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Mindfulness& media

By Ethan Beech

2Is it possible to live mindfully in an age of technology?

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“Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings,

bodily sensations, and surrounding environment” (7)

What is Mindfulness?

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“It’s about living your life as if it really mattered, moment by moment by moment”

John Kabat Zinn

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If “Monotasking is a 21st century term for…paying attention”

MonoTaskingOr Mindfulness

It is a practice of Mindfulness

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6Mindfulness has many benefits

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“studies have found that mindfulness increases positive emotions while reducing negative emotions and stress”

“Mindfulness enhances relationships…research suggest...[it] make couples more satisfied with their realtionships”

“Mindfulness helps us tune out distractions and improves our memory and attention skills”

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How does technology affect our ability to be mindful?

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Canadians who own a smartphone “that is,

half the country- claimed to spend 86 percent of their time staring at one

screen or another” (1)

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“Our gadgets and all the things we look at on them are designed to not let us single task”(9)

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“Humans have finite neural resources that are depleted every time we switch between tasks”

This happens 400x a day

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It takes 25minutes to refocus after switching tasks (1)

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“When we’re trying to focus on a task, it probably doesn’t help to have our wrists lighting up with new messages and reminders every 15 minutes”

And New technologies may make itEven harder to focus

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“What the net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and

contemplation” (5)

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Relationships & Technology

“Facebook could cause problems in relationships, by increasing feeling of jealousy. Another group of researchers has suggested that envy, too, increases with Facebook use.” (4)

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“The research seems to point that the more time we spend by ourselves on the internet

the more unhappy we feel” (2)

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However, some technologies can help us stay mindful

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Features a “free 10 day program with 10 minute guided

meditations”

Offers free meditation programs tailored to specific

age groups

A paid app that provides users users

with 80 guided meditations

There are 500+ meditation appsHere are a few

Smiling Mind Headspace Buddhify

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And New technologiescan help us maintain a state of mindfulness

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“Neuroscientist Ruggero Scorcioni created a headset that tracks brainwaves and blocks incoming phone calls when the

wearer is in a state of concentration” (1)

20Or should mindfulness be modernizedfor the digital age?

“We’ve studies multi-tasking and found that if you’re open and keep the boundaries loose, it can be an advantage”

“What you want is soft openness- to be attentive to the things you’re doing but not single minded, because then you’re missing other opportunities”

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- Harvard Professor Ellen Jane Langer

- Harvard Professor Ellen Jane Langer

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While not without challenge, through the use of assistive technology and flexible thinking it is possible to maintain mindfulness in the digital age

22Works Cited

Anderssen,Erin."DigitalOverload:HowWeAreSeducedbyDistraction." TheGlobeandMail.N.p.,29Mar.2014.Web.31May2016.

Chayka, Kyla. "The New, Improved Online Friendship." New York Magazine. N.p., 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 31 May 2016.

Konnikova, Maria. "How Facebook Makes Us Unhappy." The New Yorker. N.p., 10 Sept. 2013. Web. 03 June 2016.

Matrix, Sidneyeve. "Module 01 Digital Literacy." FILM 260 S Digital Culture Trends. Queen's University, 3 May 2016. Web. 1 June 2016

Cole, Samantha. "How The Apple Watch Will Change Office Life." Fast Company. N.p., 12 Mar. 2015. Web. 02 June 2016.

"Mindfulness & Meditation App for IOS & Android · Buddhify." Buddhify. Mindfulness Everywhere, n.d. Web. 02 June 2016.

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23Works Cited

Stern, Caryl. "In Praise of Clicktivism." The Huffington Post. N.p., 31 Mar. 2015. Web. 31 May 2016.

Pfetten, Verena. "Read This Story Without Distraction (Can You?)." The New York Times. The New York Times, 30 Apr. 2016. Web. 31 May 2016.

Wei, Marlynn. "What Mindfulness App Is Right for You?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Aug. 2015. Web. 02 June 2016.

"Mindfulness in the Age of Complexity." Harvard Business Review. N.p., 01 Mar. 2014. Web. 01 June 2016.

"Mindfulness." Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life. UC Berkeley, n.d. Web. 01 June 2016.(7)

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24Images

http://www.splitshire.com/paper-notebook-and-digital-notebook/

https://pixabay.com/en/balance-stones-meditation-zen-1372677/

https://pixabay.com/en/office-startup-business-home-office-594132/

https://pixabay.com/en/macbook-iphone-ipad-mobile-desk-667280/

http://www.splitshire.com/hand-holding-little-daisy-spring/

http://www.splitshire.com/close-view-app-store-icon/

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All graphics are from the PowerPoint template. The photos are from royalty free websites and are listed in the order they appear in the presentation

25Images

http://www.imagesource.com/Doc/IS0/Media/TR5/b/1/7/e/IS09AR7JD.jpg

http://www.splitshire.com/girl-near-window-thinking/

http://www.splitshire.com/macbook-air/

http://www.splitshire.com/macbook-ipad-iphone-vintage-camera/

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