I think I'm starting to like mindfulness more and more everyday. Hear me out.
I have been aware of meditation since I was in high school, but never got myself fully commited to the practice. So it wasn't until I started attending the university meditation courses that my appreciation solidified. You see, yesterday we returned back to the basics. Just using the breath, some grounding excercises etc.
Just try it yourself. After reading this article, sit in a place where you won't be disturbed for a few minutes, sit as upright as you can and notice everything around you. Focus on colours, textures, softness, you name it. Now close your eyes. Focus on your body. Where does your body make contact with the chair or the ground you're sitting on? Focus on the heaviness of your own physical self, on just 'being' there. If your mind starts wondering, be gentle and compassionate to yourself. Try to hold your attention to it for at least a minute. Reflect on your experience. Repeat the same process focusing on sounds: those coming from your being, then sounds in the room and then sounds from the outside. You'll be surprised how many senses are absent when living your everyday life.
Now take a few deep breaths and continue breathing normally. Focus on your breath. Where is it the strongest? In your throat, your chest or the area of your abdomen? Count the breaths. Inhale: 1, exhale: 2. Inhale: 3, exhale: 4. Once you get to number ten, start counting again from one.
Once you get the hang of it, feel free to do little mindfulness walks. They're really awesome. Start living your life mindfully today. You'll thank me later.
As I’ve been tidying up my room, I’ve stumbled upon an old Samsung phone, a long forgotten relic of the past. When I found out after charging that it still works just fine, I decided to make it my second phone only for calls and sending text messages. I knew these phones could last ages before needing to charge them again, so I saw this as an absolute win. Anyway, now I am here, sitting in front of a computer writing these few lines, feeling more anxious than ever before. The reason is that I have committed myself to let go of my smartphone for the entire weekend. Depending on whether you are a seasoned veteran of digital minimalism or someone who has just got their eyes opened and confused why would someone even considering doing such a thing, I am going to present to you several arguments in favour as well as against this approach.
Truth be told, I’ve been experimenting with ‘dumbphones’ for a while, so it was just a matter of time before I committed myself to it. As many of the gen Z, it wouldn’t have gotten this far if I hadn’t spent too much time on the internet in the first place. The irony is, it was the internet that showed me numerous videos of people my age replacing their smartphones with their predecessors; the flip phones and candy bars.
While reasons differ, the main point of taking a switch is, in most cases, hopping on the digital minimalism train and purposefully reducing the connectivity with the world wide web. This often evokes an almost spiritual-like experience of being ‘in the moment’. Speaking from my own experience, as surreal as it may sound, lying in bed not scrolling felt really fucking great. For the first time in ages I was just messing around while thoughts kept coming to my head and then they disappeared. Simply put, everyone should try sleeping with an ‘empty head’. It was also the first time in ages I fell asleep before midnight. By sleeping more and having no temptation to fall into the scroll loop, I got more productive. Not much, but it’s still a noticeable change.
When you start checking your pockets every five minutes you know something’s not right. I suppose being always within everyone’s reach pays its toll upon your mind and mental health. Now you might argue that missing on all the news and opportunities that would be otherwise impossible without a smartphone is the major downside and you will never submit yourself to such humiliation. Well, how’s that working out for you? Did you find your job with a smartphone? How many friends have you made with a smartphone? A valid point is to simply just use your smartphone in moderation, but I am just not able to do that at the moment. The damage has been done. Even though I am not as reliable on my smartphone as some of you may be, I am aware that not being able to pay using phone is a massive pain in the ass. But so be it.
And that’s about it. Would you give dumbphone a try?
'This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time.'
For the first time ever I have watched Fight Club. And I believe my life couldn't have been summed up in a better way. That's the reason why this quote hit me like a truck. You might be wondering how I got here in the first place.
You might have heard this a bilion times already. Playing video games everyday after school. Then they start becoming part of your free time on weekends. No plans, no thinking, no ambition. Just autopilot. So you spend your few hours at school only to finally come home and get some grade A videogame escapism. Sometimes you start thinking if there is something wrong with you, not having any interests only to pass the thought thinking that it's probably just the way who you are and that you will become as successful as all your peers one day. That's what your parents been telling you all the time, right?
Then the twenties hit. The time that your prophecy of brighter future should come anytime soon but it's just nowhere in sight. Your crush is married to some bald dude in mid-thirties with two kids already and you wonder that maybe your time hasn't come yet. You have become socially anxious because you have never been with other people all your life. Why should you when time flies by with your videogames?
Then Covid hit. You start going nuts from being locked inside your house 24/7. You start reading some books to pass the time, because you remember you used to like reading, then gradually start implementing some light exercise into your routine. You find out that it makes you happy and you feel a milion times better. But due to the lack of social contact you regress back into your older self.
Once it's all over you start chatting with your few friends and they encourage you to go places. So you go where you always wanted to go. It changes your life and you never want to go back. Perhaps then you start appreciating your life more and realize, that it has been almost quarter of a century, so why not start living now.
Now you might start questioning how can some random dude know how you live your life and why should you care? You're right. Well, how's it going for you then?
So you think to yourself: 'alright, I see your point. You were lucky enough. But I am not as lucky as you are, cowboy.'
Yet if hadn't asked myself what I really want, I wouldn't have spent one whole year in Asia, changed myself and finally took matter into my own hands. In fact, you don't have to do as I did. But if you hadn't done yet, you can take a few minutes every day to reconsider if you are happy with your life and if not, why? Then proceed to plan out how to make the most of it. I think that's the whole point. You can choose a path that had been trodden by so many or you can take the other road, much more dangerous. You'll never know unless you try it.
As I finished watching the movie, I tried to get my head around what I have just seen. I wanted to search for a movie analysis, something I have been always doing since high school. But then I said: 'Ah, screw it. Why should someone else tell me how to think?'
So, I guess you can do the same with this post.