Zombie mode
Ring any bells? You’ve left the house for a weekend away, driven 2 km’s down the road and you cannot remember whether the alarm had been set or the stove switched off.
Autopilot is great………for Pilots that is.
We operate in Zombie mode for a large part of our daily life. Totally oblivious of our surroundings, think of how much more we can get out of an experience by becoming consciously aware of our surroundings.
Practice! Switch on! Stop; lift your head at the traffic light (robots for us South Africans) look above the façades look at the layers of architecture, grime, and paint. Find the unusual, a gargoyle on the one building and a baboon statue on another.
The very same habit applies when out walking on the mountain. Practice awareness. Consciously take in your surroundings.
The curry smell from the bush you brushed against, the King Protea that’s in bud, the old cement casks (see if you can find that one, Table Mountain, Dams, ok no more clues)
By becoming fully conscious of our surroundings we become immersed in the experience and that bundle of stress we carry with us becomes lighter.

Lifes little rituals

Lifes little rituals
Life is full of rituals, rituals that add warmth and value to our lives. The hiding of the easter eggs for the kids, the saturday braai and rugby, the first cup of coffee in the morning, the ritual of sitting in the pale winter sun and reading. The list goes on. Rituals add to the fabric of our lives.

 How often do we stop whilst walking or driving and immediately write-off our surroundings as boring or not needing a second glance. More often than not we are so wrong with our snap judgement. We go out on a hike and come back physically satisfied but mentally still strung out.

Next time you're out there hiking add another little ritual to your life.

Take along a gas stove, pot, water and the makings for tea or coffee. Find a great spot with a view or sheltered from the wind or sun. Light up your stove and while the waters coming to the boil take in your immediate surroundings.

The little sundews that we normally stride past and give a cursory glance, look at their leaf structure. Focus on that butterfly can you identify it?  Lets break the big five mentality that we have, where only the big and flashy get our attention. Start identifying the "Little Brown Jobs" of the bird world. Stop long enough and the little field mice will become visible. Stop long enough and the chameleons will discover you.