Meditation: The Antidote to Anxiety Inducing Media

In today’s fast-paced times, it’s considered taboo to be out of the loop. And so, whether it’s through social media or a steady diet of the news, we spend a large part of each day being plugged in to our devices, afraid of missing the next Big Thing.

But this informational overload comes with a heavy price.

There is a growing amount of empirical evidence that indicates habitual use of social media can be incredibly damaging. It induces anxiety and stirs up troubling emotions such as loneliness and depression. Once common among plugged-in teens, these social media-induced problems are becoming more prevalent among adults as well.

Additionally, the news is very influential at inducing anxiety. The world is statistically better than ever before, yet we are inundated with an overwhelming amount of negative news. In light of this it is no wonder that Americans and Westerners are becoming increasingly fearful of the world and its future.

However, there is hope. Remembering that what we read and hear in the media are biased perspectives, there are ways to cope with this avalanche of information we take in each day. Meditation can help give you greater control over your mind and emotions, reducing your anxiety and leading to a greater sense of well-being in the process. Here’s how you can get started:

Disconnect to Reconnect

There are many reasons to take a break from your devices, beginning with the realization that we’re being manipulated by social media and the news. Social media has given users the ability to portray whatever lifestyle they want—happy, successful and always having a great time. This often leaves us feeling inadequate, jealous or depressed, while keeping us from being comfortable with who we really are.

But to learn how to accept who we really are, we must take a step back and disconnect.

Facebook’s creators were aware of the potential psychological damage the social media site could cause, explicitly designing it to exploit human vulnerability. “[We] did it anyway,” states Sean Parker, who played a pivotal role in turning Facebook into the success story it is, during an interview with Axios. In the same interview, he openly stated that the social media platform “literally changes your relationship with society, with each other.”

Moreover, throughout our social media feeds we are reminded of the news and current affairs, feeding into our already anxious state with negative stories. The primary purpose of news is to inform us with the facts and details. But the news is often biased, portraying the world in a negative light. Quite simply, the news cannot survive without an audience and bad news sells best. With this in mind, it is important to remember the media is trying to sell you self-serving points of view, which is why disconnecting is so important.

Shutting ourselves off from the world and media is not a practical or useful option for us. But we do have the power to distance ourselves from this noise and retain our sense of happiness. The first step is to be aware that we are being manipulated by media perspectives and influences. Upon realizing this, you can recognize the anxiety and stress it causes and pragmatically reduce your exposure to it.

By unplugging, we create a mental space to pause and realize it’s OK to not constantly be “doing something”—an idea that is so deeply entrenched in our daily lives. In this moment, it is important to challenge yourself to experience your world without constant media stimulation.

Focus on Reflection

Once unplugged, you can now reflect on something much simpler: yourself. During this time, appreciate the very simplicity of being with yourself, on your own.

In doing so, you can tap into your senses and experience your surroundings with heightened awareness. Notice the colors of the sky, the gentle breeze of air, all of the small details that normally pass by when caught up in our daily activities.

The excessive stimulation that overloads our senses can leave us blind to the spaciousness of our minds and make us take these smaller things for granted. Take sanctuary in these moments of silence when our senses are not overloaded and embrace the freedom from distractions.

This process can not only have a profound impact on your mentality, but it can also have a very unique effect on your brain. For example, during this meditative state, the connection between your sensory centers and your prefrontal cortex become stronger, allowing you to think more rationally, logically and with a greater sense of clarity.

Your brain then forms a stronger bond between your bodily sensations and the part of the prefrontal cortex that processes information about people who you perceive as different from you. As a result, we are able to tap into a stronger sense of empathy, boosting our ability to better evaluate situations and understand others’ perspectives.

During this heightened sense of awareness, take the time to reflect on what is meaningful to you. What brings you contentment and joy in this life? Not just the temporary seemingly-happiness of being occupied, but true well-being? What is most important to you?

Maintain a Meditative Mentality

Now that you have an understanding of the mentality and focus that comes through meditation, you can carry this with you through your daily routine. While stuck in a hideously long traffic jam, when hearing terrible news or even when we receive a nasty comment on Facebook, we can use the skills meditation teaches us to calm our minds during these daily irritations.

Intermittently taking moments to reflect and accessing your own innate sense of happiness and well-being, helps you to tap into the focus that meditation brings. Soon, the conventional desire to fill your days with business and constant media stimulation will begin to subside, allowing for a better sense of awareness and emotional control during life’s daily challenges.

Meditation does not imply a complete disconnect from news and social media, but it does encourage a sense of awareness towards its undesirable influences. In time, media and other outside stimuli will have less influence and their negative impact on your life will be reduced. You will soon be able to take advantage of a heightened sense of focus, improved concentration, memory and even an amplified sense of creativity.

Gradually, you will develop an inner navigator that helps discriminate between what’s beneficial in life and what’s not. You look for what enhances your being, what makes you stable and strong, independent and healthy. Meditation holistically improves you, making you a better person, better listener and more able to help others—it becomes your way of life.

Through this new way of life, daily challenges— whether big or small, will ultimately become more manageable. You will become more conscious of the news and social media in your life and the emotions they entail. But more importantly, you will have the ability to distance yourself from them, turning the focus inwards and disconnecting from these external sources of anxiety and fear. And you’ll be able to do so remembering that they no longer have the same power over you as they once did.

About the author:
Trinlay Rinpoche is a highly accomplished meditator and scholar who has trained with some of the world’s greatest meditation masters since childhood. Educated at the Sorbonne and other prestigious institutions, he is an influential voice in dialogues with neuroscientists on how the mind works. Trinlay Rinpoche teaches meditation worldwide and is a key contributor to Mindworks.