Finally it’s the time of the year where Scott can turn his attention to being outside. This issue he explains why, and also airs his pet peeve about ethical products.
T HIS time of year is welcomed particularly eagerly by me because it signals the start of the outdoor season, in a sport I love. If I’m not here at Reconnect Towers putting together this illustrious publication I can usually be found on the archery range, for I shoot arrows. From October to March we spend our days shooting short distances (around 20 yards) indoors, but when April arrives we finally get to practice and compete outdoors at a range of up to 100 yards. Finally, that time is here. Originally my daughter and I took up the sport as a father and daughter bonding activity, eventually other things occupied her attention, whereas I persisted with it and now compete at quite a high level with a longbow. I’ve been in the men’s team of three archers at county level that represent both Devon and Cornwall since 2011, and been invited to compete at The Masters competition for the last four years. My proficiency at it means I have access to regular coaching, and train quite hard. We’re schooled in athlete psychology, and I’ve become quite skilled at the art of repetition. I take an interest in various health and fitness regimes, though tend not to follow any particular regime. Potential improvements in my archery however, I do take an interest in. A chance conversation with Masterbeat’s Rob Hemmings revealed he was an exponent of a technique that uses an electronic synchroniser device for heart coherence training, and it’s popular amongst other sports like golf because of the calm control it offers. After a county competition in Plymouth I met with Rob and he explained the system which enables me to attune my breathing to my heartbeat and achieve heart coherence. I put the small battery powered device on my finger and simply breathed in time with the beeps of my heart. Both my heartbeat and my breathing rapidly became more rhythmic and regular. I’ve had the system a couple of weeks now. I’m implementing it so that when doing archery, I can keep my breathing to the rhythm of my heartbeat, slowing both down, and take my shot on the out breath, when the heartbeat is the slowest. I’ve not found it a particularly quick solution to get in tune with, but I have had glimpses of what I could achieve with it already. There’s an inner quiet point after the out breath that is a point of stillness between heartbeats. The piece of kit is really easy to use and it’s not surprising that zero point breathing has become the biggest biometric indicator for overall fitness, as it has measurable results. Rob believes that we’re living in an epidemic of heartbeat chaos where people aren’t attuned to their own heartbeat. Personally I find respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), or heart rate variability in synch with respiration, fascinating. It’s a method, I read, of improving the parasympathetic nervous system, offering self induced relaxation, and it definitely has a physiological impact. I’ve not yet managed to integrate it into my archery successfully but it’s something I’m working towards. Rob says that the device can also help with panic or anxiety attacks, emotional management, addiction/ disorders, allergies, depression, and can help to prevent heart conditions. I’ll let you know whether it improves my outdoor season. In other news, I’ve got to get something off my chest; I’ve found myself increasingly irked by ethical companies which get taken over. I have two examples, Pukka and Ecover, that have happened recently. I feel strongly that they should put on their packaging ‘under new ownership’. I’m particularly annoyed about Ecover, who were taken over by the American company, S C Johnson in September 2017. They produce products such as Pledge, Mr Muscle, Toilet Duck, and Glade air fresheners. Even if they’ve not changed a thing about the product, the formula or where it’s sourced (the conglomerate owners will have you believe that’s all that matters here), I think it’s about the ethics of the new owners. I prefer to buy my products from companies with a clean green public record. I don’t want to buy what I think is my usual ethical green brand only to discover the parent company has had issues with paying their taxes, their toxic chemicals policy, their animal welfare record, their workforce’s rights, and who they make their political donations to. To me it’s their ethics that matter. I have the same issues with Unilever buying the Bristol-based ethical tea brand Pukka Herbs. I know the company had a clear philosophical and cultural stand point. I really can’t say that about Unilever. I have discussed this with someone who has a friend who works for Pukka and it seems Pukka still has amazing, passionate folk on the team upholding their original ethics despite the parent company. But still, they were bought out last September and there’s nothing to make that obvious. I feel there’s something misleading about not putting it on the packaging of products which are bought by conscious shoppers because of their once green credentials. Anyway I’m off to loose (or should that be lose?) a few arrows. Before I go, I was saddened to hear that environmental, political activist and personal hero George Monbiot has cancer, I wish him well. southwesterlies… Scott