Noticing Your Fear In Relation To Technology

Welcome to this mindfulness exercise for noticing your fear and stress in relation to technology.

We all know all too well that technology can contribute to stress.

Even though in theory it's designed to make our lives easier,

It doesn't always work that way.

Having to be available 24-7 through your smartphone or tablet or computer isn't always a good thing and it can even become addicting and disruptive to our lives.

If you ever find yourself getting aggravated or annoyed because you can't step away from technology or get a break from those unending messages,

Emails,

Text messages,

Social media messages,

You may be experiencing what's sometimes called technostress.

A big contributor to technostress is fear,

Specifically what's called FOMO,

The fear of missing out.

That fear that if you don't go online you're gonna miss out on some new posting,

An article or something a friend posted,

That you're not going to respond and people are going to have a judgment about you for not being online.

It's all based on fear and that fear can cause a lot of painful and unnecessary stress.

So let's get started today in working on an exercise to help counter and reduce that kind of fear and stress in relation to technology.

Start by putting your phone down and taking a nice deep breath and gently close your eyes.

Breathe in deeply and fully inflate your lungs as you breathe in through your nose.

Breathe in through your nose.

Feel your rib cage expanding and opening up as you breathe.

Pause,

Then exhale,

And as you exhale notice your stomach softening.

And then in the same way take one or two more slow deep relaxing breaths at your own pace.

Settle into the sense of peace and relaxation that you're feeling in this moment.

As you relax try and scan your body observing how it feels.

Observe everything with a gentle attention but without putting too much effort into it.

You're just breathing and relaxing and feeling the energy that's in your body.

You're just breathing and relaxing and being aware without judging anything you notice in your experience and without trying to change your experience.

Everything you become aware of is okay.

And now bring your attention to the breath.

Just noticing without judgment how your breath feels.

Noticing without judgment how your breath feels as it moves in and out of the body.

Noticing any subtle details of the experience of breathing.

The way your body moves as you breathe.

Connect with the beginning and ending of each breath as it appears and disappears.

That moment of connection between the end of an inhale and the beginning of an exhale.

Noticing the rhythm of the breath,

Of the breath,

The cycle of the breath.

And if you find the mind drifting as it is want to do,

Just gently nudge it back to be focusing its attention on your breathing.

Noticing how you feel,

How your body feels,

Breath after breath,

Inhale,

Exhale.

Breathe in a sense of peace and tranquility.

Letting everything else go in this moment.

Letting the stress go.

Letting any thoughts about what you need to do go.

Letting them pass by like leaves in a stream.

Breathing out any stress or tension.

Feel those feelings exiting your body as you exhale,

Completely letting all of the air out.

Breathe into this moment.

This moment is all there is.

And this moment.

And this moment.

And notice how good it feels to step away from everything.

We've only taken a few minutes here to experience what it's like to disconnect.

You can do this whenever you want.

You can take this break.

The feeling that we have that we need to be connected 24 hours a day,

Seven days a week,

That we need to be keeping up constantly,

Is a feeling that we have.

It doesn't mean that it's true.

We have the capacity and the ability to take a break like this.

For a second,

For a minute,

For five minutes,

For whatever time you have.

And the world online will be there waiting for you when you get back.

Take a moment now to just notice how you feel continuing your natural breathing.

Notice how it feels to stop and break the cycle of constantly being plugged in.

You can engage in this practice again with this recording or without it,

Especially when you feel like the things that make your life convenient are starting to get out of hand and causing you more stress than you would like,

Are causing more tension,

And more stress.

You can take a moment to just notice how your emotions and emotions that you feel are causing more tension than you need.

Set your intention now to use your technology mindfully whenever you next return to it,

Or time.

Let yourself notice any feelings of fear or anxiety or stress or trepidation you have about being connected all the time,

Or about what you'll see the next time you turn on your smartphone.

Any fear about being disconnected from technology and what you might miss out on while being disconnected.

See if you can notice those feelings,

Honor them as valid,

And then also let them go without reacting to them or acting on them.

Fear and anxiety are powerful feelings,

Sometimes though diving into them a little bit,

Acknowledging their reality,

Paying attention to them can sometimes help to dissipate the hold that they have over us.

Trying to just notice any of those feelings that you have.

And if you can,

Let those feelings go.

And now take just one more deep breath,

A full inhale through your nose as you feel the air go down your throat,

Through your lungs,

Deep into the belly,

And then fully exhale and release that breath,

Letting it calm and relax you.

Now go ahead and open up your eyes,

Take out your smartphone and turn it on.

Notice if you feel any stress or anxiety as a result of turning on your smartphone.

Find an app that you use frequently,

Particularly one that may generate stress in you like email or Facebook or other social media,

Open up that app and without doing anything else when you see it,

Notice how you feel.

Notice if opening up that app triggers any sense of fear or anxiety.

Look at the screen with the app up on it,

Pay attention to those feelings,

But don't take any action.

See if you can just sit with that feeling,

Maybe it's a tightness in your chest or a buzzing in your head,

Not trying to analyze the feeling or change it or judge it,

Feel that there's something wrong or bad about you for feeling it,

Just noticing what that feeling is.

Paying attention to it,

Honoring it,

Observing it,

And recognizing that you can step away from your phone,

From this exercise,

Anytime you need a break,

That the phone isn't controlling your actions.

You can put it down,

Walk away,

Take a walk,

You can leave it behind in the room as you go somewhere else,

Be with a friend or a family member,

Or you can just sit there and let it go.

Practice stepping away from the stress of technology and leaving the phone or the tablet or the laptop behind and notice how that makes you feel,

The feeling of choice.

And over time and when practiced on a regular basis,

See if you notice any changes in the way you feel.

When you turn on your phone or launch that app that now so often triggers a feeling of stress or fear or anxiety in you,

And you can put your phone down now and put it to sleep.

I hope that you found today's exercise helpful,

That you practice it yourself with or without this recording,

And that you can use it to help you get through the process.

I hope that you practice it yourself with or without this recording throughout your day.

And thanks so much for joining me today.