Practice: Ditch your GPS

One of my main goals in my yoga practice is to try out different self-improvement techniques and then report back to my friends and family on what is the most effective way to relax and live healthfully on a day-to-day basis. I read so many articles about different elements of health: neurology, diet, exercise, meditation, design…all of these topics are pieces of yoga from different perspectives.

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with ditching GPS.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!

For the past 10 days, I have not used any navigation for driving. It’s been great. Even in such a short time, I feel so much more connected to where I live I have a somewhat unusual situation for someone my age (49): I have never navigated my home without using GPS. We moved to Portland almost exactly 4 years ago, and I got a new car with a navigation system. For the past 4 years I use it even when I’m just driving home from work to see how the traffic changes, or which way is the quickest. I have noticed that I don’t feel like I really understand how the whole city is laid out because they way streets are here (due to the one way streets, it’s sometimes impossible to go back and forth on the same route). There’s always a one-way street or a bridge with a closed onramp or something, and as a result I just put my address in and just follow the step-by-step directions.

This article in the Washington Post was the inspiration:

wapo.st/ditchGPS

It was written by someone who did a lot more research (and wrote a book), but I can tell you that in a very short time I can feel in my own brain that I have to continue doing this–participating in putting myself somewhere as opposed to just letting my car lead me there.

This practice is making me think more about apps in general, and maybe that’s how I noticed this weird description for an app that sounded kind of nice: 'Fabulous Self-Care,' it’s a sort of journal app. But here’s what it says is one of its results:

“Reprogram your brain and automate the important rituals in your life so you have more time for what really matters.”

Automate the important rituals in your life? So you have more time for what really matters?

I thought that the important rituals ARE what matters? What matters more than that?