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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
Benefits of Mindfulness: Mindful Living Can Change Your Life
Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide
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This talk discusses a simple method to cut down on screen time and use your phone more intentionally.
In today's episode, I'm going to
share how we can start to break
our phone addiction and be more
intentional with how we use technology.
More to come on that in a
moment, but first let's settle
in with the sound of the bells.
Do you find yourself checking
your phone more than you'd like?
Do you find yourself spending more time
in front of a screen than feels healthy?
Do you find yourself randomly scrolling
through emails or social media when
it's really not necessary and is not
serving your wellbeing in any way?
If so, welcome to being
a human being in 2020.
Yes, you are not alone.
All of us are learning how to
contend with this new technology.
Even though it's been around for a
number of years now, it is increasingly
becoming addictive and increasingly
becoming an integral part of how
we navigate and live our lives.
And while I don't intend for this
episode to be a philosophical discussion
on the merits of technology or even
the ethical design of technology, I
do think we're all in new territory
trying to figure out how to be in
relationship to these devices that are
highly addictive and also highly useful.
One thing I've been noticing for myself
in relationship to this technology
is that many times throughout the
day, I need to be checking emails,
checking social media, or the calls,
text messages related to my work.
There may be people that need
something from me, that need to
update me on something, or I might
need to respond to something on
social media or respond to an email.
Because of this, my device,
specifically my phone, has
become a big part of my life.
And I do check it many
times throughout the day.
But one thing I've started to notice
more and more is that I'm often randomly
checking my phone when I don't actually
need to, or if something were to come
in, I'm not in a position or don't
have the intention to respond anyway.
So, what do I mean by that?
A lot of times I'm scrolling through
Gmail throughout the day, checking to
see if there are any important updates
or if someone needs something from me.
But a lot of times, because I do do
that checking so frequently, I find
myself going on automatic pilot with
it and checking it out of habit.
And oftentimes when I do see an email
come through, I'm not in a position
or don't have the time to respond.
And so it just becomes something
that clutters my mental attention
and creates this felt sense within
me that there's so much to do.
So this habit of checking my phone without
actually intending to, or having the
time to do anything about what I would
be seeing, whether it's a notification,
an email, a comment that comes through,
just ends up becoming wasted energy,
wasted time and wasted mental space.
And in talking to more and
more people about this, it does
seem to be a common experience.
So I imagine you might have some
familiarity with what this is like
to be caught up on your device, not
only on autopilot, but really out
of habit, thinking you're there to
do something perhaps productive.
Or even thinking you're being intentional
with it, like you're intentionally
going to scroll through Facebook for
a period of time for entertainment.
But it's really just because you're bored
with whatever you're doing and your thumb
is very used to swiping, swiping, swiping.
So, something I've been using to help me
with this, to be more intentional with
my phone use is before I reached for
my phone, I asked myself the question.
If I were to see something that
needs my attention, email, Facebook
comment, text message, if I were to
see something that needs my attention,
would I be able to tend to it right now?
If I were to see something that
needs my attention, would I be
able to tend to it right now?
In the context of email, that's very
simply if an email were to come through
would I respond to it right now?
And if the answer is no, I'm just
randomly checking it during this short
break in a conversation I'm having,
then I'm not going to look at my email.
If it has to do with social media and
a comment comes through, I reply to
a lot of comments on my social media.
Is this a comment that I would respond to?
Is this a direct message
I would respond to?
Am I in the space to do that right now?
Or am I just checking it out of habit
to get a little dopamine hit, to see
that little red circle that says three,
four or five so I could get so excited
cause people commented on my ? And if
it's the latter and not the former,
if I'm not in a space to do something
about what's coming through, then
I see if I could put my phone away.
This has been a surprisingly
powerful heuristic for me.
Not only does it help me be more
intentional with how I use my device, but
it also creates much more ease in my mind.
I find, and I think the research is
there to support this, that, that
aimless scrolling, that neurotic
checking, that going on our device
out of autopilot or out of habit just
creates extra angst in my system,
especially when I'm seeing things
that I can't even do anything about.
And by checking that tendency in
real time and saying, no, it allows
me to do something more intentional
with my attention and my presence.
Now is this a full proof system?
No, you first have to remember to do it.
And that's one of the hardest things when
it comes to technology, is that we're,
we are often so addicted to this and
our patterns and reactivities around it
are so habitual and often subconscious
that where typically scrolling through
emails, Facebook, Instagram without any
awareness of how that actually happened.
How the phone got out of our
pocket, in our hand, the app
opened, and now we're looking at a
porcupine giving birth on YouTube.
These things tend to happen very quickly
and beneath our conscious awareness.
So the first step is cultivating
an awareness of these patterns so
that we can stop in those moments
and, and ask ourselves the question.
If I were to see something
that needs my attention, would
I be able to tend to it now?
But as I've been practicing this, I
noticed that the more times I'm able
to do it, the more it becomes a habit.
There are days where I forget entirely,
but then I get back on the wagon.
And I do think I've made this
metaphor before, but I do think it's
helpful to see these new developments
of habits in the same way we
might view a meditation practice.
The mind wanders, we bring it back.
Mind wanders, we bring it back.
The mind wanders off for two minutes
at a time, we still bring it back.
All of this is a learning.
It's a wobbling where we're walking, we're
falling over, we're regaining balance,
we're falling over, regaining balance.
So don't be discouraged if you try this
out and it doesn't work or you try it
out, it goes well, and then a week goes
by and you totally forget to do it.
It's an ongoing practice.
We're all in it together.
And when it comes to exploring our
relationship to technology, this
is new territory for all of us.
So thank you for your continued
practice of learning and exploring
new ways to get a little better at
life and become a better human being.
Remember, it's not just for you.
It's for the people we most love, our
communities, our country, our world.
The work you do on yourself within
has a ripple effect outwardly,
and for that I'm grateful.
So thank you again.
I'll talk to you soon and
until then, take care.
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