Nature

Do you also miss spending time surrounded by trees? When last were you able to go on a hike without strange constraints? How calming are sunset missions?

We never seem to realize how intrinsically connected we are to nature. It’s marvelous how the better we treat our own health, the better it usually is for the environment.

This post will be a showcase of some of my time spent outdoors, focusing on the most beautiful aspects of nature.

I want to emphasize how important it is to spend more time surrounded by trees and the natural world, as it subconsciously reminds us of how temporary our life truly is.

This may not be entirely feasible right now, but try to watch the sunrise or sunset if you can. Focus on the plants in your garden. Stare out the window and ponder over the clouds. Immerse yourself in the present moment.

“The oak tree or the eagle would be bemused by such a question. “What time?” they would ask. “Well, of course, it’s now. The time is now. What else is there?”

― Eckhart Tolle

Ants, birds, bees and trees all focus on the task at hand. To grow and thrive, regardless of the circumstances. To adapt to the unexpected, to embrace change and chaos. We too should follow our nature and strive to be the best we possibly can – whatever that means to us.

I’ll show some pics from Kirstenbosch, food places, some insects and other random places. I hope this brings you as much joy as brought me.

Kirstenbosch

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Foodie

Random places

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Bugz

“So you where born to feel
“nice”? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don’t you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks putting the world in order, as best they can? And you’re not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren’t you running to do what your nature demands?”

-Marcus Aurelius

Can you spot the bee?

Embrace uncertainty.

We’re absolutely blessed. When you spend time admiring nature and what God has created, it brings a sense of peace to your soul. You understand that things weren’t created randomly. We’re all here for a purpose. Let’s make the most of it.

“The world is nothing but change. Our life is only perception.”

Dolphins enjoying the sunrise

Toxic Productivity

At this point, most of us have been spending an unusual amount of time at home. I know we’re procrastinating and spending way more time online than we usually do. But there’s another aspect of this isolation that I’d like to speak about – being obsessed with productivity.

We live in an age where we’re bombarded by people’s success. Social media makes us showcase the best aspects of our lives. There’s always a story of someone who started a multi-billion dollar company from scratch. Apps that revolutionize the world. YouTubers making millions from every video. IG influencers living off their posts.

How can productivity be toxic?

Something I haven’t really thought about before was the concept of ‘toxic productivity’. Which is essentially our obsession with being busy and finding things to do. Our somewhat unhealthy pursuit of success and greatness. Largely due to our subconscious comparison to those around us.

This may not be relevant to all of you, but it’s an important concept to understand.

I’m someone who tends to fill every second of my day with various activities; trying to make the most of my time. This can be great, it allows me to get a lot of shit done. There are certain moments in the day where I just can’t sit still though, I almost itch to find more work to do – that’s when it becomes a problem.

We need to give our brain time off to just relax and digest ideas. It can’t always be about the next assignment, the next meeting, the next goal, the next objective, the next game, the next blog, the next video, the next post, the next meal to cook.

There’s a big difference between being busy and being productive.

Workaholism and hustle culture have played a major role in our lives over the past few years. We’re told to stay productive, work harder, sleep less, exercise more, keep pushing until you drop!

Productivity without the toxic aspect

I’m not saying that we should procrastinate or stop being productive. I’m trying to bring to your awareness that there’s a threshold to your work ethic, before things start getting toxic. We have to embrace the concept of being bored sometimes and allow ourselves to just be.

Don’t overwhelm your schedule with unnecessary work, space it out where possible. To-do lists can be a great tool to stay on track with your tasks, just ensure there’s not too much to do.

Use your time wisely and allocate space for rest and recovery.

Work smart, not just hard.

Understand your attention span. We’re not really effective after sitting in front of the same task for about 45 minutes. The mind starts to wander and efficiency starts to drop.

Take breaks regularly to basically hit the refresh button. Listen to your body and respect your limits. Take deep breaths. Don’t push yourself to the point of sickness.

Understand the sacrifices you need to make in order to succeed. There’s a certain way to push past your current limits, by first understanding what they are. Set objectives to slowly leave your comfort zone; consistently.

