Three years ago I looked at aviation and said ‘It’s not me, it’s you’ and broke up. The plan was to travel, to heal my broken soul after a life altering event. I ended up in Barbados just before lockdown in 2020. Then the airport closed. For fourteen months my husband and I lined up outside supermarkets and eventually welcomed the breaks of the curfew. When we were finally allowed outside, a volcano on the neighboring island of St. Vincent exploded and sent a few hundred thousand bucketloads of ash raining down on Barbados.
A week after the volcano exploded I had to attend immigration to get yet another stamp on my passport allowing me to stay in the country. I lined up outside with my mask on, shawl covering my shoulders (They WILL not let you in if your sexy shoulders are showing) and watched and held my breath as the volcanic ash lifted each time the wind blew. I was normally allowed to stay six months, however the Government of Barbados decided to reduce that to four during the pandemic. I entered the building, and when it was my turn, stood in front the immigration officer.
“There’s a flight this Friday to Trinidad, you should be on it”
I’m not sure where she got that information from. I had applied to be let back in and never received an answer. The borders of Trinidad and Tobago were still shut. But what almost got me thrown out of the office was that the airport in Barbados, although reopened was now shut down again because of the ash situation. I stared at her in disbelief, while she reluctantly stamped my passport.
During lockdown, I learnt to make chocolate banana bread, chocolate chip brownies and would devour them while I doom scrolled on my phone. Clouds flitted away and the world would turn, unnoticed by me. Hours of empty time consuming media, growing slightly envious of ‘ influencers,’ girlies with flawless skin and couples who did funny skits. – perfect lives fit into perfect boxes. My eyes grew tired and my brain was scrambled. A few months after the immigration incident we left Barbados and started traveling. I tried producing content for social media but still ended up consuming more that I produced. After visiting twenty one countries, I concluded being a travel influencer was not my cup of tea. I hated being “ON” all the time instead of just being in the moment.
But social media isn’t ALL bad. I found this guy – Dr. Andrew Huberman- An associate professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology and Stanford University School of Medicine. When I say ‘found’ I mean on the internet – the thing I could’t stop scrolling.
Dr. Huberman believes in giving low cost or NO cost tools to help improve life. And I like ‘free thing.’ It is all SCIENCE based, researched methods and that is why gave it a chance. So I started listening to his podcasts, drinking in each episode like a desert walker at high noon. Here are a few free protocols I’ve adopted from him that have remarkably changed my life.
I like being a member of this cult.
1. DO NOT LOOK AT YOUR PHONE AS SOON AS YOU WAKE UP.
Ok, so I still do this. But, it’s ONLY to see if my family sent me any messages overnight. I then close WhatsApp and make myself a cup of tea.
2. 15 MINUTES OF SUNLIGHT WHEN YOU WAKE UP.
I used to grab my phone and start consuming whatever Zuckerberg decided for me even before I got out of bed.
According to Marina Hyde- a Guardian UK columnist -Spending lots of time and energy on social media platforms simply means you work for the guys who own them. For Free.
But I didn’t care, Zucks gave me dopamine hit after dopamine hit and like an addict I needed more and more to get the same high.
But Dr Huberman changed my toxic morning routine, which bled like a watercolor into the rest of the day. I now make my cup of tea, sit outside and I look at the sky. You don’t have to sit in the sun. Also, DO NOT, I repeat, do not, look directly at the sun. Even if you live somewhere where it’s not light enough in the morning, still do it. If you listen to his podcasts you’ll understand why. Sometimes I do get bored so I’ll take a book outside with me – mostly poetry as I like waking my brain up with beautiful words. I’ll then look at the sky intermittently as I read. The wavelengths of morning sunshine alert your body and set your circadian rhythm (the internal clock in the brain that governs our daily cycle of sleepiness and wakefulness). The result, I have way more energy than before. Not starting my day bombarding my brain with social media increased my attention span- which is why I actually had the patience to start this blog and sit for hours to write. Did I stop social media completely – No. Here’s what I did.
3. LOCK MY PHONE UP?
Dr. Huberman is human like the rest of us and is aware of how addicting social media can be. He has two phones, one with the apps installed and one without. The one with the apps installed goes into a locked box. Not everyone can afford to do this so I came up with my own way of dealing with it. I only allow myself to open ANY social media app (Facebook, Reddit, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube etc) at 4pm each afternoon. Not at 3:55- exactly 4pm. Even if I am somewhere bored waiting for a flight, in an office etc I will not browse social media. Sometimes I automatically reach for my phone, and when I catch myself, I hold it, acknowledge that I just need a ‘quick hit’ and then put the phone back down again. It took a few weeks to get this right. At 7pm each night, I stop. I chose this time period as I know I’m probably going to be busy. I’m either preparing dinner, or helping and then eating dinner and then most likely a walk after. So it’s not like I’m browsing for three straight hours. On days when I have not slept well the night before, I KNOW I’m going to be craving something ‘good.’ This can range from chocolate, online shopping or an increased urge to scroll. I try to avoid all and am happy to say I’ve mostly succeeded. Not seeing every other influencer selling something on social media helps with the spending. I drink 2 liters of water (with a little homemade electrolyte, a squeezed orange and some Celtic salt dissolved ) and that keeps my chocolate cravings down – while keeping me hydrated.
