The exercise: For one week do not take in any media. This includes news media, social media, and entertainment. Do not listen to the radio, iPod, or CDs, don’t watch TV, films, or videos, don’t read books or magazines, and don’t check your Facebook or Twitter feed.
When Zanna and I first looked through this book and decided to do the exercises, this was the week I dreaded the most. I will tell you now that I tried my best to convince her to skip this week or to bend the rules. I whined that I was at an ashram all last week for goodness sake and had not really had any access to the internet while I was there. Surely that counted for something? Being the rule stickler that she is, she insisted that we do it although I know deep down she didn’t want to do it either. So we suffered together through the week of media fasting.
Since I work on a computer all day and live with a family who doesn’t want to media fast, I knew I would have to make some concessions. I decided to list out what I thought I could commit to and what the exceptions were. For example, I would not listen to music in the car, but would play it in my yoga classes; I could use the computer for work, to pay my bills, and to check my email, but no Facebook, no internet shopping, and no surfing of any kind.
For the most part, I did pretty well. I found that I really missed Facebook the most. Toward the end of this week, I confess that I did go to Facebook a few times to sneak a peek at the newsfeed. I made myself do it mindfully and quickly, and felt a guilty afterward. I missed hearing what was going on with my friends. It is fascinating to me how social media has become so ingrained in my life and the life of others.
The second hardest thing was working out at the gym without my own entertainment to distract me. The TV is always on in the gym, but personally I consider watching ESPN to be torture rather than entertainment. It has been especially tortuous the last few days since I was forced to watch a golf tournament. Please, can you play a commercial? Anything but golf!
I also conceded that the TV would be on in my house and I didn’t want to isolate myself from my family to follow the media fast. I don’t watch much TV, so this was pretty much business as usual. Like usual, sometimes I got stuck watching American Pickers (Adam) and other times I luck out and get to watch Game of Thrones (Tim).
During this media fast, I have also started my twice a year 21 Day Detox. During this time I follow a non-processed diet, consisting mostly of fruits, veggies, nuts, and grains. No caffeine, no sugar, no gluten, no alcohol. There is a great similarity between this detox and my media fast. Both fasts are a reminder that the food and media we consume have an impact on the health of our bodies and minds. Both fasts have the end desire to nourish our bodies and minds with things that truly feed us; not numb us or block us from a full enjoyment of life.
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