The benefits of taking yourself offline

We’re a generation that’s constantly on our phones - we’re always ‘on’ checking emails, liking instagram posts and distracting ourselves on our commute - but is it actually good for us? As a nation we’re suffering from more and more anxiety and mental health problems and a lot of that can be linked to our dependence on this new technology. So, in the spirit of self love, why not make the decision to really switch off this week - you might just be surprised at how good it makes you feel. To get you started with your time offline, take a look at our chaYkra top tips below...

1. Struggling to drop off at night? Did you know that the blue light emitted from our mobile phones can disrupt sleep patterns because it contains melatonin suppressing qualities. So why not try turning off your phone an hour before you go to bed and read a book instead - you’ll allow your brain to switch off and in turn give yourself a deeper sleep. That’s a win win in our (reading) book!
   
   
2. Social anxiety is a real problem - we spend hours scrolling through perfect feeds and convincing ourselves that everyone else is living a better life than us. In short we get FOMO (‘fear of missing out’)! But what we don’t take into consideration is that social media is only a snapshot into someone’s world - we don’t get the full picture. Taking yourself away from that lifestyle allows you to enjoy the real world; go for a walk and appreciate the changing seasons around you or smile at strangers as you walk past them. It’ll make you feel better to interact with your surroundings and you might just make someone else’s day too.
   
   
3. Make some time to meditate - whatever that looks like to you. Whether you prefer to sit in silence on the floor or use an app like Calm to take you through a guided session, taking time to just be with yourself is never wasted. And meditation has been shown to reduce stress, improve concentration and benefit immune health so it’s putting your would be online time to good use.
   
   
4. Speaking of time, why not make a note of how much of it you’re spend just scrolling aimlessly through your phone and put it towards something self serving. Instead of insta surfing try spending that 10 minutes after you wake up writing down your thoughts for the day ahead. Or why not take a walk round the park on your lunch break instead of spending an hour on Facebook. It’s been shown that social media can actually be more addictive than smoking so start small and work your way up to spending the day offline.

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