#also twloha are so kind and supportive and help you be kind to yourself

[ladyofthelake]

Two weeks to reflect, two weeks to reconnect with yourself, your life, and what matters most.

You’ve probably heard that social media isn’t great for your well-being, but the impact goes deeper than most of us realize. Even just a two-week break from social media has been shown to improve mental health, cognitive function, and overall wellness.

Take on the challenge and get exclusive encouragement and check-ins from us during your time away. We’ll do it together.

There are levels to this: 

 First things first—let’s figure out where you are and how much of a break feels right. No judgment here. For some, it’s easy to dive in headfirst. For others, easing into it feels more doable. Either way, you're showing up for your mental health, and that matters.

Level 1: Crashing out!!  “I’m taking the full break.” 🚫📱

Maybe your social media use feels like too much, or life feels overwhelming right now. Or maybe you’re just curious what life looks like without the constant scroll. Whatever your reason, committing to the full two-week break gives you the space to unplug, reset, and get intentional about what you want back in your life.

Level 2: Situationship Status.  “I want to take a step back, but not all the way.” 😬📲

Maybe you need to stay plugged in for work. Maybe you’re not ready to delete the apps just yet. Or maybe social media is… complicated. You’re seeing some red flags, but not quite ready to call it quits. Setting time limits or creating boundaries is still a powerful way to take back your time and protect your peace.

We’ve got tips and encouragement for both paths. The most important thing? Be honest with yourself. Set a pace that works for you—and know that this challenge isn’t about perfection, it’s about intention. 

Take control of your scrolling with these steps: 

1

Complete the Disconnect to Reconnect Survey.

Before you unplug, take a few minutes to reflect on where you're starting from. This survey is just for you—a chance to pause, check in with yourself, and notice how you're feeling going into this break. You'll get a follow-up survey at the end so you can see what’s shifted. Complete the survey here > 

2

Choose your level: Complete break from social media or just setting limits! 

Complete Break:

Delete the apps from your devices (!!). Seriously. You can always reinstall them later, but this is the best way to make sure your break actually feels like a break. Our fingers have muscle memory—they’ll open the app before your brain even realizes it. Trust us: delete the app. 💖

Setting App Limits:

iPhone: Settings → Screen Time → App Limits

Android: Digital Wellbeing → Dashboard → Set TimersAdvice: When setting limits, we recommend creating a daily screen time cap that applies to all your social media apps combined. Ideally, aim to stay under 2–4 hours a day. Research suggests that consistently spending more than 4 hours a day on social media can significantly impact your well-being. That said, you know yourself best—choose a limit that feels realistic and sustainable for you during this challenge.

3

Update your notifications settings.

Even if you're stepping away from apps, your phone still loves to interrupt. This is a great time to turn off push notifications—or at least go quiet for a while. Those pings can pull you back in before you even know it.

4

Write it down, put it on your calendar, commit.

It’s easy to say “I’ll do it,” and just as easy to forget. You signed up because something inside you said you need this. So treat it like something that matters. Mark your calendar. Put up sticky notes. Set reminders. Whatever helps you stay with it, do that.

5

Tell your friends.

Not for the clout (you don’t need to post the “I’m logging off” announcement), but because accountability helps—and maybe you’ll inspire someone else to take the break with you.

6

Make a list of things you hope to have more time for these next two weeks.

What do you hope this break creates space for? More time to connect with people IRL? More naps? More boredom (yes, that’s allowed)? More books, walks, creativity, or rest? Take a few minutes to dream up what this break might make room for—and give yourself permission to go after it.

Get ready! Because Monday, May 12th, is the first day of the challenge!

[jessi-31days-blog]

Day 1, Sunday, October 1st

I wake up at 9am.

I don't remember my dream, but for some reason I was sleeping so deeply that for a moment I thought that my wake up alarm was my cell phone's ringtone in my dream, which I found amusing. I took my medicine and vitamins, had coffee and breakfast, and browsed Twitter while allowing myself to wake my brain up for an hour.

I am going to start my challenge with a three week yoga class and meditation series for "Chronic Stress, Anxiety, and Depression. In the week one introduction video, doyogawithme.com founder David Procyshin tells me to ask myself: "How am I conditioned?" as often as I remember every day, let it sink it, don't seek an answer, and see what comes up over time.

Yoga Class - "Pranayama Yoga to Wake Up" - 10 mins:

This was a fairly simple video. It was all breathing exercises, some of which I had never done before. My mood improved a little after the video, and I feel like my energy level went from 5/10 to 7/10. It was nice and I'm glad I did it.

