Finding Relief from Information Overload

Meditation and Yoga Teacher, Megan Poakeart, tells us how

This week, I needed to put on my own oxygen mask first due to personal and family needs. So, I asked an amazing meditation and yoga teacher and good friend, Megan Poakeart, for permission to share this article with you. She offers recommended cures for overwhelm when information seems to take over your life. Links to two of her guided meditations are included as well.

I love Megan’s images. Each one is unique and colorful. What a great stack of books! Read below for Megan’s weekly message.

A great conversation with a friend inspired this writing and meditation that I want to share with you. We were talking about navigating this amazing yet overwhelming age of information. Clearly, there are pros and cons when it comes to the rapid-fire technology and abundant information coming our way. Since very few things are ever inherently "good" or "bad," I thought I'd present this topic from the perspective of feeling "in alignment" or "out of alignment" with something because exploring things this way helps me figure out if something is a good fit for me or not.

Being IN ALIGNMENT with information/technology/social media can look/feel like this:

• Learning new things

• Inspired by Art

• Amused by hilarious people

• Delighted by animal vids

• Learning and retaining information

• A-ha moments

• Connection/keeping in touch

• Information sharing

Being OUT OF ALIGNMENT with this stuff can look/feel like this:

• Overwhelmed/frazzled/restless

• Information overload/inability to retain info

• Shorter and shorter attention span

• "why did I just watch that?"/Wasting time

• Feeling like I should be doing MORE/ BE more

• Judging others/comparing

• Filled with fear-based catastrophic thinking

• Too many theories and opinions to know how to actually apply anything

Again, without assigning the value of "good" or "bad" and DEFINTELY without feeling any shame about being a victim of genius marketing, it's just good to take an honest look at these things for the sake of our sanity and peace.

Yogis and Buddhists believe that if you don't master your mind, your mind will become your Master. Same with technology and information. It is here to serve us, not the other way around. As a meditation teacher, I am always interested in trying the best I can to aim my consciousness in a constructive direction so that I can teach others how to do the same.

Here's a list of things that I find incredibly refreshing, detoxifying and good for my brain and emotional well-being. These things provide me with a much greater sense of long term satisfaction rather than the short-term almost drug-like effects of rapid fire scrolling and information gathering.

Cures for Information Overload:

• Crafts

• Puzzles

• Reading books

• Time in Nature

• Sunlight on face and arms to absorb vitamin D

• Time to think (many creative geniuses carve out time to sit & think)

• Playing an instrument

• Listening to music

• Walk with a friend

• Cook a nice meal

• Write or journal

• Meditate

Here's a 5-minute meditation to clear the mind if you ever want to use that for a tech break.

Also, sometimes we over-do technology/social media to avoid something painful, so here is a

15-minute meditation to process emotion.

These are just a couple of simple tools to experiment with. Stay curious as to what is REALLY fulfilling and nurturing for you because you deserve to feel good.

For more from Megan, sign up for The Weekly Inhale.

Thanks, Megan, for sharing your wisdom with subscribers to The Light In Us.

May you be peaceful

May you be happy

May you be healthy

May you be free.