The Power In Your Hands (liberate yourself from technology)

The Power In Your Hands is a book asking readers to liberate themselves from the attachment to technology. Having a laptop or phone is fine, but could you live without them?

The average smartphone user spends around 60 to 80 whole days a year on it. They are now the ‘fifth limb’ for nearly everyone, some people not capable of standing at a bus stop, having a coffee or even moving to the bathroom without checking for news or messages.

People who suffer from anxiety, are even more likely to develop a compulsive relationship with their smartphone. Yet say if you are in a pub with another person, that person wants to talk to you, not see you scrolling through your phone while they wait to have conversation (far better for mental health).

Phones are for information. They are not for soothing, that’s what a walk in nature does! But now the more people spend time on their phones, the more of an anxious world we become.

The good news is that you can course-correct if you so choose. But you’ll have to make that decision yourself, the  makers of smartphones won’t! A digital detox is not enough. It means a real effort to recover from the tsunami of digital distractions in the world we now face.

In this book, the author (a psychotherapist and meditation teacher) invites people to reconnect to their natural need for walks and conversation, and only use smartphones when needed. And you can even rewire your brain to reclaim creativity and move on from the despair of a world gone digital.

About the author

Shannon Algaeo is an American/Irish writer based in California. Also a poet, he is co-founder of We Human and leads ‘digital liberation’ retreats around the world.