Guided meditation - "Turn It Off" - 21 mins:

The premise of this guided meditation was to shut off your mind, the muscles in your body, and any beliefs you have about yourself. In the first few minutes it was hard for me to focus and turn off my mind, which was buzzing with thoughts and ideas about my new self improvement journey that I'm embarking on. But eventually, I was able to clear my mind, and as guided, relax my muscles. At one point the guide said to focus on a place of tension in your body, and notice the sensations of that tension. I wasn't sure what kind of tension he meant, so I interpreted it my own way. I focused on my chest, where I usually feel depression (and where I've held my sadness over a few broken situations in my life). The guide told me to focus on how it felt for a moment. It felt heavy, especially with me honing in on it like I was told to. Then the guide said to imagine my muscles (in my chest) relaxing and letting go of the tension. In my mind, as I focused on physically relaxing my chest, I imagined my sadness over the broken situations in my life evaporating like the beginning of cycle of rain. Towards the end, the guide said something. I can't remember word for word due to my memory being mediocre, but I'll paraphrase: "Stop trying to seek the answers to your problems and look inward at yourself with a desire to understand". For myself, I interpreted this as that I should stop frantically seeking a way to repair the broken things in my life that will never be fixed and to look at who I am mind, body, and spirit and attempt to understand myself. I liked this guided meditation, it was very nice.

I remember to come back to the program question, "How am I conditioned?" Nothing has really come up yet, and as I was told to not go searching for the answer so quickly, I'll continue pondering it.

Read a Proverb from the New Living Translation Bible - Proverbs 1:

I gained a few lessons from this proverb. The first one is to continue to never stop gaining wisdom and to make wise choices. Another is to surround myself with good and encouraging people as my friends, and to stay away from negative people. It reminds me of something someone once told me: "You are who you surround yourself with." This is very true. If you surround yourself with negative or self destructive people, you will pick up their thoughts and habits. I am very fortunate to have a group of friends who support and care about me. Recently a person, who I loved very much, walked out of my life. I thought of them as a positive aspect of my life, but now that I remember their mindset and behaviors, I have changed my mind about them. While they weren't the most negative or self destructive person ever, they were a bit negative and didn't always take good care of themselves. While I miss them very much, I'm now starting to learn that maybe it was best that we parted ways. Now the only people I have in my life are positive and supportive people, which is something everyone needs in order to live a good life. This proverb also taught me to consider wisdom in every choice I make, small or large. In my experience, sometimes considering wisdom means you need to reach out to trusted peers for advice.

Blog post - TWLOHA - "Why You Should Never Be Afraid to Start Over" by Mel Lee-Smith:

In this entry Mel talked about her experience with going back to square one. She was addicted to self harm for 6 years. She was able to quit for well over 3 years, until one day she relapsed. She said her relapse after such a big milestone was "one of the most painful things she has ever done". Boy, do I know how that feels. She relapsed a few more times over 20 days, until she realized she needed to do something before her "monster" came back in full force, so she ended up in the hospital. She decided to stop wallowing in her failure and reorient herself on the road to recovery. "Starting over means that you got up off the ground, dusted off your hands, and put yourself back on the path to where you want to go." I've had to start over many, many times. But this time, my starting over feels more like beginning for the first time. I'm actively seeking to be healthy, happy, and successful instead of numbing and hiding from reality. I can't wait to start school in 8 days.

Encouraging someone on Reddit - r/anxiety:

This one was very simple, because depression hit me hard today and I only had enough mental energy to help someone with something little. A person who struggles with depression and anxiety was wondering if a doctor would prescribe them both an anxiety medication and an antidepressant. If not, they would choose the anti anxiety medication. I let them know that I am prescribed both and that most doctors would be more than happy to prescribe both, and then I wished them well with their mental health. I feel like I didn’t stick to my goal of authentic and sincere encouragement or advice, but I did relieve their anxiety about talking to their doctor, so I’m glad I still accomplished something.

Walk:

It was about a 20 minute walk. I listened to Rammstein and walked through the neighborhood. I was planning on thinking some positive mantras or something, but instead my mind kind of went blank as I walked. I was hoping that this walk would make my depression go away. At first, when I got back home, I still felt depressed. I put my laundry away and washed my face, and then sat down with my lap top. I started talking to my friends and listening to the songs they were sending me, and I realized that I was feeling a slight endorphin high from the walk. So it's true what they say about exercise and depression; that's definitely a great thing to know. End of Day Notes: It definitely felt like a good start. I’m glad I pushed through even when the depression hit. Here’s to hoping it gets better from here.