So I live a pretty stressful existence when I am not chilling in my garden.

I run a hectic web design business + also co-run a quarterly digital magazine + I am planning a wedding, yes I am crazy and I am trying to simplify, but you know, I need to pay the bills and stuff. I often get stuck in my own head, pfft who am I kidding I am ALWAYS stuck in my own head. The only way out is by grabbing my running shoes and hitting the pavement.

I have tried meditation. It’s way harder than it looks. I tried replacing meditation with bonsai, but that’s also way harder than it looks. So running it is.

Normally I kit myself out with my iphone, synced with run keeper and music blaring, but today I decided to hell with it. I need silence. So off I went, I left my phone at home. No music, no activity tracking, just me & the beagle.

So a few things happened.

I felt free.

If you’ve ever done this before then perhaps you’ll get what I mean, how liberating is it to drop the shackles of the phone and just be present.

I took notice.

Without the music blaring in my ears I actually greeted people, I stopped to watch baby ducklings swimming in the brook. I felt like I actually breathed deeper and ran harder. I was completely aware of what was going on.

I discovered new things.

I am a Taurean, a creature of habit. I run the same path every time. Today because I was noticing new things, I wandered off path. I found this awesome little path through the bush, with cute bridges and dense forest. It was beautiful and only meters away from where I normally run. It’s amazing what you find when you open your eyes.

From this experience it has really been a wake up call for me. I knew that I was addicted, but I had never realised how much of life I was actually missing by just simply not being present.

Have you ever disconnected and had a profoundly positive experience?