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Settle into a mindful state and engage with your phone in this conscious exercise with digital wellness expert Jay Vidyarthi. Use this guided meditation to deeply and mindfully investigate your phone with clarity.

Settling in

This is a mindful meditation that will involve our phone, so keep your phone nearby.

Settle into whatever posture feels restful yet alert for you. It’s okay if you’re lying down or sitting upright or on a chair, on a cushion, whatever your body needs, but see if you can bring some alertness to your posture so as to prevent getting too drowsy.

Now that you find yourself in that posture, feel into your body and see if there’s any micro adjustments that might help you feel more comfortable transitioning from what you think your body needs into a mode of listening to your body sensations, noticing anywhere where you might adjust to be a little more comfortable, a little more alert.

Before we get started, let’s take a moment to let this posture seep into our state of mind. Without effort, there’s no need to do anything. There’s nothing to fix, nothing to plan for.

Being as you are.

Noticing what is.

With full acceptance—even if your mind is thinking, just accepting—that’s what’s happening. If you want to stay here in effortless awareness, you are welcome to do that.

Simply ignore the rest of my instructions, let them wash over you, let them set an intention in the quality of my voice, and stay here, and do nothing.

Exploring your phone with a beginner’s mind

If you’re ready to experiment, open your eyes—if they were closed—and direct your gaze towards your phone, and just look at it. Notice the shape, color, texture, reflections. Bring a quality of awareness here as if you’ve never seen this object before. Beginner’s mind.

What is this thing? At your own pace, you can pick it up. Notice its weight.

The screen might activate automatically, maybe not. Just notice what happens. Inspect it.

Again, like you’ve never seen it before. Move it around in your hands. Feel the textures. Feel how smooth the screen is. Notice the buttons, the cameras, the covers.

And while you’re at it, start to pay attention to how your body is responding to this experience. Also, whether anything on your phone is drawing your attention. Maybe the screen turned on and there was a notification and you found yourself habitually reading it. Just noticing with clarity this strange device that can choreograph your attention in the moment.

If you feel like it pulls you away at any time, feel free to put it down for a second, close your eyes, take a deep breath, recommit to mindful awareness before picking it up again and resuming the practice.

It’s almost like launching a boat, sort of pushing the boat out into the water, and if it starts to sink you can bring it back and get on shore, try again.

Mindfully observing your phone

For those of you who are managing to stay aware, what I’ll ask you to do next is to, in very slow motion, turn on the screen, unlock the phone, and get to whatever the home screen might be. Whatever the launch screen, and just investigate it.

Notice what draws your eye, and in particular, pay attention to anything that is telegraphing a sense of urgency, anything that’s trying to call you to it. Notice how that feels, could be a notification, could be a certain app that you just want to check.

See if you can instead look at this screen like just an inert drawing, just colors and shapes. Sort of subtract the interactivity from your mind for a moment and just see it for what it is.

Let’s stay here for a little bit longer. Just letting our mind settle into a state of okayness, even though we are looking at a phone.

That we can be completely present and clear and free of habitual behavior.

You might even notice sensations in your hands. Often, I notice the muscles of my fingers wanting to tap and swipe. This can be quite a challenging practice for some, so please do not hesitate to put your phone down and close your eyes and settle back into mindful awareness at any point.

Mindfully interacting with your phone

If you’re feeling brave, I have one more mission for you. To maintain this mindful awareness as you interact with whatever you notice was claiming urgency.

For example, I have seven notifications that are calling to me. But what I will advise you to do is to go in super slow motion, seeing if you can notice all the animation and movement and steps of what’s waiting for you, and how that impacts your mind.

Stay with your breath if that helps. Take a deep breath while you engage. See if in the moment you can notice the emptiness of that urgency.

The power of technology when designed to call your attention. But also the power of your own awareness, to see that effect in the moment, and pull the plug on it, to just sort of smile. Okay, nice work.

Reflection

Whenever you’re ready, putting that phone down, face down if you need to, settle back into your meditative posture, whatever that might be.

Let’s take a moment to let go of that exercise and just notice. What it feels like after that experience, notice in your body any sensations that might arise.

As we conclude the practice, I’ll leave you with a question to reflect for these last 30 seconds or so, which is to notice the contrast, notice how that experience was different from the way we typically interact with our devices, see what comes up for you.

How is that different from the way you typically interact with your device?

Stay with that reflection for as long as you need.

Take some notes if you need to, otherwise gradually transitioning out of the practice. Get a sip of water, have a stretch, whatever you need.

Much gratitude for your bravery in leaning into that experiment with me.

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