From farming to phone-free retreats, analogue wellness a new digital detox trend
Blacksmithing classes. Retro vinyl record players in hotel rooms. Board games at the phone-free dinner table. The movement towards an analogue revolution – or perhaps counter-revolution – is gathering pace.
Advertisement
Could this year be the year we say goodbye to our 'smart' lives and joyfully embrace a 'dumber' one?
Beth McGroarty, research director at Florida-based non-profit organisation Global Wellness Institute, believes people are getting more serious about logging off for digital pauses in 2025.
She considers the rise of 'analogue wellness' to be this year's most significant wellness trend.
Global Wellness Institute research director Beth McGroarty sees the rise of analogue wellness as this year's most significant wellness trend. Photo: YouTube
There is mounting evidence that too much time online really is affecting our brains – cutting our attention spans and increasing the risk of brain-related illness such as dementia or stroke.
Advertisement
In the past decade there has been a steady increase in rates of anxiety, depression, issues related to attention span, body dysmorphia and eating disorders in all age groups, but especially in teens and young adults. They can all be linked to unhealthy amounts of screen time.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Microplastics in food and drinks damage our livers and affect metabolism, scientists say
'Waiter, there are fragments of synthetic polymers in my soup' does not have quite the ring to it as the old joke about the unappetising fly. Research presented at an American Society for Nutrition conference in Orlando, Florida, that ended this week suggests that food and drink are much more likely to harbour harmful plastics than toxic bugs. Microscopic plastic particles found in food and beverages may affect glucose metabolism and harm organs such as the liver,' according to scientists at the University of California, Davis, who warned that despite 'ubiquitous exposure' to microplastics and nanoplastics, the health implications have yet not been 'fully elucidated'. 'Our observations that oral ingestion of polystyrene nanoplastics contributes to glucose intolerance and signs of liver injury, confirm and extend what has been recently reported on the effects of nanoplastics in animal models,' the team warned, after comparing mice exposed to plastics to others that were not exposed. Increasing levels of plastic pollution have led to plastic breaking down into tiny shards called microplastics and nanoplastics that are eaten by animals and pass into the human food chain. Photo: Shutterstock 'With the growing concern around micro- and nanoplastic exposure, we wanted to evaluate the impact of this exposure on health,' said Amy Parkhurst of the University of California Davis.
South China Morning Post
20-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
What is prostate cancer that Joe Biden has? 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with the disease
Former US president Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an 'aggressive form' of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Here is what you need to know about the disease. Prostate cancer starts in the prostate , a small gland that produces semen fluid. It is the fourth most common cancer worldwide and the second most common among men, with 1.47 million new cases in 2022, according to the UK-based charity World Cancer Research Fund International. Nations that reported the most cases were the United States, which accounted for 15.7 per cent of the total, followed by China at 9.1 per cent. Prostate cancer is the fourth most common cancer worldwide and the second most common among men. Photo: Shutterstock
South China Morning Post
04-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
Pharus, an AI-powered cancer test developer backed by Li Ka-shing, taps Hong Kong funds
Pharus Diagnostics, a Li Ka-shing -backed developer of diagnostic tests for cancer powered by artificial intelligence (AI), said it would tap into fundraising channels in Hong Kong. Advertisement The Taiwan-based start-up aims to complete a round of fundraising and a clinical study on lung cancer by the end of the year, said CEO Philip Huang. 'Currently, we have received commitment from just over half the target of our next round of fundraising,' Huang said in an interview on Tuesday, without divulging the target. 'Hong Kong is a great place for raising funds, piloting innovative diagnostic tests and accessing the mainland China market.' Pharus, whose investors include Li's CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Life Sciences, is also developing a test for early screening of individuals at risk for pancreatic cancer. It adopts microRNA biomarkers licensed from City of Hope, a top US cancer research hospital. In March, Pharus won this year's Jumpstarter technology start-up competition organised by Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund (AEF), a part of Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the Post. The fund seeks to support Hong Kong's start-up ecosystem. Advertisement AEF CEO Cindy Chow said potential investors have approached Pharus through AEF and expressed interest in taking part in its next fundraising. AEF has invested in a string of biotech start-ups in the city and it is also interested in investing in Pharus, she said.
