Contemplating digestion/assimilation, which, as a person who suffered with an eating disorder, I do not take the recovery lightly, I started contemplating my relationship with social media.

When it comes to Facebook and all the inspirational quotes on it, I have to ask: Where is the originality people?! All we do is consume hundreds of inspirational quotes and then regurgitate them back up on our own wall. (I write what I need to learn.)
We are getting inspirational quotes and bits of information streaming down like a rain shower in April, and I can’t help but wonder if those teachers wanted us to contemplate their words a bit more. I think, “Oh, that’s nice!” click like and share!

How and when do we embody it?! Where is the assimilation of our inspiration!?

It is time to sink beneath the surface. It is time to resurface into our lives and the sensations in our bodies, to put some of these messages from Rumi, Albert Einstein and Osho to work in our relationships.

My name is Dani Vani and I am a Facebook addict!

Rather than spending an hour on my meditation cushion I do a “fast 15” and then head to Facebook for inspiration—and believe me—I have a lot of inspiring friends (or at least I think they are, because they put some really nice quotes in their newsfeeds).

In 20 minutes there are nearly two million status updates. During the hour in the morning as I sip my green tea, I ingest hundreds of inspirational, uplifting updates to start my day. Good vibes? Maybe, but are we really digesting this?

If I eat 12 pounds of kale a day and puke it up, do I still get some benefit?

Write an affirmation on your mirror and stare at it for a half an hour every morning this week instead—just as an experiment. (Don’t worry, I wont be too pissed when you miss all of the events I just invited you to.)

I recently put on my Facebook status, “I love you!” and since I didn’t post a cool photo with it, I didn’t get nearly as many likes as I usually do. I just thought it would be nice to see some truth beyond all the social media bullshit. It was like the little unattractive post in the feed that barely got noticed.

Truth is hidden behind all of our stuff: our identities, our astrological signs, our political views, our fancy new yoga pose; even, and I dare say, our beautiful children. But mainly, truth is hidden beyond the speed of our lives. No matter how much good stuff is flowing in, if you don’t have a chance to feel it, reflect on it, and most of all to live it; forget it. The truth may not be the first thing that catches our eye, but it is the only thing that will penetrate our soul.

When I finally make it to the meditation cushion, all the chaos and crap I take in during the day is purged, similar to the way I scroll through my newsfeed, and then finally between the chaos is a small space (sometimes) in between that says, “I love you.” The Truth.

If you agree with me that even the positive posts are getting annoying just put I love you in your status update and go do something, or don’t do anything! Just sit there.

Be loved. Give love and wake the eff up!

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Ed: Brianna Bemel