Off The Socials

I consider myself one of the lucky ones.

One of the last generations of children to grow up without a phone in my hand.

I think I was in 7th grade when I got my first flip phone.

At that time there were only 2 forms of entertainment I could find on my flip phone: snake & Tetris.

Yeah… Remember those days? 

Tetris was my favorite. I loved puzzles. I loved figuring out ways to perfectly connect pieces together. Ive always been really good at puzzles. Which turned into being really good at helping people heal & solving the puzzle that is their physical pain & health.

At that time there was no Facebook, there was no instagram, there was no WhatsApp. The only way to connect was via a phone call or via email. Ohhh the days when people still had an alphabetized phonebook, or a piece of paper taped to the inside of the cabinet housing all the numbers they may ever need.

That was the time of dial-up… remember that horrendous noise to get onto the inter webs? You couldn’t check your e-mail without it ringing in your ears.

I feel grateful to remember what it’s like to have lived a simpler life. 

I feel grateful to have spent my childhood years frolicking outside & playing in the dirt, not scrolling through 100’s of posts on my newsfeed 5+ times a day.

I didn’t care what anyone else was doing, I really just wanted to enjoy my life.

Once upon a time, we were all disconnected from technology unless we made the intentional choice to sit down at our 20+ pound desktop computer and wait to be connected.

Now, the world is at the palm of our hand. Instead of our attention being directed here and now, our attention is down at the screens in our hands. It’s on who we should be and how much harder we should be working. Social media seems to highlight all the ways in which we just aren’t good enough.

Let me assure you… you are MORE THAN good enough

We are the human experiment. No other specie has ever been so disconnected from their awareness.

Animals thrive through their awareness. Without it they would not successfully hunt or support the cycle of the food chain. They must communicate with one another and with their environment in order to survive.

…What happens when we stop communicating with our environment? What happens when we change how we are communicating with those around us?

Whens the last time you took your shoes off and just sat in the grass? 

Whens the last time you chatted with your neighbor?

Do you even know the names of the people in your neighborhood?

Do you know your mail man's name?

Our world is changing right in front of our eyes… and its only been in the past 10-15 years that this has ALL happened. 

Although social media comes with its downfalls, it also has brought the world some very beautiful experiences. 

Technology has certainly brought us expansion! Because of technology we have the ability to connect with friends & loved ones across the world. Technology has brought us accessible knowledge and education, it has opened up numerous job opportunities, created an abundance of wealth for many, and has allowed us to expand our community further than our home towns. 

Even I have made best friends online. I wouldn’t know them if it weren't for technology!

But like anything else in life, it’s all a balance. And todays social apps make that balance difficult to master. Why? Because they were built to keep you on them!

So how can we achieve that balance? Well, boundaries for certain. A whole lot of awareness, and lots of self control.

Getting clear on what kind of relationship you have with your phone. How much does your phone support you in a healthy way, and how much does it prevent you from enjoying everything about the present moment?

Have you ever lost your phone? 

If you have, you might be familiar with that “freak out moment”

I lost my phone recently, on the first day of a week long retreat. I went into full panic mode. It was eye opening. It really showed me a lot about the relationship with my technology..

I panicked because I couldn’t be connected. I panicked because I lost all these snapshots of time. I panicked because I didn’t trust I could make it home without the GPS on my phone.

I was panicking because I felt as though I needed it to thrive… Sounds like a twisted addiction to me… 

But guess what… I survived. I realized I had people all around me to connect with that felt better than connections over social media. I realized how many times a day I had the urge to document my life on a social platform. I realized that those photos I lost were nothing in comparison to the memories in my head. And I discovered the power in traveling with an old school map. 

During the 6 hours driving from Sedona to LA, I had no playlists to get lost in, no service to call anyone, and no GPS to watch… My eyes were on the GORGEOUS thunderstorm in the middle of the desert and my ears were open to all my own thoughts.

I do not deny that technology & social media has brought so many benefits, however is simultaneously taking away our ability to stay present. It is taking away the ability to sit with and hear ourselves and communicate with those around us. If it is taking these things away, and we too are living beings within the cycle of life, then how is this effecting our human development? How is this effecting the overall cycle of life?

We have turned into humans that thrive off of instant gratification and off of the ability to have EVERYTHING we could ever want at our fingertips. We have changed the way we communicate with our world.

How will this impact us in the long run?

The truth is… we don’t even know… we are the experiment.

We are are educated on the negative effects of things like tobacco, opioids, bullying, and violence… but what about social media?

No one is promoting the toxic effects of these platforms that the majority of the world spends hours a day indulging in. Have you ever checked that stats on your phone? How much time do you spend staring at your screen? How many times do you click the Instagram or Facebook app daily?

What is Instagram & Facebook doing to our minds? To our physical bodies? To our overall health & longevity?

To think more deeply about this, how do you feel when your access to these apps are limited?

We are addicted to it all. We can’t live without technology anymore. Its a part of our lifestyle. It makes the world evolve at this point.

And while we are are more easily connecting with others, we are simultaneously losing connection to the present moment, to our awareness, to our own thoughts & to our truest self.

Technology is also massively impacting our mindset & the things we believe about ourselves.

We are starting to believe these negative voices & limiting beliefs that arise in our brain because of the things being presented in front of us. We are constantly reminded of how someone is experiencing more success, how we should look, how we should talk, and how we should act. It leads us to naturally compare and leads our minds down rabbit holes or negativity.

I want you to think about the things you say to yourself in your head, behind closed doors, or even out loud. How do you talk about yourself? How do you think about yourself when you look in the mirror ?

Would you say these things to your best friend?

Social media plays a huge role in this voice in our head. It plays a huge role in the way we talk to ourselves & in the way we see ourselves in the mirror.

Social media prevents us from thinking clearly, from feeling like our truest self, and from acting in a way aligned with our highest integrity. It drives us to compare ourselves, to judge our actions, and to conform with the things around us. It leads us to believe we aren’t actually good enough. It pushes us to need to get to the next level because everyone else is doing it and leads us to forget about enjoying the present moment. 

Since I jumped on socials to “promote my business for free” as many business mentors say, I have developed this fear that if I am not on social media, I will not be financially successful and I will not survive. 

None of that is actually true. Thats just the voice in my head.

Recently I have felt very called away from social media. I don’t want to offer support & education in a way that feeds into the toxic cycle. 

Now, I do believe there are both Pro’s & Con’s to social, but like anything else in life balance is extremely important. Grabbing for your phone and opening up an app 15+ times a day is not finding balance. 

I desire true connection with the people in my world. I desire connection in only positive & beneficial ways. I desire to inspire others, to lift them up, and to help them see their true potential. I desire to help people heal and feel empowered over their minds & bodies. 

My mission in life is to help others better love & connect with themselves & with the world around them. 

I want you to EXPAND just by being in my presence.

So in doing so, I am switching to old school ways of connecting for a little while. Writing, blogs, newsletters, good ole e-mail, phone calls and text messages!

So sign up below so you can comment on my blogs, and e-mail me back your thoughts! 

Ive got lots to share, and excited to do so on a platform that doesn’t restrict my voice. 

Let’s EXPAND together.

Sending you love,

Xoxo Leah

Comment below and tell me how social media has influenced your life? What are the pro's and con's of it?