Disconnect to connect

The other day I went for a walk with no phone and no Apple Watch. This meant no music, podcast or audio book, no phone calls, step tracking or anything of the sort - nothing.

Just silence. 

I didn’t force myself to do this, I did it because I wanted to and actually, looking back I think I needed to. It felt blissful! Calming and releasing, cleansing and freeing. But most of all it felt so easy. 

I am blessed enough to live down the road from Richmond Park, but it got me thinking how much we are all, on a moment to moment basis, constantly switched on, plugged in and connected to some sort of device - phones, laptops, watches. 

And to switch off from all of that is a real rarity. But, the question is why? 

Why isn't switch off part of our routine?

Having these moments of space can be so incredibly therapeutic and beneficial for our mind and bodies.  So why do we not do it more and make it an essential part of our lives?

It gives us the space we need, with space comes insight, clarity, creativity and inspiration, and a real sense of being, not doing. It’s the feminine to the masculine, the yin to the yang, the being to the doing, the feeling to the thinking, the disconnect to the connect. 

It’s essential to this balance and sense of equilibrium we are all searching for. 
Having my own business since 22 years old and being someone who is constantly striving for the next thing, I’ve very much become a doer - it’s where I’m most comfortable! 

But on this totally random and spontaneous Tuesday lunchtime walk I was overwhelmed (in a very good way!!) with ideas about articles to write, podcast titles to record, new programmes to create etc. The amount of times I’ve tried to sit at the desk to create new offerings or write a blog post and it’s just not happened! Why? Because it feels forced, not intuitive, like a lacking of inspiration. 

What happens when we give ourselves this space is we move from our sympathetic nervous system, which is where we fight or flight, and into our parasympathetic nervous system, which is where we rest and digest aka where the magic happens. 

So, my invitation for you is to think about where in your day you can bring about more space. 

You don’t have to have Richmond Park down the road to do so, you could turn your phone on airplane mode for periods throughout the day, take a walk outside in your breaks, do some deep breathing exercises, roll out the yoga mat and stretch. There are so many ways to find this space. 

Try it - listen to your body, do what feels good and nourishing for you, then watch and feel the magic happen and let the creativity unravel. 

Let me tell you it will feel uncomfortable, scary, challenging. Your monkey mind will tell you that you should be 'doing' and that it's all pointless and unproductive, but it’s about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable and knowing that so much good can come from just a little bit of space. 

Enjoy!

Love Grace x