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Stop the Scrolling, with Mindfulness
“Neuroscientists have found that a person trained in mindfulness is less driven by reactive behaviour and hence can observe the environment, emotions, physical reactions and thus can make more informed decisions rather than acting on impulses. Mindfulness practices cultivate new neural pathways in a person’s brain, which allows them to acknowledge negative emotions, understand unhealthy cravings. They realize its temporary nature, and thus let them pass gently.” (Behl 2020)
There’s the part we can see, and the part we can’t.
If you’ve ever found yourself looking up from a mindless scroll-session to discover half an hour (or more) has slipped by unnoticed, you’re certainly aware of the waste of time that personal technology — phones, tablets, gaming consoles, and the like — can produce when overindulged in. What we tend not to notice is the direct connection between that “wasted time” and a host of other ills: sleep disruption, neck pain, anxiety, low self-esteem, loneliness, jealousy, paranoia, even “cognitive loss” in key functions like our ability to focus, think critically, retain new information, and regulate our emotions. [Zhang, Behl]
Addiction is a word that gets tossed around a lot these days, but in this case the parallels are quite real. Excessive or even compulsive use of these devices is driven by three of the…
