It’s so easy to get lazy, stay at home, get stuck in front of your telly, tablet or phone – swipe up, swipe right or left, browse for hours and ask yourself afterwards what did I actually read or view?
We live in a fast-paced world, for a lot of us governed by all types of fancy screens and digital gadgets. That often isolate us more than it brings people together, don’t get me wrong I love technology, was often called a “techie” and use it to stay in touch with family and friends abroad. There is a limit to it, as it might drive you into a full or partial state of digital isolation and into a fake world, where we only see the positive, good, digitally tampered …. but *not* the real world.
I ask myself regularly after getting stuck on one of those screens….. “What is of real value? What gives me mental peace? What allows me to relax mentally and physically?” and in most cases it is being out in nature either by myself or with one or two friends of family members. Often it is being physically active, sometimes it is walking with our dog, sometimes it is exercising in the woods, local park, forest …. nature gives you (me) that bit peace, ability to switch off. By the way, my phone stays in the car when I go exercising in one of the local, south Dublin based parks. Take a digital break folks, even for half an hour or an hour! It is well worth it.
Your mind calms down, you hear the lively birds singing, you great passers-by with a smile, when they look at you doing your “odd exercises” at the gymnastic rings or with a resistance or power band by the monkey bars. Curious kids come storming along, stare at you asking “Mum what is the man doing?”. I often offer the kids to try the rings, so they swing around – with a massive smile on their face. Some of the older kids try to copy you … it’s just fun and inspirational to see how curious and open-minded they are.
All I’m saying here, Get out into nature (by yourself or with a friend, do what works for your 🙂 – Switch off – Open your mind – Enjoy time by the sea, in a local park, in the woods … nature has it’s ways of making us feel good, relax, put us at peace with ourselves.
.
Martin
.
This video was taken in Cabinteely Park, near Foxrock, South Dublin where I used a set of gymnastic rings, a resistance/power band and the monkey bars to do the following exercises:
[1] 10min Warm-Up, Rotation, Mobilization
[2] 4 rounds (1) Ring Push-Ups, (2) Ring-Holds Deep Squats
[3] 4 rounds (1) Power-Band Chin-Ups, (2) Rings Static Hold,
[4] Playtime, Try different things – Parallel Bars Tricep-Dips (2 sets of 10), L-Sit (2 sets – hold for 10-20sec)
[5] 10min Stretching, Loosing sitting in the grass.