How to Disconnect in a Hyper-Connected World by Jasmine Williams

Connected technology has the power to make life significantly better in a number of ways. It can help us explore the world, monitor our health and stay in closer contact with family and friends around the world. But as much as connected tech can be helpful and useful, it can also become a crutch or even an addiction. Taking time to disconnect is important because just like our tech, humans also have a need to recharge their batteries. Connected tech can sometimes make it harder to do this rather than easier. Here are 3 ways to disconnect in a hyper-connected world.

1. Turn your phone off in the evening

Yes, you can simply turn your phone on silent or "do not disturb," but that doesn't stop you from habitually checking it every 6 seconds. In 2013, data collected from a screen lock app showed that on average, users checked their phone around 110 times per day, with some users checking it upwards of 900 times a day. That averages to be around once every 6 seconds, and that was in 2013.

The idea that you can actually multi-task has been thoroughly debunked. Instead, what is happening is you are completely switching your attention from one thing to another, even if just for a few seconds. This means that every time you check your phone, you are actually switching your attention or switching your focus away from family, friends, loved ones or even just your own evening activities. By turning your phone off entirely, you remove the temptation to keep checking it and if you do check it out of habit, all you will be greeted with is a blank screen. There are many benefits to disconnecting from digital devices for a few hours, but some of the scientifically proven ones are:

Better sleep
Greater ability to focus
Deeper, healthier and more intimate relationships

2. Take a digital detox

Sometimes, we can get so attached to technology that we literally can't remember what it was like without it. In many cases, our attachment is driven by fear - either the fear of being unavailable in an emergency or even just the fear of missing out on something. In fact, the fear of missing something is so prevalent that it even has its own acronym. A detox is the process by which we remove certain elements that are overtaxing us so that we can maintain a more healthy balance.

When people think of detox, they often think first of alcoholics or drug addicts. When an alcoholic or drug addict wants to quit drinking or get clean, they generally need to go through detox to cleanse the alcohol or drugs from their system so they can get treatment. People who develop a food allergy may not know what it is exactly they are allergic to. They may need to do a detox first of all potential offenders so they can start with a clean slate. They slowly start introducing foods back into their diet until they figure out what they are allergic to. A digital detox works much the same way. Sometimes, you need to unplug entirely for a bit and then slowly start introducing electronics back into your life so you know what you can actually live without.

3. Get back to nature

One of the biggest problems with connected tech is what it disconnects us from. Taking a digital detox for the sake of taking one is good, but it can also be difficult. Perhaps one of the best ways to start is to get away from cell service and outlets in the first place. Ditch your digital devices and get somewhere far away from all the electronic noise. Getting away from electronics doesn't necessarily have to mean roughing it in a rugged environment, but it can.

There are a number of different travel and vacation options to help you unplug. You can go the old-fashioned route by hiking, fishing, hunting or camping, or you can go as luxe as you want. For those that want to truly travel back in time before even electricity, you might consider "Robinson Crusoe tourism." Croatia in particular has made a cottage industry of offering accommodations in secluded locations, often with no running water or electricity. This doesn't mean they don't offer showers and other amenities, simply that they are offered in the most old-fashioned way possible.

Whether you just unplug for several hours every evening or for several weeks at a time, there is no right or wrong way to limit technology in your life. What is important, however, is finding the balance between allowing technology to help you live a more full life and having technology take over your life entirely.

How to Disconnect in a Hyper-Connected World by Jasmine Williams

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Successful Ways and Methods of Grounding Yourself by Ali Tinwala

Grounding is essential to the flow of energy, no matter where it’s being directed, or where it’s coming from. Anyone who desires to facilitate healing must learn about grounding, or it’s not going to happen. To understand how the energy of crystals works, grounding is part of the equation. If you want balance, it can’t be ignored. If you are becoming enlightened, your path will encounter a roadblock until you get your grounding in place.

Ways of Grounding Yourself

Crystals - there are many crystals that are used for grounding purposes. Crystals that are used at the Base Chakra are grounding crystals. The energies from these crystals activate Grounding between the 1st chakra and the Earth. They reverse the polarity of energy, changing negative energies into positive energies. Many healers who do chakra balancing with using powerful healing crystals will put an “anchor stone” at the feet for grounding purposes. There is actually an additional chakra there that is very important when you get to advanced chakra work. 

