We spend the majority of our day on social media, and while we love the fact that it allows us to live our dream life, connect with people from all over the world and share our passion for creating content; social media can also have a negative impact, especially on our mental health.
After spending a week with no phones, and being completely disconnected from the online world, we realized that we sometimes don’t even understand the impact and pressure social media is having on us.
This inspired us to talk to one of our good friends, Timo, who is an osteopath focused on the practice of natural medicine. He is somewhat of a life coach to us and has helped us in many ways. With his help and expertise, we hope to show you just how important it is to take care of yourself, and your health - internal, and external.
The impact social media can have on us
These days, most of us access social media via our smartphones or tablets. While this makes it very convenient to keep in touch with our friends, family and online communities from around the world; it also means that social media is always within reach. Don’t get me wrong, we love social media as it enables us to do so many great things. It has become our main outlet for our creativity and self-expression, where we network with others who share similar interests and raise awareness on important issues.
However, there are some negative aspects to social media that shouldn’t be left unsaid. Multiple studies have found a strong correlation between heavy social-media use and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness and in some cases, self-harm. This round-the-clock, hyper connectivity can trigger impulse control problems. The constant alerts and notifications can affect your concentration and focus, disturbing your sleep, and at the end of the day, makes you a slave to your phone. Though most importantly it makes it easy to overlook our health, and avoid taking care of ourselves. In order to prevent this from happening, it is important to take some time and listen to our bodies.
There is only one health
When thinking about our health, our thoughts usually jump to exercising and having a healthy diet, but there is so much more to it. Timo told us that “It is very important to understand that there is only one health. The idea of internal and external health is merely a theoretical concept that has little to nothing to do with actual reality. Our organism does not know any anatomy, but always functions as a whole.”
What that shows us, is that when we don’t feel well mentally, at some point, it will most likely be reflected on our physical health too, and vice versa. One cannot function without the other. It’s not enough to only pay attention to the physical aspects of our w, such as fitness, yoga or nutrition, but also to the mental and spiritual aspects. Meditation, mindfulness exercises, expansion of consciousness, environmental hygiene or design are just some examples of this.
As you might know, we have been really trying to stay on top of our daily meditation and it has helped us to create and maintain a healthy morning schedule, which sets us up for success for the rest of the day. It gives us time to connect with ourselves, and our p, without the online distraction. The aim is to achieve a state of inner calmness and balance. During this time, it feels like the world is on hold and it’s really just about our feelings.
“Meditation does not always mean sitting cross-legged for 3 hours in silence”, says Timo. “Meditation is something very individual and wonderful at the same time. Often people go into meditative states in everyday situations without being aware of it. For example, when you get lost in your thoughts in a passionate activity, space and time merge with each other and when you suddenly wake up from it, you are evidently aware of how quickly time has passed. We can think of this state as thoughtless awareness. This state of consciousness can be incredibly liberating and regulating, which in turn, depending on meditation and correct application, can have life-changing results.”
For many, one of meditation's main effects is stress relief. During meditation, you focus your attention, and eliminate thoughts that may be crowding your mind or causing stress. In our work life, there is a lot of stress involved. Juggling several businesses, leading a team, working on brand deals, collaborations, and so much more. This is especially evident when tasks compound and everything seems to need actioning all at once.
Timo tells us that “Stress is a normal response of the body to an increased demand. If the symptom of stress affects us for too long, it can lead to a highly toxic mixture for our health, which as a result can be reflected in our entire body.” That’s why it’s so important to listen to your body. If you feel anxious and start to see a change in your overall health, take a step back and think about the cause of it. Only if you find the real cause and regulate it effectively, there is the possibility of development or self-healing.
Live a healthy life mentally and physically
We know that it can get hard to balance your work life and your private life, and oftentimes our wellbeing gets left behind. Though, by improving your mindfulness, awareness and holistic understanding, you will see that you can make better decisions, consequently leading to better results. Timo gave us his top 3 tips to living a healthier life both mentally and physically are:
- Improve the wellbeing of your body-mind-soul, and try to understand how it relates to your environment
- Improve your awareness, mindfulness and your perception of yourself, and what’s around you
- You don’t have to struggle alone. All of our journey’s are unique, but others may have faced similar challenges. Learn from their experiences to best prepare yourself
Our body always wants to self-regulate; we are constantly learning to understand the changes in its language and cues. This will aid us in finding our healthy equilibrium once again, but can also be used to manifest the very thing we are searching for. It is very important to understand your health as a whole. Pay attention to it and to never take it for granted. Be responsible and consciously choose the path to health; because health is not a coincidence!
It is our mission to keep providing our students with more and more tools, offers/deals and value so that together we can all find more success, health and happiness. If you want to become a Club Life Design Student and receive this value for yourself, our Mobile Editing Courses are the perfect place to start.
Sending love your way :)
