How do you feel in your body right now? How’s your breath? How are your thoughts? Sometimes we have to reposition ourselves in the here and now, and I’m finding that this requires more diligence than ever.
The loud world
Have any of you noticed that you're reaching for your phone a lot? Maybe you’re watching the news more closely than before, and it makes you cry. My friends, I am with you.
A few weeks ago, I was astonished to learn that I’d spent 22 hours of my week on my smartphone. Some of that was for legitimate reasons, but most of it was probably spent refreshing my email, scrolling mindlessly on various social media platforms, and obsessively checking the news.
By this point, most of us have heard of FOMO (Fear of missing out), and we understand that there's a connection between dopamine (a "reward" neurotransmitter) and social media. For more on that, check out this article from Harvard University.
I was well aware of these things myself, but the numbers also didn't lie. I was not using my time wisely.
Cultivating Attention
Mindless consumption is the antithesis of what we’re trying to build in yoga practice. Even if you just came to Union Yoga for the asana (postures) and didn’t care about the other seven limbs of yoga, you’re still working on attention when you practice. You have to be aware so that you can tell when that stretch is just right or too far. To have an embodied, empowered practice, you've got to be in it.
In meditation, we’re asked to notice our thoughts. There’s no doubt that your mind will wander in meditation, but over time, you may observe that the fluctuations become less frequent, or at least less urgent.
Attention and focus are so baked into yoga that the sixth limb of yoga is dharana (concentration).
The Mini-Retreat
I use technology to work, connect with loved ones, and practice yoga with you! Smartphones are powerful tools that we can use to engage in our practice on a deeper level. I'm definitely not saying to chuck your phone.
After some reflection, though, I recognized I needed to have some planned outages through mini-retreats. My hypothesis was that if I took these breaks, I’d be better equipped to engage with the world. We won't pretend for a second that war, sickness, and hate crimes aren’t happening. That suffering is very real. I’m just saying that we’re a lot less effective at using our powers for good if we’re scattered and scrolling, or riding some rage train into the seedy underbelly of a comments section.
Do you think you could use a reset? I’ll tell you how I did it, and I encourage you to give it a try for yourself.
Start by noticing
My wake-up call for this abuse of my devices came when I saw the number recorded by Digital Wellbeing on my phone. (Apple devices have a Screen Time function that does something similar.)
The first step for deciding if it's time to step back is to notice. How often do you catch yourself scrolling or looking through the comments? Is the news on constantly? Maybe you're a chronic email refresher. When you engage in these things, how do you feel? Are they contributing to your understanding, or are they making you edgy and over-stimulated?
Perhaps you have a healthy relationship with your tech, but you still want to step away. That's cool too. You can still take a mini-retreat!
Set your parameters
Most of us can’t afford to skip technology altogether. The mini-retreat is a way for us to decide what types of stimuli we’re going to allow into our space for a given period of time.
For my mini-retreats, I typically do half-days. I’ve found the half-day retreats most accessible because they allow me to create space for my practice and still have time for family, work, etc. You may have more or less flexibility in your schedule, but even an hour of peace can do a world of good.
Get really specific with your time. Say that it's happening from 6 AM to 2 PM and let it be so.
You'll also need to decide what types of tech are allowed. You may wish to skip anything with a screen for a few hours. It certainly doesn't hurt. You can also get some benefits from engaging mindfully with your tech.
For example, I allow my Kindle during the retreats because I can use part of my time for studying sacred texts, yogic philosophy, etc. I'm also okay with accessing a dharma talk, mindfulness app, or a live-streamed class at Union Yoga. I decide exactly what I'm doing in advance to avoid the temptation to scroll.
Give yourself an itinerary
When some people hear mini-retreat, they think, “Spa day.” You can definitely use your time like that. Soak your feet in some Epsom salts, deep condition your hair, go to an actual spa… You’d be amazed at how much more time you have for those things when you’ve effectively muted the Sirens' song of Instagram.
You might also think, "I need to be in nature." Go for it! Head to the beach. Find a trail or work in your garden.
Mini-retreats don’t have to be spa days or hikes though. I actually find it nice to clean my house during the retreat. Instead of having something playing in the background, I give each task my full attention. I also come out of my mini-retreat with the house in my head and my physical home in order.
Some component of my time away from the screens is always devoted to yoga. I might begin by reading from whatever yoga-related text I’ve been studying. Then I’ll do a little breathwork, take a class or roll out the mat independently, and then go for that seated and/ or walking meditation. It’s helpful to bust out the journal too.
Really reflect on what you need for this time you’re taking. Nurture yourself. If you give yourself a rough timeline for what you’re going to do, you can make sure you have everything you need and skip the exhausting process of deliberation.
Once you've worked out the when, where, and what of your mini-retreat, all that's left to do is carry it out.
The result
When you’ve reached the end of your mini-retreat, observe how you feel. How’s your body? How’s your breath? How are your thoughts?
When the time was up, I felt more clear-headed than I’d felt in quite a while. Although tempted to pick up my phone at the beginning, by the end of my day, the prospect of jumping back into it seemed a lot less appealing. It's been the same every time I've tried this. The results were so evident that I plan to keep these mini-retreats happening on a frequent basis.
I also recognized that even though I’m not able to take away all the suffering happening in the world, there really are concrete ways for me to do something to move things in the right direction.
I guess the most important thing I remembered when I opted out of the noise is that the situation is grim, but it’s not hopeless. If enough of us do what we can in our own way, we could effectively move the needle on the state of things. Anything times 7.9 billion (roughly the number of people on this planet) is bound to be powerful.
Did you give the mini-retreat a try? Let me know how it went.