Go Friend Yourself – a meditation for social media
I’m feeling so deeply about the state of our world lately and I’m finding myself consumed by social media only adding to the already whirlwind state of my mind. I’ve avoided social media for days or even weeks (gasp) at a time, which is helpful but almost the moment I return to it I feel the pull into the vortex of judgment, comparison, envy, fear of missing out and even straight up fear. Now I recognize that the number of “likes” I get from any given post isn’t an indication of my value or self-worth and I’ve read multiple articles (on social media) about how social media can cause depression and anxiety as the addiction to instant gratification grows so that we tend to forgo a future benefit for a less rewarding but more immediate one. With great clarity I see that this is not how I want to spend a large part of my day and yet much of my time – while waiting for the train, in line at school pickup, at the doctors office is spent checking and rechecking.
I have been contemplating for some time now how to participate on Instagram etc., in a more beneficial way, in a way that taps into the positive value of sharing ideas and information without all the drama. So I came up with a social media meditation. I’ve only just started working with it but I’m already seeing a benefit.
It’s a three-parter.
Before
First, pause and bring your attention to your breath, inhale and think Ham (I am), exhale and think Sa (all things) a few times. Now consider if the action is a diversion, distraction or procrastination. If the answer is yes to any of those, take a moment to ask yourself what you might be avoiding and why.
(The more awareness we bring to habitual patterns the better chance we have of moving away from them.)
During
If you choose to engage, then another quick check in with the breath. If, like me, you run the risk of inflammatory reactions to political posts, or news articles on climate change or experiencing feelings of envy due to comparisons, then return to Ham Sa a few times to recognize that much of what we experience is an illusion, a fabrication. (We are remarkably creative beings and as such we can sometimes create stories that are less than beneficial.) Now shift from Ham Sa to an affirmation; “I am infinitely vast and effortlessly valuable by the nature of my very existence.” Breathe that in a few times and allow it to soften you. Repeat the affirmation or the Ham Sa mantra whenever you feel the pull into the vortex.
After
Check in with your feeling state. Did you get hooked? Did something you see or read or write ignite something in you that’s causing you suffering, even if just a little? Go back to Ham Sa a few times and sense into your physical body to see where it’s contracted. (For me it’s usually in my throat.) Watch the breath flow in and down into your lungs and the up and out into the place if front of you a few times with the silent mantra. Now imagine you can breath right into the physical place that’s contracted. Visualize each breath softening and loosening that place. You might see the contraction as a knot that begins to untie or a color that begins to fade and disperse. Repeat a few time until the contracted space is released.
Recipe for facial toner.
½ cup Witch Hazel – light, refreshing, astringent
10 drops Cedar Wood – regenerative, soothing, grounding
10 drops Cypress – healing, controls oil, revitalizing
15 drops Lavender – soothing, calming, reduces redness
½ tsp Vitamin E Oil – *optional, for dry or more vintage skin
Shake lightly and apply with washable/reusable cotton or hemp rounds (found easily on Etsy!)
Sarah Ireland Sequence – Grasshopper
Peak Pose: Grasshopper
Opening Meditation: Shifting energy. Hasta Mudra. Right palm forward left palm back. Shift palms w breath
Namaskar Opening: Surya A 3x plus plank pulsation
standing hip mandala, step back to vira 1, add heart and hip opener, vira 1, low lunge, walk hands to skandasana but maintain flat back add twist, walk hands to lizard lunge, 4 movements of lunge, dd split cv, left knee to outer arm 3x, dd, step left foot to vira 1 repeat to lizard then step to malasana, reach up and through legs in malasana 3x HA Kriya
Solar Wave One:
Beginning Vinyasa: Tree on right foot Vira 3
Middle (Core) Vinyasa: Crescent lunge
Utthan Prishthasana Koundinyasa
dd split
Vinyasa
walk hands back to utatnnasana
End Vinyasa:
Utanasasana roll up Galavasana prep utanasana walk hands to dd optional vinyasa
Left foot forward Anjaneyasan twist Parsvotanasana
Uttanasana
Repeat from beginning other side
Solar Wave Two:
Galavasana variations into Grasshopper arm balance
Counterpose Wave:
bridge/wheel
supta baddhakonasana >1/2 happy baby pandangustasana >1/2 yoga nidrasana
Inversion and Closing:
psoas stretch/shoulder stand/ supine twist/savasana
