Well, I have been practicing Social Distancing very stringently, that I have not turned up even on social media for long. With lot of chaos in the world, the moment I was shut inside my home, I switched off all the news beyond a certain point of time. While we are following protocols to wear masks to protect ourselves from the perils, there is something else too that we should be doing.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, it was told. As times change, now it’s apt to say - An hour of your Apple away, will help you have a fulfilled day!
Yea, put an i95 mask for your gadgets everyday for awhile, and focus on yourselves -your body, mind, brain and soul. Let the i95 mask hide 95% of the notifications and allow you to live your life a bit.
Practice a bit of digital distancing and give yourself a shot of this digital detox. While continuing this digital detox, accidentally I ended up knowing about this Japanese method called Morita Therapy.
The fundamental principle of this technique is that when humans face depression, instead of distracting them with other positive thoughts and ideas, they should be given the time to accept life as real as it is. Rather than getting rid of the symptoms and giving importance to our feelings, it tries to build our character through courageous actions and empowering ourselves to a newer self.
The therapy has few stages:
the first stage involves complete isolation from the world and total rest.
the second stage involves slowly triggering your mental activity and connecting with your inner self through nature walks or journal writing
the third stage involves healing your body and mind through physical and creative activities
the final stage is reintegrating the learned principles into our real world
Although it wasn’t planned, the lockdown has helped to do this to a great extent. During my first weeks of isolation, I had a train of thoughts about my experiences with people, but from a new dimension. I was able to digest and imbibe the essentials from every single emotion that held me tight. When this phase was fading, I was able to shift my concentration to the things I wanted to do in my life - which I generally missed during the heavily packed routine days. Pick a book, cuddle your pet, sing a song, dance to the beats , immerse in nature , grow a plant , cook your food , spend a full night in candle light , look at the sky and adore the stars , breathe and always wear your smile.
Finally, this lockdown was not that stressful or lonely as I had imagined it to be and am glad it came by! Bio:
Vamika Perumal is an interdisciplinary scientist working at IIT Madras, India. She works on Nature Inspired Materials with special focus on Product Design and Optimization. She has an experience of 6+ years working in the academic and industrial spaces including National University of Singapore and Titan Watches Company and many startups. She is also a STEAM Educator and conducts workshops for children and parents. She has special inclination for creating Illustrations in Science and Engineering.
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