Challenges

This copyrighted information is courtesy of Mindful.org
With our ever-increasing use of digital technologies, the value of pausing to reconnect with what’s going on in the mind and body reveals itself in new and luminous ways. Against a constant stream of distractions, a moment of embodied presence helps us make a conscious choice about what to focus on next — and to be less reactive when our emotions get triggered. Perhaps more than anything, though, our mindfulness practice reminds us to stay curious toward all that we meet in our experience. Wherever we find ourselves — mentally or physically, online or offline — we can pause to ask: What’s going on in my mind and body right now? What is this?
As a long-time meditator and technology researcher, I’ve been exploring how this simple practice of questioning can enrich our digital lives. This curiosity can help us bring the full dimensionality of our human being into all of our digital doing across three broad areas of our everyday lives.
How To
3 Questions to Build a Healthy Relationship with Technology
1) What are my experiences with tech actually like?
We read much in the media that questions various aspects of our relationship with technology, from the problems of misinformation to the merits and harms of social media.
Amidst all of this, the practice of asking “what is this?” — again and again — brings us back to our actual, lived experiences with and through technology. This practice has roots in the Zen tradition, and is used by secular practitioners. It is not a practice of seeking answers. Rather, it’s a way to explore what our experience is really like.
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