MOVE
In many research papers Huberman explains that if you go to the gym for an hour then sit on your couch or the office chair for the rest of the day, the sitting negates the benefits of exercise. I spend all my time at home wearing pajamas because I’m a comfort monkey. I’m hard to get going but these little changes have helped me move more.
1. I do 30 squats each time I use the toilet. If I can do this in a flight suit at work as well, you can do it in whatever you’re wearing. Unzip the pants or the skirt of you need to. If you’re new to squats, watch a YouTube video and learn the proper form. If you’ve never done a squat before, that’s ok too. We all start somewhere. Hold on to the wall or door in the toilet and do 5 one day, 10 the next and build up to 30.
2. Sometimes I have 10-12 hour days at work. In between flights I’ll pace the corridors and make sure I get a minimum of ten thousand steps. This equates to 7 kilometers for me and although I’m tired, moving more keeps me alert. I have one cup of tea a day and if I do drink extra caffeine, never after 2pm. If I’m at work and 4pm rolls around for my social media time, I’ll scroll while walking. I don’t care if people think I’m a weirdo, if I cared what people thought of me I would never have done anything with my life.
3. Take the stairs, up and down. At work and if you live in an apartment, home too. Feel those leg muscles burn and then over time, you’ll feel them harden. Even when you’re tired, take the stairs. As we get older, we lose muscle mass. Having strong legs will help you as you age and look good in jeans.
4. When I’m stressed out it’s easy to reach for junk food to make me feel better. But like social media it’s only temporary. Now, I go for a walk. Notice the grass, the butterflies, snow, flowers, other people, water, dirt and allow the outside to wash over you. If there’s a little breeze, feel it flow over your fingers. It’s very calming and helps process what you are going through.
When I’m training for an expedition I’ll use a 20kg weight vest or backpack. You don’t need any of that. If you want to burn some calories, try walking for 15 minutes one way with one liter of water in you backpack (take your kids school bag if you can’t afford another one. Nothing needs to be fancy). I say 1 liter of water as it weighs 1 kilogram approximately 2.2 pounds. That’s if you don’t have access to weights (you really don’t need to go out and buy anything ). The following day try 20 mins one way then thirty. When you feel comfortable with 30, increase the water or weights till you can carry 5kg or 10 lbs. Listen to your body. Don’t push it. Even when I’m training to climb mountains I have rest days. You only grow when you rest. If you have access to a hill, that’s even better. I love hills. Stop, rest and walk and you’ll get to the top.
RECOGNIZE ENVY FOR WHAT IT IS.
There was a certain travel couple that grew to having a million followers on instagram. I found their content basic and KNEW I could do better. Well, guess what. I couldn’t. I tried during my full time travel days and then could not be bothered. I’m not built for that life. I attempted a YouTube channel and I think there are 3 videos up. But I used to get annoyed at the two strangers on the internet. Isn’t that absurd? Why? Because they were living a life I THOUGHT I wanted. But I actually really didn’t want their life, I was just unhappy with my own at the time. So I changed my life.
I once got ten thousand likes on a photo of me on the summit of the highest mountain in Europe. I was the first woman from Trinidad and Tobago to summit. Hidden in the comments were things like
“Why you flying we flag for”
“Other places have higher mountains”
“I hope you didn’t leave any trash up there. It have so much trash up there” (She thought Mt. Elbrus was Mt. Everest)
I responded to all, every single comment. You don’t get to be a meanie on my page. Think before you type and use the same internet you are using to type a nasty comment to educate yourself first. Recognize that horrible toxic feeling when scrolling and maybe unfollow that person. I only follow people I like or people that inspire me. I do not follow people constantly trying to sell me things, or who do makeup videos with the beauty filter on. Curate your social media feed so it brings you joy.
I only knew it was possible to summit the highest mountain in Antarctica because of social media. I didn’t write something nasty under the person’s photos. I researched and then went and did it myself.
If you want to join the cult, you can listen to the HUBERMAN PODCAST on Apple and Spotify. If you have neither, but you have an internet connection he also posts the whole episodes on YouTube username Andrew Huberman.
You can follow me on Facebook – Safia Hosein and Instagram @Pilotsandpassports
Oh yes, I did go back to flying – sometimes you need a break from the career and the people to recover from burnout. These days, I’m thankful for each day where I’m soaring above the earth.
Copyright Safia Hosein 2025