Intent - With practice, we can learn to ground ourselves simply with the intention of doing so. There is a popular phrase among people who do energy work that says, “energy flows where attention goes”. You can learn to do this by making the mind still and focus on the intention of grounding yourself; imagine yourself a tree, with roots growing into the ground. This is just one way of grounding yourself by intention.

Yoga - Yoga teachers teach a series of yoga poses specifically for grounding. Yoga is in itself a form of meditation and grounding.

Tai Chi - Tai Chi is the practice of grounding, you can't practice Tai Chi without grounding. Michael, our website developer, ipracticingng Tai Chi Chuan. He expresses grounding as something that you can be aware of when for instance you push away from the ground or walking, walking is, in fact, a controlled fall, if you don’t put one foot in front of the other, when you walk, you will fall to the ground. When we stand up or rise from a sitting position, we are made aware of our connection to the earth by the gravity pull.

Grounding is something we learn to do, it doesn’t just happen automatically. Many things around us naturally; walking, eating, drinking water, playing sports – all of these things make us more aware that we are in the physical body. Sometimes others are described as being “a grounded person”. This is because they do things that connect them with Mother Earth and Nature. People that spend a lot of time outdoors with animals, and love being out enjoying Nature tend to be very grounded. They ground themselves naturally this way.

By grounding we become balanced and function normally, using less of our own energy. When learning healing techniques, grounding is important, because we want to channel the energy from God/Source/Higher Power. If we do energy and healing work, using our own energy, not only does it become limited to what we can do physically, it depletes us of our own energy.

Practice Grounding when you get up in the morning. Go outside with your coffee or juice and just take in the sunshine and the elements of Nature. When you are grounded, you will notice you feel a lot calmer, and things that normally irritate you will be hardly noticeable. You will experience a more positive outlook and a happy attitude.

I learned a wonderful thing to do each morning on one of my Weekend Retreats – I have made it a practice to do this every morning: Go out and greet the Sky and all that is. Offer yourself to the day, and accept the Energy of the Earth. Release what you don’t need, and give all gifts from the Heart. Be Grateful. Every single day is a chance to give or receive a Blessing you won’t want to miss.

Successful Ways and Methods of Grounding Yourself by Ali Tinwala

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Take the Stress Out of Stress By Susan Leigh

How would it be if you awoke every day feeling refreshed and confident about the day ahead, with enough energy and resilience in reserve to tackle whatever might be thrown your way? Yes, unexpected challenges crop up from time to time but how would it be, if in the main, you knew yourself well enough to be able to manage stress, cope well and have some time for yourself, including breaks for those important people and things in your life?

In a busy life we often focus on work, letting home, friends and outside interests take care of themselves. But often personal areas will stay quiet, gently fading into the background, not wanting to force us to choose or add to our stress. At some point the realisation hits us. Friends and family don't include us anymore. They are living their lives without us. It may take a while for us to notice, but it's not an uncommon situation.

Some stress is good for us. It keeps us on our toes, helps us think outside the box, come up with new ideas, deliver more than we thought we could. But continual stress is counter-productive and can cause many issues and ailments over time. There are a documented 360 physical symptoms of stress and you may be working your way through them all!

At first the occasional symptom may go unnoticed or be explained away. The intermittent headaches, sleepless nights, irritability, disappearing sense of humour, poor concentration can be explained away through being busy and overloaded. You may have a stressful period at work, problems at home, health-related concerns, things on your mind.

But if they continue unabated or start to escalate it may be time to address what's going on, what the root cause or trigger is to these changes in your equilibrium. Ignored, things often continue until you can't discount or brush them aside any more. The continual drips can escalate into an overflow which starts to impact and affect every area of your life.

Starting to take responsibility and own how you're feeling, the way you're living your life is an important first step to manage stress. When we acknowledge our responses, recognise that we need to take control and then start to do so we become more able to move to a better place both mentally and physically.

Here are some steps to take the stress out of stress;

Does dealing with stress mean compartmentalising it, leaving it at the door, or is it more effective to find positive ways to manage your life so that every area has balance as often as possible?