This post is a reminder to myself before anyone else, that there’s definitely a point where working no longer becomes efficient. It’s crucial for us to be mindful of that, so we can optimize our schedule to get as much done (how ironic lmao). This needs us to account for rest and periods where we aren’t unnecessarily finding things to do.

Keep up the great work and don’t allow failure to stop you from moving forward. Fostering a growth mindset is the best thing you can ever do for yourself and those around you.

Stay realistic and take it easy. You got this.

I’d like to know more about your relationship with productivity. Let me know in the comments below!

Mindful Monday #3

Another beautiful day to be mindful. Before we get going, smile, look at the world around you and take in 3 deep breaths. Now let’s talk about food, auto-pilot, gratitude and habits.

Food

We definitely have work to do when it comes to eating mindfully. How exactly?

By focusing on your food more. Paying more attention to the texture, the smell and the taste of it. Did you know that 80% of the flavour we taste is acquired through smelling? (Google it haha)

Technology has become quite an ingrained aspect of our lives. Separating it from food however, will definitely help us enhance our life experience.

I can’t be the only one who has conditioned myself to eat while watching series, sports or YouTube videos. Let’s try to be aware of that and change our habits accordingly.

When you eat mindfully and are truly grateful for what you have, there’s so much blessing in it.

Auto-Pilot

We’re quite algorithmic. There’s so much that we do without a conscious thought. Brushing your teeth, getting into the car, scrolling on your phone, making food, changing into your outfit.

Are robots becoming more like us, or are we becoming more like them?

We could try paying a little more attention to the way the water feels when we’re washing the dishes, the way the milk tastes in our tea or the feeling of the wind stroking our hair.

This trains the mind to be present, which allows us to focus on what truly matters. Mindfulness is a practice which aligns our thoughts with our feelings, allowing us to actually experience the world.

Habits

Don’t get me wrong here, operating on auto-pilot makes us highly efficient. It saves our brain a lot of time and energy, by following routine without needing to think.

The only problem with that is that we don’t fully appreciate all that we have. We subconsciously take certain aspects of our life for granted, because we don’t spend enough time thinking about it.

By incorporating mindfulness into our habits, we can start feeling truly grateful for our blessings. Considering we can only be grateful in the present, why not focus on what we have a little more?

Spend more time focusing on your food. Consciously take in the scents and aromas of what you’re indulging. Focus a little more during your routine, to train your brain to be present. Think about how blessed you are as often as you can, it’ll truly change your life.

Mindful Monday #2

There seems to be a lot going on in the world right now. In light of all the uncertainty, let’s remember to be mindful. In this session of Mindful Monday, I’ll talk about emotional awareness, your responsibility, exposure to information and gratitude.

I’d like to share an intriguing thought I had over the weekend. The planet is healing. Yes, the situation we’re currently in is daunting and frightening. However, there are always blessings hiding within the curses. Greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and waste dumping have all been significantly reduced.

Hmm, also randomly started thinking about The Great Depression and the 1918 flu. Quite a circular process.

We should take some time to reflect, to learn, to grow and to empathize with the world around us. Be wary of toxic productivity, understand your boundaries and focus on your blessings. Let’s relate this to Covid-19.

Emotional awareness

There’s a lot of panic, anxiety and stress amidst the chaos that’s unfolding. We need to be aware of how our emotions are unfolding. It’s critical to stay level-headed and find ‘healthy’ coping mechanisms with our circumstances.

Don’t fall prey to other people panicking. Don’t spread misinformation or be a reason for other people to panic. Watch out for fake news. Don’t be guided by fear. Stay aware of your emotional state and accept it.

It’s okay to feel worried. It’s okay to feel nervous. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. Try to be nonjudgmental towards yourself and those around you. The more you’re able to understand what you’re going through, the better equipped you’ll be to help others.

Your responsibility

As it stands, there is no cure for the pandemic. All we can do is try to reduce its impact. That means we need to take responsibility for our hygiene, social distancing and reducing stigma.

