Life in the city is becoming more and more hectic and the stress and over stimulation is only set to continue. Whenever I travel anywhere in New York I see the total misery around me. People are buried, in an almost Zombie like manner, in their phones, or tablets, browsing the Internet, sending texts, anything that they can do to distract themselves from the reality of the now. And we are consistently being fed more and more useless technology that is supposed to make our lives better, to improve things. Reflect, for a moment if you would, upon your state of mind fifteen years ago, before the Internet explosion. Are you any happier now than you were back then? Has the technology that now commands your life made your life any better? Are you more peaceful? Are you happier? If the answer is no, then it might well be worth considering making some changes to your life, to get out of the city and out to the open countryside. Simplifying your life and living in nature is a perfect remedy to the franticness of modern city life. I could not recommend it more. However, if country living is not a practical step for you at the present time, there are a few steps that you can do to make city living more peaceful.
Here are a few things that I would recommend to make things easier along the way:
Get rid of your Smartphone.
Nothing is more distracting that a Smartphone. As if the Internet was not addictive and imposing before, the Smartphone has now made the Internet mobile. If you spend the majority of your times face deep in your phone, to the point that you barely recognise what is going on around you at that present moment, and then maybe you should reconsider moving away from your Smartphone.
Old school phones do the job just as well. Sure they don’t have the bells and whistles, but they allow you to communicate when you want to communicate, and also give you the opportunity to get away from your phone, and emails/ Internet when you are not in front of your computer.
Furthermore, revisit your old friend, the landline. Make sure that it is a wired one though!
Make yourself a relaxation space.
Set aside a space in your flat or house, and make it your dedicated relaxation space. If you meditate, put your meditation cushion there. Put down beautiful, vintage style rugs, some cushions, and make sure that your mobile, computer, tv and any other electrics are far out of site. This is your space to sit or lie down, close your eyes, and do nothing. Doing this for an hour, or even half an hour, every day can really make a massive difference.
Turn off your Wifi.
More and more information is coming out regarding the health risks concerning Wifi. But let’s set these aside for a moment and just focus on what it does to you in regards to relaxation and mindfulness. The ability to connect to the Internet at any time, in any place, creates an almost fidgety tension if the body. It creates restlessness. By knowing that you could and would like to be doing something else (like surfing the Internet), you are unable to fully immerse yourself in the present moment, and thus unable to relax. Turn it off and wire your flat with Ethernet cables. You used Ethernet before and never complained. Try is again.
