Digital Life
Digital Life
I have been sitting with the idea of digital intrusion. Since the pandemic began, we’ve moved so much of our life online. Considering that much of our life was already there, that says a lot!
The Yoga Sutras only ask us to show up, consistently, and make an effort. Pre-pandemic, that meant negotiating with our partners, finding child care, navigating the obstacles of our cities, and interacting in a studio space. A 60 min class could easily take up 90-120 minutes of our life. And for the hour we were in class, we were mostly unreachable. Those moments felt sacred, like a pre-internet flight when no one could reach you. Studios offered that type of sanctuary.
The pandemic brought my teaching and your class online. I see so many of us still take the time for the ritual: we carve out the time and physical space to practice. But lately I’ve noticed in my own practice that I’ve been checking email and texts as my teacher teaches and it got me thinking how much has my digital life encroached upon my sacred time.
Prior to my month in Key West this summer, I did something strange. I told people I was going to be unavailable for an extended period. I was craving to be off the grid, off of social media, and end the compulsion to respond to texts immediately. It felt weird, almost a throwback. Some friends seemed to understand, and some didn’t like that I committed digital heresy. It was a much needed digital pause.
Yoga already talks about distraction in terms of our practice. That’s the whole name of the game: identifying the fluctuations and obstacles of the mind. In formal Meditation, we work with the mind as it is, develop tools to begin to recognize stimuli, and practice giving responses to those stimuli. When the mind wanders in Meditation, we recognize when we are in thought, emotion, or sensation. We then make a conscious choice to come back to the object of our Meditation. As we practice building our concentration, new neural pathways are formed and reinforced through more practice. I believe the only difference between a basic and intermediate student is the ability to bring the mind back into the practice once we see it wandering.
Digital life is not inherently bad and I am in no way advocating dropping off the grid. There is a richness to being connected. I get to see my nieces and nephews grow up. I can connect with you wonderful students. I can travel and teach. I can see my mom's smile and hear her laugh thousands of miles away. I met my partner online and fell in love. These are all awesome! But I am committing to work harder in my practice to watch the digital intrusion and scale back on social media that doesn’t bring me joy. A digital Marie Kondo so to speak.
You may have even noticed that I post less on Instagram. Pulling back on my digital life has improved my mental health and daily life. So I have made a big decision, to pull back further. I have deactivated my Facebook account and by extension my Facebook business page. It’ll be an experiment. I’ve been socially connected on that platform for over a decade! A few days in and it’s hard to shape a new pattern. I keep looking for the Facebook app on my phone.
This is my game plan for the holiday season: to use my practice to conserve or move my energy as needed to return to my baseline; to calm my nervous system and rest when necessary; to feel more engaged in the spirit of the season. In this way, I hope to show up for secular, family, and religious holiday celebrations as my full self rather than a distracted self. I hope you join me. The goal, like in yoga class, isn’t perfection, it is awareness, moving closer to that state of splendor that the yoga sutras talk about as the goal of our practice.
