by Ibon » Fri 29 Sep 2017, 07:14:12
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Narz', '
')
I've become somewhat of a distraction addict & it was be nice to be unplugged for some time.
In the past I've tried similar things but I couldn't handle it.
This is rewarding, challenging, blissful and a torture at the same time. Our nervous systems have became over stimulated with digital media and a detox of sorts in solitude is great but you will wrestle with a tiger in your mind during those first days.
To understand the depths of our digital addiction you need to approach this solitude partially aware that you are like an alcoholic going into rehab. You will spend your first days with your mental synapses freaking out because you cant dock anywhere. Just be patient and move through that painful initial chapter because bliss awaits you when the mind starts to go silent and then merges with the silence of nature around you. Suddenly the mind becomes then present to the rhythms of the natural world and a vertical depth of experience takes over and you will even feel a religious type of love for mother earth and your place in the universe. The veil drops and that split between you and nature dissolves.
What Plantagent mentioned solo travel is also great but something different to what you are looking for. Travel is so intense the way your mind is stimulated with new language, cultures, public transportation etc. This can be rewarding but the mind remains fully busy with logistics and does not really have the opportunity to go into silence which is what you seem to be craving.
Where to go? Some ideas.... Fall of the year in red rock canyon area of southern Utah... Don't pick sexy locations in national parks. Just find a slot canyon somewhere.
Have a float plane fly you into a remote cabin by a lake somewhere up in the boreal forest. Lake of the Woods. Or canoe into these areas if you are experienced.
Backpack into to a base camp somewhere.
Hike part of the Appalachian Trail. OR the Pacific Crest Trail.
Burning calories to trigger endorphins is also a great way to ease the mind into silence. A 2000 mile bike trip along the Pacific Coast highway 1. Or backpacking longer distances if you have the health.
Burning calories during the beginning when the mind is restless is actually good because you are metabolizing during this initial chapter of restlessness with exercise as your brain struggles to relax into this silence. When you get those endorphins flowing this trumps the minds constant noise and you feel in your body the silence.
Let your body lead not your mind.
All humans have to wrestle with their brains which are marvelous instruments of natural selection but also flawed. Evolving to be sentient mortals guarantees neurosis for our species. That is why we create religions and meditative practices.
You take a shower in the morning. You clean your body. You wash your car. You clean your toilet. You mow your lawn. You move through your life practicing hygiene.
And yet so many people forget that their minds require maintenance as well and needs to be tended to.
Go for it.
Newf: great picture!
Patiently awaiting the pathogens. Our resiliency resembles an invasive weed. We are the Kudzu Ape
blog: http://blog.mounttotumas.com/
website: http://www.mounttotumas.com
or two.
