Katey On: mind cleanse and media
Get off your phone. Delete your apps. Abandon your newsfeed.
Beginning a mind cleanse is one of the most effective ways to change your life. It is intense, empowering, and revealing. But first, it requires an understanding of what the mind is. The mind is the relationship between our senses, our thoughts, and technology. Because I know this, and now you know this, you have more control over your mind than you might think.
Technology, in this case in the form of all digital media—social media, news apps, data tracking, podcasts, and videos, etc.—needs to be set aside for a month or more. In short, this technology is too powerful. It has way too much influence.
You will survive without your media. And while you are surviving, your mind will be cleansed of the nonstop blather. Your mind will respond to the other technologies in the environment: textures, lighting, words, community, and time, for example. These more mundane technologies will flood into the spaces left by the digital and your mind will change. All for the better.
When your senses and mundane technology connect you regain a sense of bodily reality, physical reality, which is simply missing in the digital realm. You reconnect to the wisdom your mind has amassed over your lifetime. Allow physical reality to tantalize your senses again. Create a mind full of life-affirming, sensed reality, and surrender to your earned wisdom.
If you’ve done a mind cleanse before, follow these steps:
deactivate all media apps on your phone, including email and internet browsers
place your phone in a basket or drawer when you are not using it for texting or phone calls
when you’re jonesing for social, news, gossip, etc. STOP. Choose to do something else: yoga, breathwork, text a friend, call a friend, water your plants, go outside, smell the flowers, feel the fresh air, work
enjoy a month of deliberate, healthy, and powerful mind-building
consider eliminating any media that has a message: books, podcasts, lyrical music, TV, movies, etc. It will only benefit your mind. Why not give it a try?
If this is your first mind cleanse, follow these steps:
learn how to deactivate apps on your phone
deactivate all media apps on your phone, except for email
place your phone in a basket or drawer when you are not using it for email, texting, or phone calls
take note of how often you want to reactivate your apps
remind yourself you are doing something your mind sorely needs and even though it is hard, you can do it
get through the month, feel the discomfort and then the freedom that comes from reconnecting to physical reality
trust this: by eliminating media from my life right now, I am beginning to access the wisdom of my own mind
(heck, yes)
