MIND. Can You Hear Me Now?
Who doesn’t remember those Verizon commercials from the early 2000’s when cell phone use and service was picking up speed like a freight train heading to infinity?
“Can you hear me now? Good.”
The problem has now become twenty years later: we can hear you really well. Too well. All the time. Maybe … not so good?
Cell phones are an amazing tool that have changed our entire world within my 32-year old life span. Which is really quite remarkable their impact has been so profound and swift. These micro-computers in our pockets are a tool for connection, knowledge and intelligence. We can call anyone, search for anything, go anywhere, with just the swipe up of our fingers. I can order an outlandish meal that will be here within the hour, or buy any random gadget from Amazon to arrive within a couple days.
We are so plugged in, do we even remember what it feels like to be unplugged? And while the novelty to our ancestral brains is satisfying and rewarding, for a time, it does come with a cost. Studies are mutliplying by the day of how increased phone usage can have negative impacts for our mental and physical health. And while spiritual health is more difficult to quantify, I would add it to that list, too.
“The current study examined whether different levels of smartphone use were associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep quality in Australian adults. The results supported our hypothesis that higher smartphone use was adversely associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep quality in a dose-dependent manner, such that greater smartphone use resulted in more severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, and poor sleeping quality.”
This 2023 study is like countless of others, but thing that really sticks out to me is the dose-dependent effect.
This isn’t the first time I have proposed this challenge, and it won’t be the last:
Go for a walk outside and leave your phone at home.
Or really, do anything, for any amount of time, and purposely do not take your phone with you. On most of my runs, walks, bike rides, my phone is not invited. While of course there are potential cons like emergency need, missed beautiful photo, map needs, etc., but I find that time away from it so valuable, freeing and centering. No music, podcast or Strava telling me pace/mileage. I get the opportunity to hear my own inner chatter (which I often wonder is what we are running away from and not trying to hear with our cell phones), that then lessens to just hearing the chatter of what may be around me: wind, birds, water, rainfall. I guess one could say this time evolves into a moving meditation.
“After the 6-week intervention, participants who were in the moving meditation exercise group had lower depression and had good Sleep Quality intensity scores than those in the control group. The average depression, subjective sleep quality, sleep disorder, and overall sleep quality significantly decreased over time in the moving meditation exercise group.”
So seemingly simple, but a long-forgotten notion over these last twenty years: just don’t take your phone/smart device/Apple glasses. Even if it’s just to go sit outside for a few minutes. Studies show, your mind will thank you.
COMMUNITY RESOURCE:
Unplugged Bike Trips: Started by a couple of Montana-born and bred friends of mine, I went on one of their Wellness Camps this Summer on the Continental Divide Trail out of Helena. Disconnection from devices and connection to others, nature and self encouraged on all of their trips, which happen throughout the year in UT, MT, VT. Check out their Bike Club (SLC), trips and teachings here.
Citations:
Khan, Asaduzzaman et al. “Excessive Smartphone Use is Associated with Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Sleep Quality of Australian Adults.” Journal of medical systems vol. 47,1 109. 20 Oct. 2023, doi:10.1007/s10916-023-02005-3
Kerkez M, Erci B. The Effect of Moving Meditation Exercise on Depression and Sleep Quality of the Elderly: A Randomized Controlled Study. Holist Nurs Pract. 2024;38(1):41-49. doi:10.1097/HNP.0000000000000627
