Distracted and Disconnected.
We talk a lot about being present in yoga, waking up to the world around us moment to moment. Like the title of Ram Dass’s famous book on spiritual awakening, we are told to “Be Here Now”. Present moment awareness is so central to yoga that almost the entirety of Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra is dedicated to methods that help us develop this moment to moment awareness. Imagine, 5,000 years ago yogis needed instructions for how to avoid distraction! If the ancient yogis, living without television, internet, cell phones and social media needed an instruction manual to avoid distraction, what hope does a modern human living in a world that seems designed to distract us have?
It seems like distraction is everywhere these days - as I’m sitting here on my back porch at home trying to write eloquently about being present my neighbor kid is playing drums in their house with the windows open, the garbage truck is driving backwards through the alley with its incessant beep, beep, beep, a dog is barking somewhere, and I have my cell phone sitting beside me staring me in the face tempting me to distract myself from my thoughts. When I’m out driving I’m shocked by the number of people I see staring at a screen, when I go out to dinner I’m saddened by the lack of social interaction at tables as everyone stares blankly at a screen, and when I walk through my neighborhood in the evening and see toddlers strapped in strollers playing iPad games instead of exploring their world I feel incredibly sorry for them.
Every single time our eyes are on a screen, whether it be a cellphone, tablet, laptop or television, we are missing the moment we are living in; missing the tiny miracles that are taking place all around us. Our distraction is disconnecting us from the world we are a part of and from each other. In a disconnected state we lose appreciation, we start to take things for granted, and we fail to see the beautiful things that are all around us.
In the tantric traditions of yoga, the world around us is a manifestation of the divine. God isn’t somewhere out there in the ether, God is right here on Earth, in the flowers, and the raindrops, the ripe juicy watermelons, the birds that sing, and in you and me. Waking up to these things is waking up to the the divine. Present moment awareness is like a prayer, it’s like an offering to the divine. And what happens when we say a prayer, or make an offering? Our lives improve.
Imagine what could happen if we all woke up to the present moment? What could we do about climate change if we all paid a little more attention, if we noticed our interconnected nature with the Earth? What good might be be able to do in the world if we recognized the divinity in each other and saw everyone as worthy and deserving of peace and happiness?
You’ve heard the term “heaven on Earth”? This could be it……….God is here, in everything that’s all around us, and this could be the paradise it’s meant to be if we could just wake up from our distractions and be here now.
But in this world that seems designed to keep us distracted, how do we develop the moment to moment awareness we need to reach the lofty goal of heaven on earth? Well, Patañjali offers some brilliant suggestions for working with the mind to become more focused, but Patañjali didn’t have cell phones with internet or the addictive algorithms of social media to contend with. So, for those of us who spend a little too much time distracting ourselves from life with a screen, and find it difficult to just sit still and concentrate, we need some training wheels. It’s OK to start small, and build your awareness muscle. Pick one of the suggestions below that seems most accessible to you and work with it for a few weeks and notice how your awareness expands. When you start to wake up to the world I think you’ll be amazed by how magical it all seems.
DEVELOP YOUR AWARENESS:
Do you grab your phone the moment you wake up? Wake up just 10 minutes earlier each morning, and before you look at your phone for the news, social media, email, etc. step outside. Find a comfortable place to sit, stand, or lie down outside, then close your eyes and just listen. Listen deeply and notice what sounds you hear. You could name the sounds, or just label them (traffic, birds, animals, etc.). After a few minutes of just listening to the sounds around you, open your eyes, take one good look around your environment, then finish this practice and go about your day. Notice how you feel throughout the day, after having started your morning with presence.
Distracted by the constant buzzing of your phone? Emails, texts, news alerts always buzzing your pocket? Use those pings, dings, and buzzes to bring your into the present moment, instead of away from it. Before you reach for your phone to check the notification. Pause, close your eyes, and take at least 5 slow full rounds of breath in and out. Do this every time you receive a notification throughout the day….I promise the text, email, or alert can wait 60 seconds for you!
Is there a household chore you normally do while listening to podcasts or music, or with television on in the background? Today, do that chore in silence, and as you are doing the chore say to yourself, either silently, or out loud, each step of the chore. Additionally, notice individual aspects of each object involved in the chore. For instance, if you are folding clothes start by saying to yourself, “I’m taking the clothes out of the dryer”, then notice each article of clothing as you put it into your basket. Then, with each item you fold say to yourself, “I am folding X”. As you are folding notice the warmth from the dryer, the color of the item, the texture of the item. Notice if the seams of the item line up as you’re folding. Is the item symmetrical with clean edges and easy to fold, like a towel, or is it difficult to fold, like a fitted sheet? As you put each item away say to yourself, “I am putting away X”. When you open the drawer or closet to put the item away notice what else is in the drawer or closet, which items are near the item you are putting away, how the items are organized. When it has become a habit to do this one chore without distraction, choose another household chore and go through the same steps until you can complete that chore without distraction habitually.
Do you read on a digital device? Pick up the good old-fashioned hard copy of the next book you read. Every time you sit down to read your book take a moment to pause and look at the cover of your book. Notice the font that the title is written in, the images that are on the book. Are there any raised or embossed areas on the cover? As you begin reading note the font size and type. What kind of paper are the inner pages of your book on? Are they rougher pages like newsprint, or are they smoother like printer paper? How are the chapters laid out? Is there a title page for each chapter, or does the narrative begin right after the chapter heading? Does your book have a smell. Notice how thick the section of the book is that you’ve already read, and how thick is the section you have yet to read? Notice each time you read how the thickness of each portion of the book changes.
Do you eat distracted? In front of the television or a phone, driving in your car on a rush to school or work, or while you are working at your desk? Commit to one undistracted meal per day. Once your meal is prepared, sit down in a peaceful space with your plate, away from all screens. Rest your hands in your lap and take a moment just to look at your food. Look at the colors and textures, notice the different ingredients you can see on your plate. As you are noticing the ingredients recognize where they came from - did you grow them yourself? buy them at the farmers market? or at the grocery store? Take a moment of gratitude and appreciation for where your food came from. If you grew it yourself, recognize the time and commitment that went into nurturing the food item to maturity. If you bought it at the grocery store, acknowledge that someone, somewhere grew the item, someone picked the item, there was someone that packaged the item, and delivered it to the grocery store, and finally you, or someone else took the time to shop for the item. Once you have spent a moment in gratitude for how your food arrived at your table, lean over your plate and smell the aromas of your food. Can you smell individual ingredients? Does the smell make your mouth water? Does it conjure any memories for you? Now, pick up your fork and take a bite. Set your fork back down and return your hands to your lap while you experience the flavors and textures of your food. Can you distinguish individual items by their taste? Is your food salty, sweet, savory? Hot or cold? Soft or crunchy? Difficult to chew or easy? Make sure to chew your food long enough to observe these different aspects of you food. Once you’ve swallowed your bite take one full breath in and out before picking up your fork for the next bite. Continue observing in this way until you are finished with your meal