Information snacking: The toll of partial attention and a more soul-nourishing alternative
- Nov, 01 2021
- By Andrea M. Winn
- Well-being
- No comments
Is information snacking degrading your ability to receive nourishment from what you are reading?
I like Vinod Kumaar’s visceral description:
VINOD KUMAAR R (2015). “Information Snacking”. https://vinod.blog/2015/05/12/information-snacking/
We are right now in the era of information snacking where we are increasing our knowledge to a great deal, learned to drink it out of a firehose but not able to apply it effectively when needed. More and more people are addicted to ‘pull to refresh’ and snack on one liners, emails are annotated with TL;DRs and prefer to read a lot of tweets than read a book.
There is so much information snacking in today’s world, many have forgotten how to read deeply – with heart engaged. When you do this, you lose out on receiving the soul nourishment available through being present with the richness of what you are reading.
As we starve our soul through this practice, we erode our sense of well-being. Symptoms can include: feeling scattered, discontent, ungrounded and even anxiety as a result of too much information snacking.
One good practice is to set aside regular deep learning time, where you shut off all outer distractions and spend time with a good book and read it with presence and delight in the experience. The key is to experience what is being shared in the writing.
Let’s try an experiment…
Right now I am writing this listening to peaceful contemplative flute music by Nawang Khechog and wishing for you a more embodied moment. A moment when you feel deep stability from the earth beneath your feet. A moment when you can take a deep breath and remember your heart. Feel your shoulders uplifting, your head uplifting, and experiencing the brightness of who you are. Feel the peaceful calm of knowing your heart is held within grace at all times, you need only remember it.
Did you catch that vibe? If not, you may have too many distractions around you, and a first step may be to create quiet space for yourself. The practice of creating deeply quiet space can be one of the greatest gifts you ever give yourself!
Take a moment now and notice how you feel after reading this brief article
It can take just five minutes to feel more calm when you learn to steady your mind and bring your attention fully to a single activity. From this more peaceful and nourished place, you are now empowered to bring positive energy to people around you.
Light up the network of people around you today, and know you are helping to lighting up the entire world. Have a blessed day! ?
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If you are interested in developing a stronger mind with more ability to be calm and steady, I’m offering two free weeks of Heal Your Heart Through Meditation. This easy meditation course offers short playful daily activities to develop a strong mindfulness meditation practice. Learn more at: www.healyourheartthroughmeditation.ca
On a related note, as part of my PhD work with the Eskes Lab at Dalhousie University, my research team is studying attention! We are running a study in November and December open to Canadians 55 and older. If you are interested, please see the information below and you can email EskesPsychLab@gmail.com