- Recognise what's going on with you. What is your inner voice saying; that you must do it all yourself or feel guilty, a failure, less successful? Do you fear being 'caught out', found to be an imposter if others step in to help? Recognise the triggers, the situations or phrases people use that influence your stress levels.

- Revise your perspective. Notice the difference in your outlook from when you're feeling happy and upbeat, or conversely battered and fed up. It's often not what happens to us but how we're feeling and responding that's the determining factor. Take control and focus on what your viable choices are. Appreciate what you have already in your life.

- Be kind to yourself by being healthy, with regular good food, water, exercise. Take time to read a book or even do nothing. Simply parking the car for a 15 minutes break after work can really benefit your mood and stress levels for when you return home.

- Manage the overwhelm by delegating, sharing and regularly communicating what's going on. Ask for help, don't expect others to be psychic. And when you bring others in to help they may thrive with the additional responsibility, seeing it as a chance to grow, improve their skills and perhaps even impress you with new ideas and better ways of doing things.

- 'No' can be most positive word in your vocabulary. Teach others to respect you, to understand what you do every day and value how much you do for them. Encourage their gratitude and appreciation.

- 'Yes' can be negative if it's become your constant default to everything that's asked of you. Do you agree out of fear, apprehension, guilt? Used positively 'yes' can move you out of your comfort zone and scare you a little every day.

- Break big tasks into bite-sized chunks so that you're the decision-maker, moving and feeling proactive.

Why not manage stress by selecting 3 of these items to action in the next 48 hours;

1. Outsource tasks that are not in your area of expertise. Hiring someone to manage your accounts, PR, advertising could be money well spent and free you to focus on your main business. Maybe hire someone to do your domestic chores, your cleaning, ironing, gardening and use that free time to do something for yourself.

2. Share with family. Your partner often wants to be there for you. Discuss what you're going through and let them be supportive. Even children can have tasks that are their responsibility, maybe setting the table or loading the dishwasher. Communicate and ask for help.

3. Ensure you have family time by sitting and eating together, even if it's just once a week. Keep two-way channels of communication open so it's not all about you. Be interested in what's going on in their lives and remember what you've been told so you can follow-up again.

4. Turn off technology at a set time in the evenings, unless there's an occasional emergency that needs your attention. Allow yourself to switch off, preferably for a couple of hours before bed. If you commit to specific time slots each day to go online you'll avoid wasting time by constantly checking. You'll have more free time and be able to invest genuine attention in your real relationships.

5. Treat sleep as important. Stress and sleep-related issues cost UK businesses £40 billion last year, or the equivalent of 200,000 days lost productivity, due to accidents, absenteeism and poor performance. Prepare to sleep well by winding down for an hour or two before bed. Avoid that heavy conversation last thing at night, plan for the next day by making a list of impending tasks, maybe have your clothes ready, the children's lunches packed.

6. Try to maintain a regular routine, a relaxing bath or shower to wash away the day's cares. If you have a busy physical job try to introduce balance with mentally challenging interests like quizzes, puzzles, interesting conversations, or mentally demanding work might be balanced by scheduling physical activity like the gym or a walk.

7. It can be fun to regularly get outside and maybe share that time with family by taking a walk, game of football, playing together.

8. Reward each stage of your journey with treats, me time and self-praise. Trying deserves recognition, even if things don't work out how you'd hoped.

9. Commit to ongoing training, learning, developing, improvement. Keep your brain active so that you're engaged and stimulated.

Stress is a fact of everyday life, but by incorporating a few basic steps you can implement effective ways to take the stress out of stress!

Susan Leigh, counsellor, hypnotherapist, relationship counsellor, writer & media contributor offers help with relationship issues, stress management, assertiveness and confidence. She works with individual clients, couples and provides corporate workshops and support.

She's author of 3 books, 'Dealing with Stress, Managing its Impact', '101 Days of Inspiration #tipoftheday' and 'Dealing with Death, Coping with the Pain', all on Amazon & with easy to read sections, tips and ideas to help you feel more positive about your life.

To order a copy or for more information, help and free articles visit http://www.lifestyletherapy.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10103178 Take The Stress Out Of Stress By Susan Leigh

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