Evolve > Mindfulness >What is Mindful Instagram & How to Practice It?
In today’s digital and fast paced world, there are very slim chances that you aren’t exposed to social media apps at least once an hour. In fact, on average you spend 144 minutes on social media everyday! Instagram takes 53 minutes of those 144 minutes in a day! With a large part of your day spent on social media, how can you make the most of your screen time and be productive with it? Try practicing mindful Instagram!
We know you love Instagram, so why not add some mindfulness while you scroll?
Mindfulness involves staying in the present and experiencing the moment, no matter what you’re doing! It has many benefits, including reduced stress and anxiety, it’s easy to practice and mindful Instagram can be one of the numerous ways of doing it, like mindful chai, eating or walking!
Whenever you’re on instagram, pay attention to every scroll, tap and like. This is how simple it can be! However, we will take a detailed look at how you can practice mindfulness with instagram anytime you want it!
How to practice mindful instagram
Pause. When scrolling, take a few moments to pause and actually observe what’s happening on your phone screen. Every time your thumb makes contact with the screen, pause and notice the sensations you’re feeling.
Sense. Every time you take a pause, you’re sensing the feelings on your finger. At that moment, engage the rest of your senses. What kind of patterns or colours do you see on your feed? What are the sounds you can hear? Are you seeing animated designs or real persons? By giving yourself a sensory experience on Instagram, you are actually taking time out to enjoy your instagram session.
Reflect. The last and final step of mindful instagram, this incorporates your mind and its thoughts while browsing instagram. While looking at an image, video or story, what thoughts enter your mind? How is the content making you feel? What emotions resonate with you? Take a few moments to observe them, acknowledge them and accept them.
These 3 simple steps can help you practice mindfulness while you scroll through Instagram and give you a chance to truly connect with the experience. This definitely has many benefits as well. Given we spend so much time on instagram, mindful instagram helps you:
➡️Stay more in control of your emotions and avoid FOMO and anxiety
➡️Acknowledge and observe your thoughts while scrolling
➡️Reflect on how browsing through Instagram makes you feel
➡️Make your screen time more productive
You can follow these mindfulness practices for other apps as well, be it Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Tumblr or whatever else you’re using at that moment. As long as you are attentive and present in the moment, acknowledging your thoughts, you are practicing mindfulness. This will help you relax, take a productive break at work or while studying or just make your me-time productive! Try mindful Instagram today!
Evolve has a range of guided audios that make mindfulness light and joyful and allow you to incorporate mindfulness into your daily activities!