A great conversation with a friend inspired this writing and meditation that I want to share with you. We were talking about navigating this amazing, yet overwhelming age of information. Clearly, there are pros and cons when it comes to the rapid-fire technology and abundant information coming our way. Since very few things are ever inherently "good" or "bad" I thought I'd present this topic from the perspective of feeling "in alignment" or "out of alignment" with something because exploring things this way helps me figure out if something is a good fit for me or not.
Being IN ALIGNMENT with information/technology/social media can look/feel like this:
Learning new things
Inspired by Art
Amused by hilarious people
Delighted by animal vids
Learning and retaining information
A-ha moments
Connection/keeping in touch
Information sharing
Being OUT OF ALIGNMENT with this stuff can look/feel like this:
Overwhelmed/frazzled/restless
Information overload/inability to retain info
Shorter and shorter attention span
"why did I just watch that?"/Wasting time
Feeling like I should be doing MORE/ BE more
Judging others/comparing
Filled with fear-based catastrophic thinking
Too many theories and opinions to know how to actually apply anything
Again, without assigning the value of "good" or "bad" and DEFINTELY without feeling any shame about being a victim of genius marketing, it's just good to take an honest look at these things for the sake of our sanity and peace.
Yogis and Buddhists believe that if you don't master your mind, your mind will become your Master. Same with technology and information. It is here to serve us, not the other way around. As a meditation teacher, I am always interested in trying the best I can to aim my consciousness in a constructive direction so that I can teach others how to do the same.
Here's a list of things that I find incredibly refreshing, detoxifying and good for my brain and emotional well-being. These things provide me with a much greater sense of long term satisfaction rather than the short-term almost drug-like effects of rapid fire scrolling and information gathering.
Cures for Information Overload:
Crafts
Puzzles
Reading books
Time in Nature
Sunlight on face and arms to absorb vitamin D
Time to think (many creative geniuses carve out time to sit & think)
Playing an instrument
Listening to music
Walk with a friend
Cook a nice meal
Write or journal
Meditate
Here's a 5 minute meditation to clear the mind if you ever want to use that for a tech break.
Also, sometimes we over-do technology/social media to avoid something painful so here is a
These are just a couple of simple tools to experiment with. Stay curious as to what is REALLY fulfilling and nurturing for you because you deserve to feel good.
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