How do you feel when you hear the word unplug? Does the thought of a one day media fast send you into a cold sweat? How about two days? A week? Just to be clear, when I refer to media I'm talking about the whole enchilada--phone, internet, social media, TV, movies, newspapers, books and articles. Are you starting to get the shakes like someone going through major withdrawals? Eye twitches. Cold sweats. Dry mouth. Muscles tensing up.
Taken on a morning hike. Foothills of the Himalayas, India.
Or, are you on the flip side? Where just the thought of going one day or several days without an invisible leash feels like you drew the prized Get Out of Jail Free card? Does it feel exhilarating, freeing, and beyond comprehension amazing? Does your body feel less stressed? Can you breathe easier? Do your eyes, mouth and jaw feel more relaxed? Does your inner voice coach you up saying you got this?
Most people have slowly had technology and social media move into their lives like a mist. It builds and builds, gets thicker and thicker and before you know it you can't see through it. You've somehow become accustomed to the haze. This became a point of discussion recently in one of the group's I was facilitating. It seemed to be just about half the group was ready and willing to experience this media-detox. The other half of the group couldn't even comprehend it nor did they think they could do it. At first many of the students took media-detox to mean just the News and TV. I said no, no, no. Not so fast. Media means all of it. This clarification made things much more interesting, to say the least.
A few years ago I taught weekly yoga classes focused around gentle, restorative and beginner movements. Class always started off with a quote or passage that made for a practice theme or intention. My sources typically ranged from The Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali or a beautiful quote I had recently read that I wanted to share. The universal messages tended towards gentle reminders to go within to find the answers. This seems simple, yet what do most of us do? We constantly look outside of ourselves for just the right "thing" that will fix us, another person or a difficult situation.
A unexpected gift of loveliness deep in the forest. Himalayas, India.
"The great peace of the Kingdom, shines in your mind forever;
but it must shine outward to make you aware of it." J, 91
This mis-identification is often times referred to in Sanskrit as 'maha moha' or 'the great delusion.' As humans we have heard this many, many times so why is it so hard to look within and seek the answers? Why can't we trust ourselves to make good decisions? Why can't we simply unplug from the outer world and embrace the calm, centering force within? In one word: habit. It's a habit ingrained into us starting from the time we were young. Seek out guidance from authority figures we were constantly reminded. Lucky for us all habits can be changed with conscious awareness. It takes some time, but it's worthy of our effort. Do it as if your life depends on it because it does!
Back to the experience of deep relaxation. Imagine yourself with effortless breathing, skin and muscles at ease, mind focused solely on the gentle rhythm of the rib cage's movements. This is so incredibly delicious that you don't ever want to leave it. No one truly wants to part from this state where all perceived problems are suspended in time. The sun's rays beginning to show through the mist. You feel renewed on multiple levels. Ahhhhh.... This feeling is completely different from the tense state you are accustomed to. As I used to tell my yoga students...you go from pissed to blissed!
The state of high zinging energy sustained over large amounts of time can be damaging to the body's delicate nervous system. Prolonged and unchecked it can lead to irritability, insomnia, suppressed immune system, loss of appetite, over-eating, weight gain, migraines, etc.. etc... We've all seen the statistics and they are alarming.
Here, the benefits of unplugging and media-detoxing are brought back into play. I could cite statistics about how wonderfully your life will improve if you were to trim back. However, I am forever the believer in experiential learning. Humans learn best through experiencing life themselves. So, I pose a question to you. Can you unplug for one whole day? Turn the phone off, don't worry about social media or the TV and wait a day to read anything in print. At the end of the night I bet you have a very restful nights sleep with the added benefit of going to bed at a decent hour.
Let me know how the detox goes...
Pranams, Joanna
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