Lessons from my media break
Back in June I was able to take a 2 week vacation - a camping trip in Colorado’s Front Range. There’s something about getting out in nature, sleeping and waking with Mother Nature’s natural circadian cycle, and taking a break from modern conveniences and technology that is so rejuvenating for both the body and the spirit.
For most of our trip we had no cell phone service, no wi-fi, and virtually no way to be in contact with or be contacted by the world. But it wouldn’t really have mattered anyway…….my phone died on the first day of the trip and I didn’t charge it up until day 10. And in those 10 days I felt more calm, more peaceful, and more grounded in myself than I had in a very long time. I credit lack of media in general, social media in particular, with this increased sense of contentment, joy, and peace.
I was late to the social media game. I never had a MySpace Account, resisted Facebook until 2009, didn’t have an Instagram until 2013, and still don’t have a Twitter, SnapChat, or TikTok. As far as social media goes, I’m not an over the top consumer. But I keenly and acutely feel the impacts of even my scaled down usage.
I’ve been known to take prolonged breaks from social media. Before COVID I took a two year, self imposed break from Facebook (but not Instagram, because at the time IG was less divisive, and basically just a place where folks were sharing photos of themselves and their families – I miss the old Instagram). The isolation of COVID led me back to Facebook, as I got curious about what everyone else was doing while they were on lockdown. It didn’t take long for me to go right back down the rabbit hole that is social media. There was an impending election, the politicization of COVID, and so much more that just sucked me right back in, despite my awareness of the negative impacts of social media.
Since traveling back down that rabbit hole in early 2020 I’ve taken short breaks from social here and there (I always make it a point to disconnect from my phone when traveling with my family - afterall, I want to actually be present for the experiences we get to have, not lost in my phone), but none that have lasted. I’ve always fooled myself into believing (or, perhaps been fooled by the social media companies) into believing that being on social media was part of being a good and successful business owner, and so I’d get back on my “work” social media, and before I know it, I’d be scrolling through my personal pages too. I’m starting to re-think that belief, and also consider the real disconnect between what I do as a yoga teacher and the behaviors I want to model for and encourage in the students who practice with me………if my intention is to teach you to be more present, more mindful, and more discerning in your daily life, do I really want to be filling your social media feeds with posts that keep you scrolling?
Since my vacation in June I have steered clear of Facebook, and largely resisted Instagram as well (with the exception of checking what my favorite band has been up to on their summer tour), and I think this time it might last. As I consider what role I want social media to play in my personal life and my work life I thought I’d share a few observations and insights I’ve gained during this break.
Pratyāhāra - Sense Withdrawal
Within the first of the eight limbs of yoga, Patanjali gives us a list of behaviors to avoid. We should refrain from causing harm, straying from the truth, stealing, misusing our sexuality, and being overly distracted by sense objects. By practicing these retraints, or yamas, we are able to maintain our peace of mind.
The point of refraining from (or taking a break from) anything that distracts you from your feelings (sugar, alcohol, caffeine, drugs, sex, social media) is so that you can more clearly understand the nature of reality. According to the yoga philosophy, our true nature is bliss - the bliss that comes from feeling truly content and at peace in your heart. And this bliss can only be recognized when the mind is quiet, still, and undisturbed. Anyone who uses social media knows that a mind on social media is anything but still and undisturbed.
During my current social media break I have noticed that my mind is more at ease. Despite the seemingly constant bad news – from rolling back women’s rights, to the continued war in Ukraine, to one climate change driven disaster after another – I feel a deeper internal peace that is hard to experience when you allow yourself to be sucked into the rampant outrage culture so prevalent on social media.
Viveka - Keen Discernment
Another phenomenon that occurs often on social media is known as groupthink. As we fill our feeds with more and more like minded people there becomes more of a pull for consensus, meaning we might go along with and even adopt the ideas of others while overriding our ability to objectively consider other ideas and viewpoints. Research has even found that when we surround ourselves with likeminded people and are rarely exposed to those with a different world view, everyone’s views become even more extreme. I believe that the echo chamber of social media is largely to blame for the great divide we are experiencing in America right now.
Yoga teaches us that viveka, or keen discernment, is a requirement on this spiritual journey. Viveka, or discernment, is the ability to separte what is real from what is unreal, what is useful from what is not. In Nicolai Bachman’s book The Path of the Yoga Sutra he says, “The ability to choose wisely and separate the wheat from the chaff is fundamental to the practice of yoga. Without this ability, our thoughts, words, and actions are limited to the whim of habitual tendency and the prison of involuntary conformity. Yoga involves a commitment to freeing our heart and mind of unnecessary and unhelpful baggage and focusing instead on our path toward contentment and inner happiness”. By employing viveka we take responsibility for our own thoughts and actions, and it’s taking responsibility for the activity of our own minds that is the heart of the yoga practice. In the echo chamber of social media the virtual shouting more or less drowns out our attempts at discernment.
Someone once said to me when I told them I was taking a social media break “that’s nice, and I’d like to do that, but I need to stay informed.” It seemed funny to me that someone felt they needed to be on social media to be “informed” – I’d argue that social media is the last place you should get your information from. And I’m increasingly starting to believe that cable news and network news are just as terrible a source of information as social media. Since our vacation, not only have I been continuing my break from social media, I’ve also sworn off cable and network news. I’m finding digital newspapers to be a better way to consume the news, and avoid bias and commentary. This allows me to stay informed, take in the news, process it based on my own feelings, and then think critically about what I’ve read.
In the last two months as my media consumption has declined I’ve experienced more peace, both inner and outer, and been more open to exploring viewpoints and opinions that differ from my own. I’ve experienced my true essence more often, and have felt on the verge of a major spiritual transformation.
I am committed to continuing my media break – and currently downloading my Facebook photos and videos so I can cut my ties completely. I no longer believe that being on social media is the only way to be a good and successful business owner, and I don’t want to be a slave to the algorithms anymore. I’m interested in teaching you yoga. I’m interested in helping you learn to live a more skillful and more peaceful life. And I think that’s only possible if we wean ourselves off of social media. So, I’m setting an example by deleting my Facebook and limiting my Instagram feed to yoga and ayurveda teachers I admire, to friends and family, and my favorite band, of course!
I’d love to hear about your experiences with social media, both good and bad. Have you ever taken a social media break? Do you think you need to?