By Maria Nilsson

Self Care week 4 - A little Social Media detox...

Film Photo by Anrielle

So as you may have seen we took a little hiatus from social media over the weekend. And boy oh boy, it felt good! No surprises really but it was quite interesting to observe just how often we would go to pick up the phone and have a bit of a mindless scroll. 

Sunday afternoon found a bunch of us all together in a little pub in the hills surround Byron Bay, and after a lovely down pour of much needed rain, we all ensured our phones were tucked away and it lead to some interesting conversations, and no photos to share in the stories of our Instagram. 

We posed some questions to some of those who took up the detox challenge:

In what moments do you find yourself scrolling?

  • Waiting for someone, or in a line waiting for something like your morning coffee
  • When I am on the toilet
  • Before I go to bed
  • When I sit down to rest
  • When I wake up, before I get out of bed
  • When I am by myself
  • In between activities
  • As a form of procrastination 

What did you do instead of scrolling?

  • I put cold slices of cucumbers on my eyes - IT FELT AMAZING! 
  • Listened to the birds sing and looked at the wind in the trees while I waited for my vegetables to cook
  • Listened to the lyrics in the song on the radio when I was waiting for the car in front of me at the petrol station 
  • Called my mum when I was home alone
  • Went for a walk around the head land with an old friend and her dog
  • Played the guitar for hours!
  • Went for a lovely Sunday drive and listened to really good music with some really good friends
  • Played with my friends babies
  • Meditated
  • Baked
  • Researched
  • Cleaned
  • Practiced self love 
  • Read heaps of my book and got to the juicy bit and couldn't put it down
  • Played solitaire with a deck of cards like my great grandma taught me  

What do you think are some negative impacts of social media?

  • Being disconnected from the present surroundings and interactions
  • Disconnections from yourself and your true feelings
  • The false impression of others lives, and the jealousy that comes with that
  • The desire to consume more, to have the latest and greatest - 'keeping up with the Jones'
  • The feeling of constantly having to prove yourself to others for validation 

What do you think are some positive impacts of social media? 

  • Connections with people all over the world
  • Inspiration - you can find amazing artists and initiatives that are doing good for the planet and people that align with your views and beliefs  
  • Memories- your own instagram account is like a photo album of your favourite photos over time
  • It is a great platform for small businesses to showcase their product and what they are about
  • Sharing alternate view points of issues that perhaps are covered up in mainstream media
  • Having the chance to have a voice and share with the world what you think 

We would love to hear your responses to these questions too. Please send us a message or an email contact@atmosea.com if you feel like sharing this with us! It sometimes feels good to discuss these things, and it helps to acknowledge that perhaps you want to make a little change in an element of your lifestyle. 

We loved the Social Media detox, and it is something we are going to try and continue to incorporate into our lives. We can see the benefits of being connected and engaged but want to try and make sure it does't become an addiction that is hard to break. We endeavour to continuously share with our supporters and community all of the wonderful and fun things we do here at Atmosea, but also we endeavour to be present when we are with our people, and to give time to ourselves away from social media to remember just how lovely life is without it.