, our smartphones and other tools, such as social media, are playing in our lives. As they well describe it on their site:

“We value the role of digital technology in our lives and are working to assist people in using it more mindfully as opposed to not using it at all. By questioning our relationship with technology, changing our habits and setting a Shining example to those around us, we can start to really reconnect with ourselves and others and live a better, more balanced life.”

Laura Willis ran us through the pros and cons of such tech, and gave us some tools to helps us control our smartphone usage, rather than the other way around.

How easy is to get absorbed into the world of social media these days? How many minutes, even hours, of our precious life are wasted? How often do we check our notifications and get hooked on the phones (again)? Do we really live our lives fully, or rather make sure it is all accurately recorded on the social networks?

All these questions were popping into my mind when I came across this funny video (on Facebook precisely!), which reflects very well the ridiculous point our society is at risk of reaching at times:

During the last six months, I’ve already implemented some minor but meaningful changes since moving to the new flat, such as making the bedroom a phone-free area, or slowing down (drastically) on my Instagram posts – although the latter has been an indirect consequence of not having enough space to film myself properly.

Despite the whole Instayoga paradox being a wider subject (which I will keep for another post), the above two changes have brought me much mental peace, and it feels very nice to be a bit more disconnected from the outside world, or at least not connected 24/7.

Enjoying my bed time rather than wasting it on (yet) another screen, doing yoga for myself rather than for the Instaworld… There are no rights and wrongs, but in this fast-paced society we live in, great opportunities such as the amazing Internet, come in hand with great distractions too. And sometimes, it is easy to get lost in the virtual world and stop enjoying the real one to the fullest.

That is just some food for thought… If you are interested in reading more, here are some other relevant articles:

• Six simple ways to improve your relationship with your smartphone 
• 5 best apps for managing smartphone addiction 
• Why mindfulness is the perfect antidote to today’s digitally distracted world