Greetings from the end of Summer!
This is a great time to slow down, pause, evaluate and re-assess. One fruitful theme to reflect upon is your consumption of technology. I recently heard a Postive Psychologist discuss how studies now show a direct correlation between increased consumption of television and internet with increased symptoms of depression.
Particularly the internet, with its endless information, its social media, its social networking, its promise of connection – I often find myself, after embarassingly long binges of vapid ‘surfing’, feeling intellectually bloated and isolated, not just from others but my own sense of Being.
Practice Tip
- In the moment before you find yourself clicking on a hyperlink, booting up your email or browsing through fall fashion selections on-line, try to notice the impulse or energy that is driving that decision.
- You may notice a sincere desire for some bit of information, and you may also discover deeper feelings of incompletelness, restlessness or boredom.
- If possible try to stay present to that primary impulse, just as you would in your formal meditation practice. Notice what occurs when you become mindful of the impulse itself, rather than lost in trying to fulfill its request.
- Cultivate a relaxed restraint towards unbridled internet surfing and this can produce a wonderful sense of self-control and well-being… as well as return many, many hours to your more vital life off-line.
Inspiration: Here’s a great article from yesterday’s New York Times by Robert Wright on his experience of re-entering the grid of technology after a meditation retreat. Notice the impulse, the driving energy just before you click HERE.
Originally published on September 1, 2010
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