ReSTART – It’s An Open Road
- Brainz Magazine
- Oct 4, 2021
- 7 min read
Written by: Santosh Naidu, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Namaste, Bonjour, Hola, Halo, How’z it?
It’s October and beginning of the last quarter of the year especially on the economic front as nations are lifting travel restrictions, record breaking vaccination jabs being administered and strides are being taken to boost global financial wellbeing. Excited to report that I got a chance to travel after the recent lockdown and invigorated after visiting the Holy Mountain at Tiruvannamalai in South India. It was an awesome experience, I am recharged.
Recharged, a word so synonymous with technology and thanks to the many young climate warriors the world is indeed getting busy in a much needed green revolution, there will be a lots of re-using, recycling, repairing, re-purposing and refurbishing. We might be used to charging our mobiles, computers, tablets and other smart devices but soon that’s going to be a norm even with our automobiles. Quite a few are rethinking their options to reboot their lives and this is not possible without leveraging innovation and technology.
Last month my focus was on spiritual wellbeing and this month too I continue on the topic of wellbeing but this month I am highlighting certain aspects of Physical wellbeing along with TECH that will help RESTART lives with a purpose.
“And REFUSE use of plastic where possible”
Here in India, the Prime Minister announced the world's largest healthcare digitisation reform with which every registered individual’s medical history will be available in an electronic form with a unique ID. This has many advantages and will help contain many negative practices in administering healthcare but also be a boon to patients. Having said that this also presents other challenges but no reform comes without de-merits. To my mind the merits outweigh the benefits. Recently a landmark record was set by administering over 20 million vaccinations in one day and they are apparently testing a DNA vaccine too.
Guess it’s safe to say that the pandemic is behind us but with a few safeguards because the China virus keeps coming back to hurt humanity. We still got to take precautions and practice social distancing till herd immunity kicks in. Looks like wearing a mask will be a norm like wearing head-gear while cycling or riding a motorbike and whilst on one such search I found interesting innovations that seem to promote wellbeing.
Following are some gadgets like that:
1. Brain Training Headset
Sounds like the first of its kind, lets you train your brain and even measure progress along the way. This can help you be more mindful, beat stress, improve your mental and physical performance at work or while playing a sport, and even help overcome learning difficulties. It sits on your head, like a slim innocuous headband, but underneath its sleek exterior, it holds a myriad of sensors that measure brain activity, blood flow, and oxygenation of your prefrontal cortex. Paired with an app that lets you go through brain exercises, it also tracks your brain’s activity while the app pushes you to use your mind more through a series of focus-building games. At the end of a 10-minute session, the app lets you know how much energy your brain expended, what progress you made, and where you’re currently at.
2. A Personal Trainer Drone
Conceptual drone powered by AI that’s designed to be a personal trainer for recreational runners. The autonomous drone comes with a quad-propeller layout, and also features multiple fish-eye cameras that help it navigate through spaces without requiring any external controls. A main gimbal-mounted camera focuses on you, the runner, and the camera focuses on you as you run, monitoring your speed, performance, technique, laps, and charts your overall progress. While running, it takes photos and videos of runners to give them Form correction & visual running feedback by tracking their posture with deep learning powered by AI as a personal trainer.
3. Fitness Tracking Toe Rings
A spin-off from Indian culture toe rings come made from silver, which absorbs positive energy from the ground you walk on. These however, use sensors that help monitor your health. Whether you’re walking, running, exercising, or even swimming, the rings capture your body temperature and your heart rate, working just like smartwatches and fitness wearables do. The rings actively track your location, count your steps, monitor sleep patterns, as well as help you keep track of your period cycles… all while strongly echoing the cultural relevance of toe-worn jewellery in Indian customs and traditions.
