Look up!

As the new year comes upon us it is a great chance for all of us to set new goals and experience new opportunities as well as work on personal benefits like health and wellness. It’s a chance for us to ‘look up’ and forward at what different experiences and opportunities are to come like deciding to compete in a new event at a school carnival or trying out a different co-curricular activity. There is always something different to explore.  

Far too often we find ourselves looking down and missing the world that is revolving around us. Looking up gives us the opportunity to pay attention and look around at the beauty that surrounds us like the everchanging landscape with is multitudes of colours and smells. ‘Looking up’ also has been scientifically proven to have benefits including physical improvements and mental benefits. Physical benefits from looking up include helping with breathing as it is able to open airways as well as improved posture and as Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art form aikido, says, ‘A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind’.

However, the most prominent benefit that comes from looking up is the large mental shift that it provides. Looking up breaks you out of thought patterns, providing a positive and optimistic mindset. By just looking up at the sky, people can experience a perspective change which can often lead you to feel less pressured and overwhelmed by the everyday thoughts that can often consume us This is much needed because, as Dr Fred Luskin proved, the average human has over 60,000 thoughts a day with majority of those thoughts being repetitive.

Due to the benefits that ‘looking up’ provides it also helps us realise the importance of the relationships that we have built around us which is often taken for granted because of the ever-evolving technology surrounding us.  Due to this technology we as a society are losing the skills to be able to communicate face to face without distractions or interruptions. By having a moment of mindfulness like taking a deep breath we are able to bring ourselves back into the moment and have a worthwhile conversation with one another.  Looking up symbolises the prospect that the new year brings. We can ‘look up’ with a growth mindset at the year that is to come and to goals that we are to set and achieve. So, as we move onward into the future the challenge is to ‘look up’ and open ourselves to the world around because now more than ever we are influenced by the evolving technology and distractions that come with it. Using mindfulness can be one of the most important features in helping bring us back to the present and fully experience the life we are living.

Charlotte G, Year 9