We are addicted to the Internet. And, in a way, this isn’t a bad thing, we are just hooked on the notion that the world is at our fingertips. We can share our lives, learn foreign languages, and even teach others new skills. This is a wonderful addition to our lives; however, it comes at a cost.

We have developed the tendency to check our emails or texts while at dinner, or while our child is telling us about their first day of kindergarten. We have bifurcated our attention between our online life and our offline life, and it seems that the former is becoming increasingly more important than the latter.

Our constant inattentiveness is causing a decline in our work product, relationships and our overall health. Our brains are literally rewiring as we twee…fac…emai…te…

We have become so hooked that we’ve stopped thinking—we just jump around. “[Our] brains are rewarded not for staying on task but for jumping to the next thing,” said Michael Rich, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the Center on Media and Child Health in Boston. And the effects could linger: “The worry is we’re raising a generation of kids in front of screens whose brains are going to be wired differently.”

We have stopped processing the new ideas we are creating. We are constantly in “go” mode, and never take a moment to rest and let things settle.

It helps us heal when we take a moment to breathe. We heal our hearts and our minds from the deluge of information overwhelming our senses.

We call this, “unplugging.”

Take a moment and think about how much time you spend thinking, facebooking; on tumblr, twitter, and pintrest.

{keep breathing and think}

Too much… right?

Let’s unplug. We will start slowly: take a break from one application a day, slowly accumulating a full five minutes of unplugged rest. Then, we will add more time each week. But for now, take one app, or one website, and simply let it go for at least thirty minutes today.

No checking in for a few seconds. After all, one second times eighty-six thousand is one full day.

{breathe}

Tomorrow, let’s add another application to our blackout.

Within one week’s time, dedicate five minutes each day to silence. No more apps. No more websites. And yes, absolutely no emails or texts.

Just turn them off… for five minutes.

As you feel more comfortable with your daily retreat, you can add more time. Slowly, climb your way up to thirty minutes each day.

“Too often, people think that solving the word’s problems is based on conquering the earth,rather than touching the earth, touching ground.” ~ Chögyam Trungpa

A thirty-minute retreat

Put on some comfortable socks, dance, laugh, or even sing. If you are feeling a bit nervous. It is normal. We have become so addicted to technology because of our fears of being disconnected, of feeling alone.

With this digital retreat, we are facing our fears head-on. Bringing awareness to your axieties is the first step to overcoming them. Your willingness to face them is truly couragous.

{breathe}

Now that you have created a sacred space away from the digital world. We need to set a “no-intentions” rule. Well, with one exception: our intention is to create inner-peace and harmony.

We have our space, our rules, and now we are to do away with thinking. If you find your mind wandering to your to-do list, let it go.

Trust me, it will still be there when you return. We are returning to our source, we are attaching ourselves to the inner-wamrth that makes our breath give life, and our heartbeat the sound of the deepest ocean.

Stay here for as long as you can, and when you wander off, just return.

Once we plug in again, know that this space is always here, and you can visit it as often as you would like. Be mindful of the time you spend endlessly typing, and connecting, remembering, and reminding.

Allow your breath to fill your head. Being an air-head isn’t such a bad thing, you know…

{breathe}

ahhhhhhhhh, and welcome back.