9:00AM
I woke up this morning and tried a new tactic to relax my body—I tried to reach my arms down as far as I could by my side. I have noticed I carry a lot of tension in the back of my neck (maybe actually in the muscles at the front of my neck) and also in my neck/shoulder muscles. I tried this technique and I felt my neck relax, shoulders relax, bones start to realign, and even more air flowing into my lower abdomen.
I think about why I may be having this tightness in that area and if I think hard enough about it, I realize that it could be my phone. I used the phone for about 6.5 hours yesterday. That is 6.5 hours of holding the phone up in front of my face with one or both hands, involving the flexing of those exact muscles. It involved most likely reading things in my head, which I believe is an exercise for the eyes in focusing, the larynx in speaking, and basically the rest of my body turning off the senses that may distract it. I was also faced with a lot of uncertainty, not knowing what I would read and at which time, which could have caused even more tension in the body. Oh, also, I tend to do things at an accelerating pace on the phone, especially as I feel different emotions—as I get more angry or excited, I tend to read faster and type faster, my eyes and fingers flying, respectively.
I don’t know how often we pause to see how our habits our impacting our body, especially our habits related to technology. As I type this here, my shoulders are again up, my neck is slightly down, and my forearms are pressed against the edge of the desk. I’m slightly hunched over, closing off my diaphragm slightly and leaning back a little in the chair, somehow. I’m not sure about others, but I know that when I’m on these devices I can get into a zone and forget about my body and the discomforts. Well, maybe I don’t forget about them I just overlook them—if I want to be “productive” on these machines, maybe I downplay the side effects.
Maybe it’s deeper—an overall overlooking of my emotional and physical health. Maybe it’s not recognizing the importance of taking care of it. The large impact that these two things have over what I do in life, especially the emotional health. If my tense shoulders cause me frustration, how that frustration bleeds into the conversation I have with the stranger at the supermarket or the essay I write that day. If my diaphragm is blocked, how that prevents me from breathing well, which may make me feel short on breath, which may make me feel thirsty and tired, but then may make me think that I’m hungry so I eat more and gain weight.
While I believe that these devices can help us so much, I think they can hurt us as well, and want to be more mindful to take care of myself.
9:10AM
