DIGITAL DETOX AT BUSHWILLOW!

Our brains are naturally wired to connect, so its not easy to turn away from these kinds of stimuli. But the connection that comes from technology is often an unfulfilling, ersatz version of connection. Its siren call (or beep, or blinking light) can crowd out the time and energy we have for REAL human connection. Worse, there is evidence that it can begin to actually rewire our brains to make us less adept at real human connection!

Did you know 80% of people suffer from "email apnea"? This means that every time we look at an e-mail or whats app message, or sms/text, we hold our breath for a short burst of time. It might sound trivial, but it's not. Disrupting your body's breathing pattern can knock your body's balance of oxygen, nitric oxide, and carbon dioxide out of whack, which can, in turn, play a part in exacerbating stress related conditions.

Come to Bushwillow for a digital detox! We did have wifi, but after a few month's we realised that guests no longer talked to each other, they were in a state of "continuous partial attention" - an expression to describe the state of always being partly tuned into everything while never being completely turned in to anything!

Some guests have complained, but most have been grateful for the opportunity to escape and reconnect with people and nature and disconnect from the digital world. No wifi, no TV, no DSTV, no radio..... if you ask nicely we can play some soothing music :-)

I was surprised to discover recently that there are now Digital Detox holidays that one can choose to go on! Count us in!