Mindfulness? We Didn’t Need an App for That!

Ah, the golden age of VHS tapes. A time when simply rewinding a movie was a masterclass in patience and presence.

Every time you popped a tape into the VCR, only to find out it was still at the end of the movie, you had no choice. You had to sit, watch the screen flicker with static, and wait as the tape slowly wound its way back to the beginning.

No "Skip" button. No "Fast Forward ×2". No algorithm auto-playing the next distraction before you even had time to think.

Just you, the tape, and time itself.

And guess what? We didn’t mind.

Because we had already, unknowingly, developed a natural ability to live in the moment. No need for meditation apps. No need for Silicon Valley gurus telling us how to breathe. We just… existed.

After all, we are human beings, not human doings—and certainly not human swiping, scrolling, and binge-watching machines.

The Pre-Rewind Generation: The Last Masters of Mindfulness

If you have never rewind anything in your life, you are part of the Post-Rewinding Generation and you had no idea that before your era, we were mastering mindfulness on a daily basis.

We weren’t "doing a dopamine detox" or "practicing digital minimalism." We just lived in a world where patience wasn’t a choice—it was a requirement, a fact.

• Waiting for dial-up internet to connect? Deep breathing exercise.
• Standing by the radio, waiting for your favorite song to play so you could record it on a cassette? Active listening practice.
• Staring out the window on a long car ride with no phone, no screen, just your thoughts? Pure meditation or deep contemplation of condensation drip.
• Calling a friend and if they weren’t home (yes phone were kept at home and wasn't mobile at all), just accepting it instead of sending 27 follow-up texts? Radical acceptance of reality.

We had no choice but to be patient, present, and fully in the moment—because technology hadn’t yet given us the illusion that we could skip, fast-forward, or multitask every second of our lives.

And if you don’t believe that the simplest things used to teach us presence, let this comedian (Des Bishop) remind you just how naturally mindful we were back in the day:

We, the pre-rewind gen, Grew Up and Lost Mindfulness. But the New Generations Never Even Had It.

Then we grew up. Responsibilities, stress, technology—everything stole our ability to just be present. To wait without frustration. To live without fast-forwarding through the boring parts. To simply be alone with ourselves, with our thoughts.

But the real tragedy? Kids today never even had the chance to learn.

We, the Pre-Rewinding Generation, lost mindfulness as adults. But Millennials, Gen Z and all these post-rewind generations? They lost it in childhood.

How could they possibly understand patience, silence, or presence… when they learned to swipe before they could even walk?

- No frustration over a movie taking five seconds to load.
- No boredom, because TikTok spoon-feeds them dopamine every 10 seconds.
- No sense of time passing, because everything is instant.

The result? A generation that panics at the mere thought of doing nothing.

We Created This Problem. Now It’s Up to Us to Fix It.

We mock kids for being glued to their screens… but who put those screens in their hands before they could even talk?

Who taught them that boredom is a problem to be solved, instead of a space to imagine, dream, and just be?

Who showed them that at the first sign of waiting, you should pull out your phone like a cowboy reaching for his gun?

We did.

So before blaming technology, maybe it’s time to own up to our mistakes.

• What if we taught our kids to wait without a screen?
• What if we showed them that silence and boredom aren’t enemies, but gateways to creativity and deep thinking?
• What if we stopped being screen addicts ourselves, to prove that it’s possible?

Because if we don’t, we’re raising a generation incapable of existing without constant digital stimulation.

And honestly… is that the world we want to leave behind?

Your Next Toilet Break: A Challenge

VHS taught us patience. Cassette tapes taught us anticipation. Landline phones taught us to deal with missed connections.

But today? We can’t even go to the bathroom without a phone in our hands.

So here’s a challenge. Next time you go for a toilet break, leave your phone outside. No scrolling, no swiping, no TikTok rabbit holes. Just you, the moment, and your thoughts—like in the good old days.

Think you can handle it?

Or will you panic at the idea of being alone with your own mind for five whole minutes?

And if you liked this comedian, feel free to visit his website here

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