Social distancing is one of the most effective ways of containing a pandemic. By reducing the amount of people you’re exposed to, you decrease your chances of being affected or affecting others. It’s critical to maintain high levels of sanitation and hygiene at this point, to ensure you eliminate any sources of contamination.

Stigma always seems to be the elephant in the room. We all know it exists, yet we tend to ignore it. It’s absolutely crucial that we remain supportive and kind to everyone, especially to those who are infected or prone to being sick.

Start taking this seriously and act now. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Here’s a link to an incredible article interpreting the data and talking about your role in helping to deal with the covid-19 outbreak: https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca

Exposure to information

We’re living in a hyper-connected age where we’re exposed to more information in 24 hours, than people did in their entire lives around 25 years ago.

Keeping that in mind, we need to be conscious of the news we expose ourselves to. We might not immediately realize it, but after scrolling and reading a few articles our entire mood can change.

Ask yourself how much information you really need to move forward with this. We need to constantly stay up-to date, but within reasonable boundaries. Stay mindful of what your subconscious is absorbing, there’s always a lot to be thankful for.

Gratitude

The best way to deal with negativity is to focus on what is going well. It’s not always easy to shift into that frame of mind, but once you do, nothing can pull you down.

Most of us still have eyes to see, a mind to comprehend with, an eagerness to learn, a loving family, wonderful friends, food to eat and a place to stay.

Think about that more. Show your love and affection to your friends and family. (Virtually of course) Be thankful and be a source of positivity to the world around you.

It’s not easy, I know. We’ll get through this. We’ll look back at how insane things were and smile, knowing we were tough enough to survive. We’ll talk about this to our children and grandchildren one day.

Don’t lose hope. Stay mindful of what’s going on within you. Take in deep breaths and smile. Now is all you have, make the most of it.

Mindful Monday #1

Have you stopped to admire the sky today? Did you take a moment to notice how the colours on the leaves are changing? Why do we always find a way to escape the present moment?

I’m starting a little series called ‘Mindful Monday‘. I’ve been part of a similar course before, so I just thought I’d make my own version of it.

This can be a space for us to talk about certain topics every week. I’d like to talk more about what makes you mindful of yourself and how you stay present. I’ll expand on the ideas to help us all gain some better self-awareness.

Please comment on what you’d like me to discuss over the next post and what intrigued you about this one.

I also realized that we’re going to have to be willing to develop ourselves, before we are capable of helping others.

We should start appreciating what we have within our current circumstances. Understand how now is all that we have and that we should really stay mindful of our daily habits.

Later

It’s always about stressing with regards to the future. The meeting at 1 pm. The assignment due at 5 pm. The assignment starting next Monday. The gym session at 8 pm. Making something to eat when you get home. Trying to wake up at 5 am.

Tomorrow always has more to come. It somehow feels like chasing infinity.

Wondering how the 4th industrial revolution is going to change our lives. Are the machines taking over? Why is there so much AI?

Accept, plan and do one thing at a time.

History

Or it’s remembering how tough yesterday was. How exhausted we are from the intense working hours. The sly remark someone made about us. How amazing the holiday was.

All but a fiction of the imagination, playing to our current perspective of past events. Accept, learn and let go.

Breathe

It’s the easiest way to ground yourself. Take a deep breath through your lower abdomen. Do it repeatedly for like a minute and you’re bound to feel present.

It’s incredible how you can only breathe in the present moment. You can’t really breathe later, or breathe in the past. You can only breathe now.

Wouldn’t that make breathing, the essence of your life?

To stay a little more mindful, why not try and breathe with more intent. Focus on the sky for a little longer each morning. Be grateful for having yet another beautiful day. Take in a whiff of the delicious coffee. Let the piece of chocolate melt on your tongue.

We’ll get through this. It gets tough sometimes, but you’re tougher. It gets lonely sometimes, but you’re loved. It gets stressful at times, but you’re capable.

We should be eager to try our best. Without fail. Each and every day. Not being afraid of failure or criticism. Not letting the world tell us no! Just not yet.