4. Emotional First Aid Kit
The Third Eyeglasses, another takeaway from Indian mythology - are a pair of playful kaleidoscope glasses that let you look at things differently, bringing a sense of wonderment and a different perspective on life as you see it. The Purple Breathing Mask is an instant de-stressor. Equipped with the scent of violets, breathing through the mask brings the calming effects of breathing into a paper bag with the additional advantages of aromatherapy. The Blue stress buster is a megaphone that visualizes sound in blue ink. Screaming into it not only helps you release pent-up anger but also helps create art out of it. The Green Mediating Stethoscope comes in pairs, allowing two people who’ve just had an argument to listen to each other’s heartbeats. It puts the argument into perspective, reminding you of the emotional aftermath of such fights. Listening to a beating heart also helps you calm down. Lastly, the Yellow Confidence Booster is a super-light padded jacket that when worn, gives you the feeling of being in a secure safe shell, and also having a puffed chest (a sign of confidence). It helps people with low self-esteem to feel secure and more confident in solving dilemmas or addressing uncomfortable situations.
5. Innovative Happy Ears
The earplugs helped people to sleep peacefully, work quietly, attend concerts “responsibly” and simply help people avoid hearing loss in the long term from being in high-decibel environments. Happy Ears came with a sleek, oval design that could easily fit snugly in each ear, with a barely noticeable stem that didn’t obstruct your sleep or movement in any way. Now they’re back in their same, slim, reusable avatar, albeit with one small, significant upgrade… they’re made entirely out of recycled plastics that help reduce ocean pollution as well as noise pollution! The ‘Happy Ears Recycled’ aims at tackling the waste created by the 1 billion single-use earplugs that are worn and discarded as trash each year. Made from FDA-approved 100 % recycled ABS and TPE plastics, Happy Ears help take plastics out of our oceans and are designed to be worn multiple times for years, preventing any re-entry of plastic into our natural ecosystems.
“Just the kind of stuff the Doctor ordered for the Planet and Us”
These are really cool interesting devices and probably come with a price. A price measured mostly in dollars or euros but could also serve as a motivation to START.
However, the moot point is not the device but YOU. I’ve got many coachees who are not dependent on wearables but go about measuring their progress in their own unique ways. A lot one can do to get started on a journey to thrive for themselves and/or their loved ones. Some of them follow a totally sattvic lifestyle in terms of diet, practise yoga, spend at least an hour in meditation, are absolutely fit physically and are capable of doing a half marathon.
Without will and the discipline of developing skills nothing worthy is possible, therefore I repeat the set of questions that I asked in my first article:
Are you thriving, struggling, or suffering?
When ill, do you go to a doctor or resort to self-medication?
What does your fitness routine include?
What are you doing for your career wellbeing, crisis vs. opportunity, pivoting strategies, talent discovery?
What are you doing about the mental health of your children who are under tremendous pressure due to education/examinations?
What change have you made post-pandemic with your lifestyle?
What new habits have you started that will help your wellbeing?
What change are you making at home to promote harmony?
What is your measure of mental health?
Remember:
“It’s your road and yours alone, others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you”
My theme song is “open road” by Gary Barlow.
For help in initiating your wellbeing journey, you could reach out to me. I provide personalised programs to help you identify those issues and work with you to develop your unique formula that should get you RESTARTED.
I would LOVE to see you be at your best form possible this Diwali/Christmas.
Best,
Coach Santosh Naidu
Santosh Naidu, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Santosh Naidu is a Management Consultant and a Brainpower Coach with over two decades of international experience across Asia, N America, and Europe. At the turn of the century, he was employed with GE Capital, IBM, and Fidelity Investments and, in his last role, was heading HR S Operations Excellence for the APAC region at Deutsche bank group. He has been running his consulting and coaching practice for the last 10 years under the brand name santhnaidu®.
His objective is to facilitate relevant change and human wellbeing. He is excited about solving some of the most pressing problems, such as unemployment, mental health issues, and climate change. He is well known in industry circles for taking a stand on unethical practices. Over the years, he invested in treehouse building, soil rejuvenation and loves playing his part in innovating sustainability solutions.
As a brainpower and strengths coach, he ensures wellbeing for his clients by diagnosing and addressing various issues impacting the modern populace. This is done by using credible surveys, credible APPs, and coaching methodologies. His unique coaching approach helps clients' spot causes affecting them, especially after the recent pandemic where many are struggling and suffering silently.
Be it physical, mental, career, social, or community aspects, his unique coaching formula addresses most lifestyle aspects by helping his clients build strengths from natural talents, gain confidence from physical, mental, and nutritional methods to sustain the changes they make to successfully thrive.
