Take a social media break to hear your own voice

The silence of a ten day Vipassana practice over the Easter break really highlighted how noisy my world was when I returned home. I couldn't hear my own voice amongst the voices of podcasts, Instagram stories and reels. Information can be addictive but how do we balance gathering knowledge and listening to our inner voice to discern for ourselves?

I am not anti social media and technology. I believe it has its uses but the conspiracy theorist in me feels like social media is being used to distract us and numb us. We post something or share a trending story believing we've done our part to make a difference in the world or to go along with the crowd. By feeding into social media have we made any difference in reality? Have we made an actual change on the ground of an issue? How else can we make real change in the world?

So over a month ago I decided to introduce some silence into my everyday life. I deactivated my Instagram pages, deleted the apps, stopped listening to podcasts and stopped scrolling on YouTube, google feed etc. I turned off the radio and became very selective about what news articles and books/content that I read.

In combination with a meditation practice and a yoga/Pilates teaching break I had time for a lot of inward reflection and began to hear my inner voice again.

Almost immediately my anxiety reduced and my creativity peaked. I began painting, writing and experimenting with music again. I became more grateful and appreciative of the beauty in simplicity, my relationships improved and I began to see clearer the things in life that weren't serving me. At the moment, for me, charity begins at home and in my immediate community where I can make help make real loving change.

I stumble a lot and don't proceed on the path as gracefully I'd like. I still get distracted by my addictions but I notice quicker now. I'm compassionate with my humanness. At the very least when I listen to the inner voice I am being authentically me. That is liberating. We don't have to be perfect, we don't have all the answers but by filtering out the noise of the outer world we can hear what is right for our true inner self. Then we can move into a loving action that makes real beneficial change.