DIGITAL DETOX

DISCONNECT TO RECONNECT IN NATURE

Improve your sleep, relationships, well-being and mood with a digital detox retreat

THE ROOT CAUSE OF

DEVICE ADDICTION Written by: David McCullough, wellness business owner at TULA Consulting, chartered accountant, business consultant and SANParks Honorary Ranger.

When I studied at university many years ago, in the days of written letters (with stamps on) and telephone calls (the kind that were still attached to the wall), we would wait weeks for communication from our friends and family.

Upon discovering a handwritten letter in my letterbox, I was thrilled to know that someone cared about my existence and well-being and was taking the time to update me on happenings elsewhere. I still remember the high I got when I returned from lectures and saw a letter in my postbox.

This thrill I experienced was a strong release of dopamine, an important brain chemical that influences your mood and feelings of reward and motivation. It is stimulated by food, exercise, love, sex, gambling, drugs and now, social media. Dopamine is our pathway to pleasure, and for some users of social media, dopamine-increased experiences during engagement with Facebook, Snapchat, Tik Tok, Instagram, or other social media platforms is highly addictive. When a user gets a like, a retweet or a notification, the brain receives a flood of dopamine and sends it along reward pathways.

This ultimately vicious cycle, coupled with excessive screen time, can lead to obesity, sleep problems, chronic neck and back problems, depression and anxiety, to name a few. Our fixation on technology devices also causes a decrease in attention span – especially when multitasking on multiple devices.

Then, there is the psychology of comparison. Theodore Roosevelt said: “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Constantly seeing others post their ‘best lives’ makes us feel deficient and not good enough. Social media creates more depression than joy. It fuels our need to head to the shops for retail therapy, so we can buy some short-term joy in new clothes, a burger, perfume, jewellery and more. This is a perpetual cycle of unhappiness, not joy.

Digital detox helps restore attention span on individual tasks or activities, which can help improve memory. This will help your relationships with loved ones as you focus more on your undivided attention to them. The relief of stress, managing screen addiction and mindful practices learned at a digital detox in nature will provide tools to implement in our busy everyday lives.

“A digital detox retreat will provide fun analogue activities in nature to reset your reliance on your devices. It will provide exercises to use daily to reduce your need for these dopamine highs. This will help bring more balance to your life.”

ANSWERING THE CALL TO RETURN TO NATURE Arrive at FARMHOUSE58 in breath and acknowledgement, setting your intentions for the time put aside for yourself. Reconnect with your senses and arrive in your body through hiking and listening to birdsong. Explore forest bathing and gratitude journaling, an exercise that assists in exploring device dependency, and be reminded of how simple and effortless it is to enjoy nature.

During the retreat, a facilitated Wheel of Balance workshop will provide a safe space to assess the five elements of well-being and how you can improve all aspects of longevity, health and stress. Other activities include nature walks, garden immersions, farm-to-fork dining and most importantly, lots of time to rest, reset, sleep and recover from elements of burnout and exhaustion.

WHAT IS A SAFE DIGITAL DETOX? While still having access to your devices, you will learn to interact with them mindfully. Should there be any emergencies, you’ll still be able to ‘check in’ if need be. Ultimately, the retreat is focused on the consciousness of being in the present moment, and immersion in nature. It’s a gentle approach and the aim is not to create additional anxiety associated with tech interactions.

Eventually, connecting with yourself in nature might just grant you a greater sense of reward than a notification, blue tick or like.

SLOW EATING AND CONNECTION WITH FOOD AT FARMHOUSE58 Continuous checking of emails, social media

BOOK YOUR

DETOX

Tula Consulting’s David McCullough, a Digital Detox Facilitator, will soon be hosting a digital detox retreat at FARMHOUSE58. Reset, reduce stress and focus on your interaction with others while also learning how to prevent tech and device addiction through simple experiences in nature, physical exercise, and mindfulness practice.

and texts leads to the increased release of the stress hormone, cortisol, and much higher stress levels. Cortisol creates a surge of energy, essential for survival by stimulating your fat and carbohydrate metabolism. It also increases your appetite for sweet, fatty and salty foods, causing weight gain.

During the digital detox retreat you can forage for fresh produce, learn about the garden that provides much of the fresh produce on your plate, and indulge in slow social dining.

Time spent in the garden, foraging, learning, and reconnecting with the land is the first step in changing how we respond to stress triggers that cause weight gain. A key part of the FARMHOUSE58 ethos is farm-to-fork dining and sustainable relationships with the lands, and the food we eat.

BOOK YOUR DIGITAL DETOX Reframe and restructure your relationship with your devices and tech with Dave McCullough’s digital detox retreat at FARMHOUSE58 on either 19-21 October 2022, or 16-18 November 2022. The twonight retreat is all-inclusive of all activities, meals and a facilitated workshop, discussions and it’s a mere 40 minutes’ drive from Joburg.

Return to your daily routine feeling reset, with tools and awareness to use and share with others while leading a healthier and more balanced life. H

The Digital Detox retreats can be joined by heading to the FARMHOUSE58 website at 1 www.farmhouse58.com