I already hated the idea of the Apple Watch. I don't negate the technology that allows the watch to connect to satellite GPS anywhere in the world - that's fantastic and rather useful. What I find comical is the Apple website claiming their end-game is about "making a genuine connection" with others. Apparently our iPhones don't already allow us to make contact with our people. On top of the various notifications from our smart phones, we should be equipping ourselves with a watch that will literally nudge us to reiterate the importance of checking those many emails and text messages. But I digress.
The TIME article discusses the future of our personal health. Just in the past few months I've noticed the increased use of FitBit bracelets, allowing us to keep track of our every step and caloric burning. The FitBit nation means business. I even received a phone call from a guest at the restaurant where I worked, asking if his FitBit had turned up anywhere and for me to triple check the premises. This "movement" has actually been given a name: the quantified self. I am not mocking those who rely on these types of devices, but rather asking for some insight. We're well aware of our need to stay active. Why rely on personal tracking devices? Is it to beat PRs? As a means of reassurance?
Photo: Rachel Brathen Yoga Teaching
A sense of community has been created in the fitness world nowadays. My favorite Instagram accounts are active women that focus on mind-body connection as well as connection with others. These include "Yoga Girl" Rachel Brathen and Lacey Calvert, co-founder of the Girl Get Outside movement. In all of their posts and videos, nowhere do you find precise numerical measurements of their activity. Instead, you find a source of motivation. My point is that we shouldn't be obsessing over each step, every calorie consumed. I understand the sense of accomplishment that comes from being able to read the measurement of activity, but I wish we could stray from that. I prefer to focus on physical activity as a form of stress relief, to focus on the sense of accomplishment from conquering a new type of workout, or the rush of endorphins from walking into a warm room after a run in the winter weather. If we take the emotion out of exercise, we lose the entire purpose. Similarly, if we increasingly welcome technology to join every second of our daily lives, we might begin to lose ourselves.
I do love technology. I find it very important for certain tasks and I do carry my iPhone with me for most of the day. But there is a difference between using, relying and obsessing.
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