Sentient Scrolling: Uncoiling Internet & Phone Addiction

A three month intensive

Sentient Scrolling: Uncoiling Internet & Phone Addiction

A Three Month Intensive to support reducing and/or eliminating social media and phone addiction

January 16th-April 13th

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

It feels appropriate that I am announcing this intensive two days after Meta said they will be prioritizing AI generated profiles in order to generate engagement on their social media websites, which include Instagram, Threads and Facebook. If this happens, I’ll be leaving those platforms.

I’ve written a lot in this newsletter about my relationship with social media. A little over a year ago I quit social media altogether— I wrote about that here:

But, as it always does, social media sucked me back in, which I wrote about here:

Although I returned to social media, the long hiatus (one of many I’ve taken over the past seven years) changed my relationship to social media and my phone in many positive ways.

There’s a lot of solid research about how our phones and social media can negatively affect our lives. Cell phone addiction is a real thing, with medical professionals dubbing it PSU (problematic smartphone use). Our constant cell phone use negatively affects sleep patterns and quality, leading to a multitude of negative physical and mental health outcomes. Social media has been shown to increase depression in children, teenagers, and adults.

From my anecdotal experience, I’ve learned that it’s not only the content on social media that can affect my state of mind, but the act of engaging throughout the day— picking up my phone as I would a cigarette, to stave off boredom or anxiety. I was using my phone to avoid being present in my own life; avoiding uncomfortable emotions, which itself led to heightened anxiety, which led to me picking up my phone more often. You see the pattern. Maybe you know the pattern very well.

At this point, my phone remains untouched for hours at a time. I have zero notifications excepting phone calls, and have learned how to use my phone’s settings to my advantage. I don’t look at my phone until midday, and I put it away several hours before going to bed. Things aren’t perfect, though. When life gets difficult I can find myself downloading more social media apps. Each app can be an abyss, like sinking into a trance. Soon enough, I realize I’m addicted. Then I start over again.

I know I’m not the only one who struggles with problematic smartphone use.

That’s why I created this intensive, which is actually as intense (or gentle) as you’d like it to be. At first I thought of designing a course for total social media detox, but I know that many folks (including myself at the moment) are obligated to engage with social media for various reasons.

Ultimately I landed on this: a space for folks who want to understand their relationships to their phones and social media (or the news cycle, or both), who would like to increase self-attunement while decreasing scrolling time and dissociation, as well as folks who want to take a total hiatus from social media altogether.

Sentient Scrolling provides tools for folks in all categories— those who would like to explore life without social media as well as those who’d like to mediate and/or decrease their phone and social media usage.

Another important (and often overlooked) element of scrolling addiction is how it negatively impacts our environment. According to several studies:

“the global average consumption of web surfing, social media, video and music streaming, and video conferencing could account for approximately 40% of the per capita carbon budget consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 °C, as well as around 55% of the per capita carrying capacity for mineral and metal resources use, 20% for freshwater eutrophication, and over 10% for particulate matter, ecotoxicity, and fossil resources use.”

The Format:

• Begin with an honest self-assessment, taking stock of your screen time and how often you pick up your phone throughout the day.

• Follow by defining your own reasons for reducing phone and social media usage (or quitting social media altogether).

• Set gentle, realistic goals, which you’ll share with a supportive community.

• You’ll focus on these goals for the duration of the intensive, adjusting and shifting as needed.

The Resources:

• I’ll provide readings and personal insights each week. I’m on this journey with you!

• Tangible tools for checking in, including chats, meetings, and discussions.

• Support for the difficulties you may encounter as you bring awareness and shift cell phone and screen use.

• Weekly videos, audio, and written prompts to increase self-attunement, presence, and toleration for discomfort, using mindfulness techniques, journaling, accessible movement (think light stretching and guided rest).

• All content is cultivated for both neurodivergent and neurotypical brains, LGBTQIA+ affirming, accessible for all bodies and abilities, and doable on your own timeline.

• Choose the kind of accountability you’d like: rigid or flexible, depending on what works best for you.

• A safe, supportive environment for sharing without shame.

The Timeline:

• Thursday January 16th through Sunday April 13th

• Bi-weekly live meetings every other Sunday from 4-5pm EST (recorded), beginning Sunday, January 19th.

• Silent writing group from 10:30-11:30 EST, every Tuesday (these coincide with The Interior Gaze— you can do both!)

• Opportunities for more live meetings, depending on demand.

My Qualifications:

• I have practiced yoga and meditation for over thirty years and have worked as a yoga studio manager and yoga/meditation facilitator.

• My emphasis is on trauma-informed and self-affirming practices. Rather than promoting a one size fits all framework, I engage deeply and adjust according to the needs of any given group of people. I always include alternate modes of engagement for folks who need or want to adjust their apprach, and embrace students altering instructions based on what feels right for them.

• I am have 500 hours of training in yoga, as well as an additional 50 hours of training in Yoga Nidra (a deep rest practice), and 50 hours of training in the somatic practice called Body Mind Centering®. My teaching emphasizes slowness, pause, and presence, rather than movement as a physically vigorous activity.

• As a teacher I work with diverse populations— a wide range of ages, ethnicities, races, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, body sizes, education backgrounds, and economic levels. I only teach materials that I’m thoroughly comfortable with, and emphasize open communication.

• I have been leading online workshops and spaces for the past six years.

Sentient Scrolling is available for all paying members of Navel Gazing, with some additional resources for founding subscribers.

Free subscribers will receive occasional, bi-weekly posts from this intensive.

Yearly memberships are currently 30% off, which equals $3.83 a month for 12 months!

Monthly memberships are $5.95 a month.

I’d LOVE to hear what you think about this offering— if you’re going to participate and what you’re looking forward to. Tell me in the comments!