20th June, 2022
Hello and welcome to the world of beautiful calm.
How many times have you felt you “should” learn to relax more. Or maybe learn to meditate? But learning doesn’t sound very inviting when you’re already busy and feeling stressed.
But, there is a place that exists deep within us all, far away from traffic, email, WhatsApp, social media, deadlines and cell phones.
And getting those benefits of ‘going within’, doesn’t have to be complex or involve sitting in a cave or escaping to the higher reaches of the mountains for a few months.
If that sounds like new age fluffy talk or too far-fetched, it wasn’t meant to. If you ask a passing neuroscientist, he or she, will happily tell you of the benefits of relaxation for your body and your brain by adding moments of Tranquility.
Moments of Tranquility are about s-l-o-w-i-n-g d-o-w-n. They are about finding “me” time. A few moments of peace and calm, to reduce stress and tension, to be free from anxiety, to escape from “shoulds” and “musts”
With this in mind, I had decided to go for my Digital Detox – ‘No Phone Calls, No Posting, No Liking, No Sharing, No Mails, No WhatsApp – Just Living.’
While on my Detox break, There was no rush, no schedule, no deadline, no intentional or unintentional checking my social media and then:
I took the trouble to get up before the birds and do some meditation, and came to know that there exists a still and peaceful place, before the world starts rushing about.
I took time out during the day to sit quietly and breathe deeply, and came to know that you can slow it all down and get back in balance with yourself. I came to know that the breath is intended as a balancing device, a tuning tool that allows you conscious control of your emotions, and access to states of deep relaxation and harmony.
I Realised that our breath holds the key to the door of compassion and understanding because it is in the moments of peace and stillness created by breath awareness that you can get in touch with the inner you – The peaceful, calm and competent you, and the you that can extend empathy, care and concern to others. Being able to control your breath means being able to control your mind and being able to deeply nourish, oxygenate and detox the cells and tissues of your body.
I sat under the full moon and heard the silence of the waves and realised that silence speaks its own language; you just have to let go and wait for the silence to engulf you.
After ages did I notice,
The crow dip its bread in water to soften it before gobbling it down,
The pristine beauty of a glistening drop on a rain drenched leaf,
That the lingering peeping sunset with its plethora of orange hues in a cloudy sky can be far more beautiful than the complete spectrum of the rainbow with all its colours and the Hope it depicts after the storm,
I judged the competition between the croaking frogs amidst the chirping of the crickets,
Heard the crash of the waves and also their silence like a sleeping baby and also remembered reading somewhere about ‘Yakamoz’ – The Turkish word which comes closest to the beauty of the ‘Moonlight glistening with all its shine on the Sea’
And best of all, there was no escape to check the phone when in midst of an urgent and important discussion with my wife and the young boys. The 9th minute silence was also understood and became an integral part of the conversation. Quality time, it surely was.
I realised that 24 hours were more than enough to accomplish in a day, and still have sufficient ‘Me’ time.
At the end of it, I understood that time spent in peaceful contemplation each day or over a few days without distractions sends signals to your body to lower its stress responses and stop pumping adrenaline through your veins.
It also told my digestive system that it’s OK to give its full attention to the contents of my stomach and convert them into cell nourishing and repairing nutrients and it told my mind and emotions that it’s OK to be still, be calm and be relaxed.
Recovering from a Viral attack, the detox just helped me in accelerating the recovery – no more coughing bouts, no reflux, no fatigue and just the perfect much needed calm.
Let’s Spread the calm, try a digital detox, go within, enjoy the nuances of the beauty nature offers and stay blessed forever.
PS : I am already getting excited about scheduling my next Digital detox.