Have you ever felt overwhelmed or losing the control of yourself while scrolling through social media? In a world filled with hyper connections, people face fatigue as a result of overusing mobile phones and social media. Spending almost all the time in front of a digital screen affects our mental health, sleep quality and productivity. People lose most of their time seeking validation of strangers from the digital platform. The fear of missing out keeps them tied to their devices causing emotional exhaustion. Also many people get stressed over the workload they have collected due to the addictive habit of scrolling through social media.
What is Digital Detox Retreat?
This is a concept that includes spending your time productively without Wi-Fi, screens and social media. So that people can have a break to feel the beauty of the world outside the screen. Here, people are encouraged to engage in offline activities such as yoga, meditation, hiking, journaling and creative expression through spending time on their aesthetic hobbies. The main goal of the concept is to reduce dependence on technology to reset the brain and to improve mindfulness.
This allows the brain to rest by reducing cortisol levels and increasing the serotonin levels, which help stress adaptation. This also provides mental peace, increases productivity and self-satisfaction. People can renew the connections with their loved ones, nature and themselves. Also, this helps to break the cycle of expecting constant validation through the social media platforms as they would be able to understand the value of themselves.
Why are people willing to pay?
Mental peace is a luxury in the modern world. This can be considered as an investment on mental health for your own happiness and wellbeing. The curated environment and the guidance of experts make the retreating process more effective and rewarding. So, people do not think twice about spending money on digital detox retreats.
These retreats specially take place in nature, from mountain tops to tropical eco resorts. Bali, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica and Swiss Alps are some of the most popular detox retreating destinations. For those who cannot travel far, can attend tech free workshops and urban detox weekends. Digital detox retreats attract a huge audience; overworked professionals, people with creative minds who seek inspiration, students who need a break from the screen fatigue and families aiming to strengthen the bonds without distraction include them.
Challenges beyond the retreats.
The main challenge of the concept is to reconnect with the wired world after unplugging themselves from the digital detox retreats. Because this may make them drown inside the world behind the screens again. So, it is important to improve their habits and self-control after attending a digital detox retreat. We can schedule phone free mornings and evenings, continuing a scheduled screen time, having short intentional breaks from the screen and starting a new hobby to spend the leisure time productively to maintain the benefits of the full retreat. Also, it is important to keep physical well-being by following a healthy lifestyle which helps to keep a healthy peaceful mind.
Digital detox retreats are more than a trend. It encourages us to slow down in the fast-running world to reconnect and rediscover our inner self. So, it is important to disconnect yourself from the connected world, when necessary, in order to protect your inner peace and to practice the art of living in the present with mindfulness.
By: Rtr. Muthuli Gamage
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