Are You Being Robbed and Don’t Even Know It?

To discover if you are being robbed of your joy and well-being, I have a small quest for you to try on for size.

Before you begin, do a quick check-in with your emotional landscape. Pick a number between 1 and 10. 1 is feeling completely depressed and 10 is feeling maniacally happy.

Now, read all four instructions first and then complete the experiment: 

1. Lower your head, slump your body posture over, and look at the ground for 30 to 70 seconds.
2. Without looking up, rate your emotions again.
3. Return your head to an upright position, correct your posture, and look straight out at the world for 30 to 60 seconds.
4. Rate your emotions one more time.

If you followed the directions and completed the experiment you will have been able to experience how your emotions were either lowered or raised, depending on nothing more than what your body and eyes were doing.

To take this experiment a step further, go for a walk. For one half of the walk, look down at the ground. For the next half, keep your head up and look out at the world. Rate your emotions each time and see what a powerful impact your body and sight has on your inner world.

What’s the Point Already?

The point I’m trying to share with you is that when you are hunched over your cell phone, you are promoting a depressed state. You are actually robbing yourself of feelings of well-being and self-confidence.

Let that sink in. Everyone wonders why society is becoming more disgruntled and contentious. Well, everyone can agree that cell phone use is on the rise. It seems that most of society is hunched over, staring at a screen.

Really think about this. Your body system doesn’t understand that hunched over position, with eyes toward the ground means that you are texting. You don’t realize it… you are busy on your phone.

HOWEVER!!!

Your body system thinks, “My posture is telling me I am depressed and lack self-confidence.” And, guess what? THAT is exactly how you start feeling, little by little, because your body system mirrors the stimuli it is being given.

Now, I’m not telling you to put down your cell phone. I understand a lot of your life is lived in that little box. I am asking you to be mindful of what sort of emotional state you are promoting.

Try these tips:

• Avoid walking and texting. Stop if you are going to use your phone, then put it away and walk upright with your eyes looking out into this world that you are a true part of.
• Hold your phone up higher to force your body to stay raised up instead of caved in on itself.
• Use an old-fashioned computer screen with a monitor to visit your social media pages. They have those at the library if you don’t have one at home.
• For every 15 minutes spent on your phone, spend 20 minutes stretching, soaking up the sunshine or otherwise exercising to improve your posture and counteract the effects of cell phone use.
• Limit the use of your phone and connect more with people in the physical universe.

The next time you notice that you feel “down”, “angry” or otherwise less than wonderful, and you aren’t sure what’s going on, give yourself a break. Your cell phone will be there when you return, and you might realize that living a 3D life is much more exciting after all!

For further exploration on this topic: