PAUSE - take the mental break

Hello world! Did you miss me? I was off IG for 3 weeks and I did not die.

I take this break several times throughout the year because sometime you just need to refresh your eyes. I would not say I am addicted to IG but like many of you, social media is the first thing I check in the morning, notifications or not, just a few scrolls before I start the day and definitely the last thing I am on before bed. I would have missed calls, and messages awaiting me, but social media, especially IG was like my morning prayer. Is this addiction? Ok, maybe a little.

They do say social media tends to manipulate your psyche and drags you in; both a blessing and a curse. For me it was more like “let see what I missed!” knowing well and behold I will be missing it again next weekend.

What did I do while I was away from IG? How did it serve me?

I never used to meditate; I tried it a few times and a couple of minutes to myself, my mind will wander. I learned in the morning to quiet my mind for 5 minutes before getting off the bed. This had made my days so much more productive and peaceful because during these 5 minutes, I plan out the day in my head and more importantly, I speak positivity and affirmations over it. “Yes I will provide the right care to my patients today; Yes, I will be more patient with my entourage, I will add 3 more reps on that last deadlift set…” anything that is a dear goal would be positively wished for to lessen the daily stressors life tends to throw at us. Peace of mind, clarity and focus have definitely been priorities for these past several months and daily meditation is one way I was able to secure that – especially off IG.

I did not see being away from IG as a punishment or something I “had” to do but something I chose to do to keep my spirit as pure as possible; mentally I chose to stay away from certain communications to feed myself more sustainable things. Maybe your break is not off social media, it could be from gambling, going out every weekend, drinking, being around a toxic entourage, giving that ex so much access or any to you; whatever your timeout is for you, engaging in it can bring the new focus and dedication you have been seeking for.

When you are on IG – no matter how mentally strong and secure you think you are, the postings are no longer someone else’s; you share their feelings, their wants, you start to either live their life or worse envy them. Life on social media is not real; and living it through someone else’s eyes lessens the time you have to live yours. When was the last time you took some moments to be with yourself, to anchor your spirit and emerge stronger?