The Need to Meditate in the Social Media Age

The alarm is ticking and here we open our eyes to this lovely morning. But did you see the sun rise when you were rising from your bed or the first thing was your phone? I am sure it was the latter. We wake up in the morning with the phone in our hand, checking on what did we miss on social media while sleeping or messages from friends around the globe. This is our condition in the Digital Age. In fact, we are addicted to the social media too badly that we are losing our real connections. Our parents and grandparents woke up in the morning and greeted each other. They spent some time over the coffee table, maybe reading some newspapers and thinking of their to-do list for the day. They meditated or did some yoga to refresh themselves. Today, many of us do meditate, but the question is – Is it enough with the kind of messages we trash in our brains received on social media? The answer is firstly we are over-working our mind with the trash we see on social media. Emotions like jealousy or even feeling that I am not good enough are increasing because what we see, we believe. If someone is showing you a happy picture of their marriage which is quite opposite to yours, then the first thought is – I am not so lucky. And then the entire day goes thinking thoughts on similar lines and feeling like a victim. Imagine this is what we are doing to ourselves. We are programming our mind every moment, but sadly today we are doing it in a negative way. So, should we social media completely? Well, the alte ative can be kick-starting your day with meditation. Instead of checking up social media in the morning, why not spend time with yourself? A 15 minutes meditation session can make you feel more alive from within than ever before. Why wait for the time when you start feeling depressed or lonely? Meditation can help you re-align yourself. Meditation tricks to help ease the load of social media impact on our mind: - Each time you feel like a victim based on some story on social media, immediately give yourself a 10-minute break. In this break, close your eyes. Breathe in and out of your nose. Bring that image or thought in front of you and breathe it out of your system. Breathe out at least 11 times deeply enough to release its impact from your mind as well as from each and every cell of your body. - Each night before going to sleep, empty your mind. Breathe out all the sad incidents that have happened during the day. Breathe out from your mouth all the images you saw or things you read on social media making you feel any negative emotion. Any jealousy or unhealthy competition that you may be feeling, just breathe it out of your mouth. Once you feel that the mind is empty, then go to sleep. - Mornings are supposed to be joyful and full of energy. So, once again meditate for at least 15 minutes and visualize yourself in a happy space. Use all your imagination to feel happy, blissful and having a productive day. Apart from these meditation tricks, make some rules on using social media. Like, I have pledged myself to not using any social media apps until afte oon. Likewise, I give myself two days off every week from social media. Whatever suits you, make some rules for not letting social media turn into a monster for your emotional and mental health. Meditating as above will help you train your mind to look more at the positive aspects. Emotionally and mentally your mind will become stronger. Hence, feelings of being a victim or not being good enough can be dealt with in a healthier manner. Start meditating and stop procrastinating! Namaste!