Dear Friends,
I bet a large majority of the people reading this email are reading it on a mobile phone or tablet… Right? And if not, then on a computer, of course…
So a suggestion for today – bring embodied awareness to your interaction with your tech.
The Cards for Mindfulness deck includes this suggestion:
It is often said that our increasingly digital lives disconnect us from our bodies. But this is only true if we let it. A simple way to stay connected while we’re online is to notice how our hands and fingers engage with our devices. Observe what the sensations of typing feels like. Feel the weight of the phone or tablet. Know the different textures we can experience, from the smoothness of the screen to the hardness of the buttons. Connect with yourself through the technology.
Jon Mitchell is a tech writer who recently published a book called In Real Life: Searching for Connection in High-Tech Times. He argues that technology is neither good nor bad, but what is important is that we bring some intentionality to the ways we use technology. His “manifesto” is “Let’s keep our technology in tune with the human heart so that it amplifies the best things in our nature.”
You can read more about Jon Mitchell’s book, and about Thich Nhat Hahn’s talk to Google in this article:
http://www.parallax.org/blog/in-real-life-thich-nhat-hanh-google-technology/
I look forward to putting away the tech and having some in-person interaction with the sangha tonight. I hope to see many of you there.
With best wishes,
Andrea G