In this increasingly fast paced world, where we are surrounded by screens, juggling between the real and virtual world, constantly handling two or more things at the same time, worrying about the past and future, we sometimes forget to take a step back and breathe. We rush to our deaths.
Today I listened to Ali Abdaal’s latest podcast episode with Hector Hughes, ‘Dopamine Detox: How To Stop Overstimulation from Ruining Your Life’. I felt like the vibe of this particular episode is slightly different than Ali’s other episodes or the general structure of podcasts, where it is a lot more conversational than the usual interview-style format. At one point, I even felt like it was a recorded therapy session where Hughes acts as a “therapist” for Ali throughout the episode as Ali shares his past experiences. I do not mean this in a positive or negative way, but just my thoughts and observations as I listened to the episode.
My immediate first thoughts after the episode ended is to vilify my phone and lock it away in a box for a long, long time. Recently, I have also fallen victim to overstimulation. I’m quite ashamed to admit this, but the times I found myself eating while watching a TV show while playing a mobile game on my phone has increased now that I am on my summer break. Sometimes, I miss the dopamine so much that I put on my headphones and listen to a TV show while I do household chores. To put it plainly, I am addicted to all these stimulations in life that are incredibly accessible to me, and while it makes me feel good in the short run, the after effects of guilt and emptiness that comes after can be quite damaging to my mental health.
So perhaps this podcast episode is the inspiration I need to snap out of this trance. I need to take a step back and allow my brain to “detox” from the constant stimulation that I can easily obtain from devices. While I do not have access to a cabin in the woods that I can retreat to, I decided to take the advice of Hughes and start small; once I finished listening to the podcast episode, I have kept my phone in my drawer until now. My plan for now is to minimise my usage of my phone, to not mindlessly scroll social media, to not watch any TV shows or movies, at least for the rest of the week.
Another part of this podcast episode that I want to highlight is the topic on meditation. Now, I know that meditation is good. I have tried meditation before, and different forms of meditation, such as breathing meditation, guided meditation, visualisation meditation and walking meditation. None have really stuck with me in the long term. However, when Hughes mentioned the type of meditation when you keep on repeating a mantra for 20 minutes, that intrigued me, and Ali as well. Ali tried it, and found it much easier than the popular breathing meditation. While I prefer not to repeat ‘ohmmm’ in my head for 20 minutes in my head, I can imagine myself repeating an inspiring quote or a short passage that I want to internalise for 5 minutes every day. Will it benefit me in any way? I can’t tell, but I am optimistic about it, and will begin this meditation routine tomorrow, and see if it can sustain in the long term.
I would like to end this blog with a song lyric by En Vogue, and it is completely up to you to interpret it: “free your mind, and the rest will follow”.