Why You Should Try a Tech-Free Morning — Part 2

Specifics and Recommendations

Bill Tribble

Published in

Saving the World

6 min readJan 10, 2017

My son Luca in Kamogawa, Japan, 01/2017.

On specifics

This is a follow up to ‘Why You Should Try a Tech-Free Morning’. I had some requests for details on the routine I follow in the mornings, so here is a bit more information!

It’s easy to talk about ‘meditation’ or ‘journaling’ without too much detail, and mean something totally different to anyone who reads, so here’s a bit of background on my experiences with these two. For me, right now, they’re more important that the stretching I do (though that probably sets me up best to actually do them!).

If you want to try any of this, and have no experience with any of it, I recommend starting with the journalling first, as it’s so easy to get going, and can be such a catalyst for anything else you might do. Give it a go! Even 5 minutes a day can help make a big change.

Journaling

I read ‘The Artists Way’ by Julia Cameron years ago, and it gave me my first insight into journaling through ‘morning pages’ . The idea is to handwrite three pages straight every morning — even if you feel you have nothing to say. The aim is to bypass your self-censor and really get to the root of what you’re thinking and feeling. It really works! Something of this practice definitely informs what I do nowadays.

My most recent stint with journaling was inspired by a great article by Benjamin Hardy. He can be a bit ‘self development’ for me, but what he says is true — journaling can really change your life — it’s an immensely powerful practice. I also came across Brennan Browns advice on templating around the same time, and the idea really took my imagination.

Morning pages can be really intimidating — the ‘blank page’ effect, so having some kind of structure you can just slip into can really help you get going. I find myself just going into a free flow more these days, but it’s nice to have the questions there to structure things if you need them.

I tried out half a dozen different apps before settling on just using Evernote — it’s simple, cheap, and works anywhere. Alternote on Mac even gives it a beautiful, distraction-free interface — and the web app isn’t bad either.

Getting back into journaling had the side-effect of getting me back into writing — as I got used to putting thoughts on screen without much friction, it started to feel easy to put articles like this together too.

Finally, as I mentioned journaling gave me the space to realise I needed to keep a practice like this going — and really build some structured, focused creativity into my day.

Recommendations: Try writing with no fixed agenda for 5 minutes in the morning. You may be surprised at what comes out! Ask yourself: What am I going to do today? What would I rather be doing? How do I get there?

Meditation

I’ve been meditating for a while — about 20 years, on and off. To begin with, I was always interested in the idea of it — driven by my fascination with drawing, art, psychedelia, orientalism, and the hypnotic states that music can drive. But that’s another story.

I took my first Vipassana course around ’96, inspired by my girlfriend at the time, who had sat one in California, and wouldn’t stop going on about it. When I found out they were running the same courses in the UK, and only asking for a donation, not charging up front — I went directly there as soon as I could. It was an amazing, harrowing experience — 9 days in silence, with only yourself to blame for all the drama in your own head! But the course guidance was great, the teacher really helpful. They put up with all my confused questions, and somehow I made it through. It became a major part of my life, and I went mostly tee-total for about 6 years, sitting another 7 or 8 courses in that period.

Later, I lapsed, mainly because I started touring with rock bands — first as a DJ, later with my own bands (like Infants). That was a hell of a lot of fun, but I started drinking again and basically the meditation went out the window.

So! Getting back into it again has been revelatory. It’s interesting that it seems to work like any skill you learn. Like riding a bicycle, you never really forget how. In getting back into a practice, it was reassuring to realise that it had basically never left me — I was still able to get focused meditation done fairly simply. It’s not always easy — and certainly doesn’t solve all my problems, but always leaves me feeling better than when I started.

Chade Meng Tan’s excellent book ‘Search Inside Yourself’ was definitely an inspiration to get going again — I also highly recommend his excellent videos on the subject. He compares not meditating to not exercising — and suggests we’ll think of it in the same way in the coming decades. I’m inclined to agree.

If you’re interested in learning Vipassana meditation — ignore their 90’s looking website and book yourself on a course! It’s a hell of a journey. As I mentioned, they’re kind of a unique institution in that they don’t charge up-front for courses — they’re purely run on the donations of past students and the goodwill of the people serving. I do have my issues with them sometimes, but I can’t fault the practice!

Recommendations: Try an app like Headspace to get going. If you’re into taking the plunge and really learning deep meditation, book yourself on a Vipassana course anywhere in the world. They’re free and you have nothing to lose but your stress!

Stretching

Finally, for the sake of completeness, the stretching. Again, I’ve been doing a bit of yoga for years. Apart from cycling everywhere back in London, I’m not a very physical guy at the moment, so I rely on stretching to keep me from seizing up. I’ve also been playing with some exercises from the Freeletics Bodyweight app, but for the time-being I do something like this most mornings:

Sun salutation. Couple of times each side.
Wide-leg bend forwards thing. I don’t even know what this is called. I learnt it randomly in some class.
‘The twist’ — this blew my mind in a pilates class with Nadia Katz a while back. It’s now my favorite ever stretch, and does amazing things to my back that nothing else touches. I’m probably still not doing it quite right, but I’m really enjoying the effects!

I sometimes chuck in other variations like a headstand, or longer versions of the poses depending on how I’m feeling. Generally this little routine only takes about 10 minutes, and while I don’t initially feel ‘fixed’ or a huge response, it’s the gift that keeps on giving — I feel better throughout the day for it, and as I warm up I notice it more later.

I’ve had intermittent back pain after a minor injury a few years back, and this routine seems to keep it in check. Just wish I could figure out something to fix my knee now! But that’s a whole other story.

Recommendations: Try a Pilates or Yoga class near you. They vary an awful lot depending on the teacher, so try to find something that matches your level of fitness / athleticism, especially if you don’t notice any amazing effects. If you just want to try having a quick stretch, try an app like 5 Minute Yoga.

Links

In the spirit of conscious computing, I’ve left all these to the end. So you had some chance of reading the article and comprehending it — without all those choices and clicks to distract you. If you skipped forward here already — Welcome, internet reader!