The Social Dilemma

 Blog Entry 09/30/2020

Day 7 of my internet and social media technology fast

I am on Day 7 evening of my week long technology fast.  After watching a Netflix Documentary on the addictive effects of the internet and social media, I decided to take a week off from the internet.  I want to document my experiences here and share what insight I had.

The greatest impact was equanimity and peace of mind.  On the first day, I felt like I really had to push through a barrier and just sit with myself.  I was so used to escaping my thoughts, negative emotions, and general discomfort with myself by watching movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime.  I decided to just sit in my desk chair with the lights off and be with the discomfort.  The discomfort surprisingly quickly faded away.  I still felt great discomfort at times, but I told myself that it was possible to push through this and be free of the constant need for distraction, movies, emails, social media, &/ the internet.

I spent a lot of times with negative thoughts, with depressing thoughts about others, about loved ones, and friends.  I eventually found silence within a few days.  By the final day, I actually felt like my mind was drifting  and I actually missed teaching my yoga class on Day 7.  I caught myself at times having superficial &/ comedic thoughts and realized that these thoughts are not my nature.  I felt as though I was projecting a superficial version of myself at times.  I know I can maintain a state of equanimity and peace.  

I began doing more Japa and found peace in chanting Om Nama Shivaya.  On Day 7, I actually did yoga twice in one day, worked on a project I had been delaying for some time, and had even completed the finishing touches on my parents backyard and garden.  I really enjoyed the time away from technology.  Most importantly, I enjoyed simply being with myself in greater silence.  I realize that with less technology, we have more time to serve others and the community.  We have more time to connect with friends and family.  We have more patience and are better listeners.  We are more patient with ourselves.  I literally moved slower this past week.  I relaxed more.  I felt more clarity of mind and even relaxed eyes.  The greatest gift was my ability to really connect sincerely and authentically with others.  I was actually able to get a friend of mine, a yoga student, to help another friend of mine, a fellow PT patient, in need.  How cool is that?

I think we have to balance technology and social media.  I would like to do another experiment with being free of my phone for a week, but feel that I would rather help people and connect with them.  Maybe one day in the future, I will go into silence again.  I have been in up to 10 days of silence, and it’s powerful.  There are so many levels to silence.  The most basic is keeping your lips closed, but the most powerful is slowing the thoughts.  How do we get this mind into deep silence?

I hope to adapt a lifestyle free of movies and TV shows, of the need to find comfort and relaxation in watching something.  I think there is a much deeper relaxation in simply being with yourself.  When the walls cave in, can we simply be still and look up at the stars?  

With a renewed and inspired spirit,

An Aspiring Yogi.