Some time ago, I wrote a blog about what you can learn from the countryside. In fact, research shows that urbanites and people from rural areas handle stress differently. Just as urbanites can learn something from rural people, rural people can also learn something from urbanites.
Therefore, in this article, I discuss traits of urban people that rural people can learn from.
Closing Incentives
As I wrote in the previous article , there are an awful lot of stimuli. Because taking in all the stimuli is not healthy for you, people in the city have developed a kind of shield to switch very quickly from what is important to what is not.
If you need to stay focused, this feature is incredibly helpful. One way to cut yourself off from stimuli and distractions is to use mindfulness.
With mindfulness, you make sure your attention is in the here and now and with what you are doing. For example, you can walk mindfully while paying attention to the path you are on, you can apply mindfulness in the same way when you are engaged in something else.
This is very useful, for example, if you are easily distracted by the presence of the Internet.
Be able to better deal with negative emotions
If you live in the city, you are constantly confronted with negative stimuli that seem to signal failure (1). The honking immediately after a traffic light turns green signals that you have a slow response time. The angry look from someone who is not having their day may signal that you apparently emit danger that must be countered with an angry look.
This can trigger negative emotions, but if you care about this you can't live in the city. As a result, you learn to prioritize which negative stimuli you should and should not be open to. What your family and friends think of you is ultimately more important than what a stranger thinks of you.
By also distinguishing in rural areas between social controls you do care about, such as your friends ' opinions, and social controls you don't care about, such as your neighbors' opinions, you can be a lot more yourself.
Are healthier
Research shows that people in urban areas live healthier lives than in rural areas. This in itself is a surprising result, yet again it is easy to explain. In the city, you can find a fitness school on every street corner, and they are scarce in the countryside.
In the process, city people care a little less about what other people think of you. So running around the neighborhood is much less "public" than if you do it in your village.
Fortunately, the Internet offers a lot of relief if you don't have a gym around the corner and don't want to run through the neighborhood. There are many online workouts available there that you can simply perform at home.
More concerned with nutrition
In addition, city dwellers tend to be more engaged in mindful eating. This is also because cities are much more likely to have specialty stores that sell only organic food, and there is also more supply in specialty restaurants where you can go for the conscious bite.
Then again, in rural areas you often have to travel more miles to get to that conscious store or cafe.
Dare to stick your head above the parapet, though
Because of the Internet, opportunities are available everywhere. Both rural and urban. Therefore, rural people still need to learn 1 characteristic from city people, which is to do with your head above the ground.
There is often a lot of work in cities, but at the moment there are still more job seekers than jobs. Therefore, it is very important to be unique and stand out. Especially in the city where there are dozens and sometimes hundreds of people available for every job, it is important to show your qualities and "shine" when the time comes.
Believe in yourself
Believing in your own poweris therefore very important, no matter what other people say. To believe in yourself, self-confidence in your ability is important and also the confidence to take that extra step that you stand out to achieve success.
If you find it difficult to take that extra step, hypnotherapy can help you explore why you don't. Sometimes certain beliefs can block you, such as the belief of "Just act normal, you'll be crazy enough." It may also come up during such a hypnotherapy session that self-confidence needs to be increased.
With hypnotherapy, beliefs can be changed and it can help increase self-confidence.
In addition, self-hypnosis can work well to increase self-confidence. In self-hypnosis, you first relax and close your eyes. Then you repeat suggestions the hypnotherapist has given you to increase your self-confidence. Depending on what you want to achieve, these may vary from person to person. They may be similar to the following suggestions:
"I'm good at what I do."
"I have the knowledge for success."
"I decide what to do with my life."
Maintaining relationships
Okay in rural areas, relationships are just as important as in the city, but there is less competition. Keeping a relationship healthy can therefore be a challenge. Because there are fewer alternatives, you may feel like just sticking with the person you have, and you may feel like your partner or friends will stay anyway, because there is nothing else.
In a city, rudeness can therefore cause a relationship to break up much more quickly; after all, new friends are everywhere. All the more important to keep a relationship fun. This can be done in several ways.
Date night
Especially if you have busy lives, it is important to do something together on a regular basis. This is what date night was created for. It is a way to share fun experiences with each other when they don't often come your way "spontaneously."
Mindfulness for your relationship
Another way to keep your relationship strong is to apply mindfulness in your relationship. Then when you are on that Date night make sure you are really absorbed in that moment. As a result, you really listen to the other person and give thoughtful answers to questions. Another nice bonus is that the experience is lived more intensely and stays better in your memory.
Privacy is important
In the city, there are always people around you. If you are unlucky you live in an apartment with all narrow walls and you can hear the neighbors' television, but unfortunately also their arguments or if they are making up romantically.
Keeping your privacy is important because of this. It is very common for people in the city to guard their privacy by wearing earphones on their phones that may or may not be on. It is also a good signal that you are not open to human interaction at that moment. Thereby, of course, it is also a way to cut yourself off from stimuli.
If you tend to tell everyone everything when they ask for it and find that this gets you into trouble, mindfulness can be a good way to be less bothered by this.
Being mindful in conversations allows you to make more conscious choices on how you answer questions. By living in the moment, you listen better and are therefore better able to determine what to say and what not to say. Then, when you tell something, you are also less likely to get distracted by what you are saying.
Who is not familiar with starting a conversation about how good an apple tastes and ending with the family dinner you had a few years before? Being mindful in conversations helps you stay on the topic of conversation you really want to talk about.
City life is a life where you are constantly protecting yourself. From living in the city, you can learn several things, namely how to shut yourself off from stimuli when it otherwise becomes too much for you for a while.
This can be done, for example, by meditating daily to have a stimulus-free moment.
In addition, research shows that city dwellers tend to live healthier lives than people in rural areas. Of course, this is also because in cities there is more supply for sports and healthy food than in villages where there is 1 supermarket to go to. Fortunately, with the advent of the Internet, much is also possible in rural areas.
For people in the city, having self-confidence is also important, just as it is in the country. To be successful, you have to believe in yourself wherever you live. Self-confidence can be boosted with meditation and hypnosis.
Building relationships is also important in the city as there is competition from other individuals everywhere who also want to build relationships. Using mindfulness in conversations can be a good way to strengthen bonds and tell only what you want to tell. This way you protect your relationship and yourself from the wrong relationships.
Want to learn more about mental techniques that can improve your life? Then come to a seminar or check out Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' training courses.
Sources:
http://www.journalclub.co.uk/resources/Abbott%20(2011)%20City%20living%20marks%20the%20brain.pdf
http://sa.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/City%20living.pdf
http://www.theprospect.net/4-life-lessons-from-living-in-a-city-39417
