Lessons from a monastery - part one - Digital Distancing
Lessons from a monastery - part one - Digital Distancing
Over the summer break, I had the privilege of staying, for two nights, at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery (in Scotland though, not in Tibet!). It was a unique, interesting and very peaceful experience and I thought I'd share some of my learnings from my stay over the next few articles. My goals for going on this solo adventure were to take some time to reflect, to do some journalling and meditation and to witness the monks in the temple, as much as visitors are allowed.
I initially I felt rather isolated, as on my arrival there were very few people about and I had neither phone signal nor Wi-Fi. As this was a rather unusual solo adventure, I was keen to let my family know that I'd arrived safely after my long drive north. Unfortunately, the mobile network was down, and I couldn't access the limited Wi-Fi without the password. Fortunately, I was able to get in touch a couple of hours later, after I'd checked in with a welcoming and kind female monk. Throughout my 2-night stay the mobile coverage and Wi-Fi remained very limited. This meant I left my phone in my room most of the time and only went to the café to access the Wi-Fi a couple of times to check that there were no urgent messages from home.
This enforced distance from my smart phone felt initially somewhat alarming. Knowing that my family couldn’t reach me at any given moment of the day filled me with a slight sense of panic and anxiety when I first arrived. However, this feeling soon settled, and I felt comfortable with just checking in now and again. The rest of the time though, it felt very freeing not having my phone physically on my person every minute of every day, like I often do in my normal daily life. This lack of connection with the outside world helped me to look inward; to reflect and journal on recent events, and on the year so far; to sit peacefully and meditate by the river; and to enjoy the company of others staying, like me, as guests for a couple of nights.
Since coming home, attachment to the phone has somewhat become the norm again. However, I have made a point of leaving it on airplane mode more often, especially when I want to focus on work, family, being mindful, or writing articles like this one. I've also made one simple change which has significantly reduced my consumption of social media. All I did was move my Instagram app from the front page of my mobile phone screen to the last page, which means I have to swipe across about five pages of apps before I find it. This has, surprisingly, drastically reduced the amount of time I’m spending mindlessly scrolling on Instagram each day.
I hope to continue and extend my habits to reduce or limit my screen time and may potentially even step this up to having a screen free day now and then. I've enjoyed some solo walks in nature leaving my phone at home, and I try to keep my business email communications to office hours, so that I have a boundary to the start and end of my day and don't allow work to filter into my personal time too often.
If you're keen to have even an hour of digital distancing from your phone each week, to allow space for inner connection and more mindfulness, you could consider joining my 5-week beginners mindfulness course. It will be held in Hook on Thursdays at 5.30-6.45pm from 25th September until 23rd October. If this sounds good - just
drop me an email or visit my mindfulness page
here. I can't wait to hear from you.