Today marks 7 days of no gaming on my PC. Whilst I have gone without gaming in the past, I have never achieved this when I've been at home on the PC each evening.
This change was prompted by my yoga teacher speaking of the 8 limbs of yoga last Monday. I went home and started reading into this.
The first limb is comprised of 5 Yamas:
Ahimsa (non-violence)
Satya (truthfulness)
Asteya (non-stealing)
Brahmacharya (right use of energy)
Aparigraha (non-greed or non-hoarding)
The first is non-violence or non-harming. Not physically harming others, ourselves, or nature. Then there's our negative beliefs about others or ourselves. This, paired with Brahmacharya and where we direct our energy. To pursue thoughts and actions of harmony rather than harm, or judgements.
Last Monday I asked myself honestly about where harm or violence laid in my life. I knew that virtually every video game I've owned since childhood has simulated violence. Something as innocent as Pac Man dying when a ghost hits him, or Sonic or Mario jumping on an enemies head to destroy it, all the way to the cinematic battle scenes of Call of Duty or Battlefield.
I had naturally moved away from overt stressors in gaming, as these competitive online shooters have triggered many panic attacks when I played them. Then there's the frustrations I and many others experience when they lose a game, or keep dying when fighting something tough - and it overwhelms us with negative and stressful emotions. Isn't a game supposed to be a relaxing and enjoyable past time? What are we doing here?
Then I looked to my music. I'm an avid collector of music, but at least half of that music is comprised of genres that are aggressive in content, themes and tones. I also looked to my own thoughts and beliefs. Does 20+ years of anxiety/depression feed off harmonious thoughts or harmful ones?
Of course, there was also diet. These hyper-palatable processed foods that were so rich in sugar and flavourings that I'd been hooked since childhood. But the science caught up with the reality - and time after time, tests show eating all this ultra-processed foods is damaging us long term. 2 months into a new diet, I can say that it does feel a lot saner to have moved from just how much ultra-processed food I was eating. Far from harmonious.
Finally - this reinforced my beliefs of the past few years that I need to be wary of what I watch as well. The news is awash with negative stories of the extremes of human behaviour, and it's the sort of thing that triggers the stress chemicals and response in the body.
TV and movies - often the biggest budget one's are strewn with violence and drama. This past week I've gone without reading the news, and sticking to only watching comedies. There's been a prolonged desire to move away from numerous things which drain my emotions and energy. Reading the 8 limbs of yoga reinforced that my inclincations were correct.
Over the past few years I've been naturally gravitating towards yoga without even realising it. I knew that my diet, hobbies, thoughts and emotional attatchment issues were all crying out for change and development. With my van project I knew there was a deep, internal need to get away and reconnect with myself, and establish healthy boundaries which I often forgo with people pleasing and anxiety.
As someone who's been living off the fight/flight response for such a prolonged period of time, the mindful nature of Ahimsa (non-violence) deeply resonated with me. Truth is, I've been a pessimist and catastrophic thinker for a prolonged time in my life. Is it any wonder that I've had 10 years of nonstop aches, pains and symptoms.
So I asked myself if I would rather continue with the stress and harmful thoughts, that flood my body with stress chemicals, or would I prefer to focus on dedicating time and thoughts away from the negative and move towards positive and loving thoughts which would promote dopamine and a stronger body and immune system.
I've noticed more instances of taking a step back from negative thoughts swiftly and with mindfulness. There are still times it hits me like a flood, and I lose my footing. But I'm reminding myself that my pursuit is that of yoga and has been for a long time:
“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”
Herein lies the reality; that left me quite mesmerised last week - yoga isn't about spending an hour or two each week on a mat doing stretches: it encompases a rich philosophy and way of living that is peaceful and harmonious with the self and the world around you.
Ed
This change was prompted by my yoga teacher speaking of the 8 limbs of yoga last Monday. I went home and started reading into this.
The first limb is comprised of 5 Yamas:
Ahimsa (non-violence)
Satya (truthfulness)
Asteya (non-stealing)
Brahmacharya (right use of energy)
Aparigraha (non-greed or non-hoarding)
The first is non-violence or non-harming. Not physically harming others, ourselves, or nature. Then there's our negative beliefs about others or ourselves. This, paired with Brahmacharya and where we direct our energy. To pursue thoughts and actions of harmony rather than harm, or judgements.
Last Monday I asked myself honestly about where harm or violence laid in my life. I knew that virtually every video game I've owned since childhood has simulated violence. Something as innocent as Pac Man dying when a ghost hits him, or Sonic or Mario jumping on an enemies head to destroy it, all the way to the cinematic battle scenes of Call of Duty or Battlefield.
I had naturally moved away from overt stressors in gaming, as these competitive online shooters have triggered many panic attacks when I played them. Then there's the frustrations I and many others experience when they lose a game, or keep dying when fighting something tough - and it overwhelms us with negative and stressful emotions. Isn't a game supposed to be a relaxing and enjoyable past time? What are we doing here?
Then I looked to my music. I'm an avid collector of music, but at least half of that music is comprised of genres that are aggressive in content, themes and tones. I also looked to my own thoughts and beliefs. Does 20+ years of anxiety/depression feed off harmonious thoughts or harmful ones?
Of course, there was also diet. These hyper-palatable processed foods that were so rich in sugar and flavourings that I'd been hooked since childhood. But the science caught up with the reality - and time after time, tests show eating all this ultra-processed foods is damaging us long term. 2 months into a new diet, I can say that it does feel a lot saner to have moved from just how much ultra-processed food I was eating. Far from harmonious.
Finally - this reinforced my beliefs of the past few years that I need to be wary of what I watch as well. The news is awash with negative stories of the extremes of human behaviour, and it's the sort of thing that triggers the stress chemicals and response in the body.
TV and movies - often the biggest budget one's are strewn with violence and drama. This past week I've gone without reading the news, and sticking to only watching comedies. There's been a prolonged desire to move away from numerous things which drain my emotions and energy. Reading the 8 limbs of yoga reinforced that my inclincations were correct.
Over the past few years I've been naturally gravitating towards yoga without even realising it. I knew that my diet, hobbies, thoughts and emotional attatchment issues were all crying out for change and development. With my van project I knew there was a deep, internal need to get away and reconnect with myself, and establish healthy boundaries which I often forgo with people pleasing and anxiety.
As someone who's been living off the fight/flight response for such a prolonged period of time, the mindful nature of Ahimsa (non-violence) deeply resonated with me. Truth is, I've been a pessimist and catastrophic thinker for a prolonged time in my life. Is it any wonder that I've had 10 years of nonstop aches, pains and symptoms.
So I asked myself if I would rather continue with the stress and harmful thoughts, that flood my body with stress chemicals, or would I prefer to focus on dedicating time and thoughts away from the negative and move towards positive and loving thoughts which would promote dopamine and a stronger body and immune system.
I've noticed more instances of taking a step back from negative thoughts swiftly and with mindfulness. There are still times it hits me like a flood, and I lose my footing. But I'm reminding myself that my pursuit is that of yoga and has been for a long time:
“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”
Herein lies the reality; that left me quite mesmerised last week - yoga isn't about spending an hour or two each week on a mat doing stretches: it encompases a rich philosophy and way of living that is peaceful and harmonious with the self and the world around you.
Ed
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