We Interrupt this Programming for a Special Message . . . a Look at Television
March 6, 2011 by Lisa Guyman
Filed under Newsletter
Update on the “no TV Diet.”
My weeklong diet from TV turned into six months and counting. I rent movies and watch 1-2 hours of TV per week, but that’s it. I’ve noticed that with this lifestyle change, I have much more energy for my life, lost 15 pounds, regularly practice yoga now (4-6 times a week), feel inspired by life, and have experienced personal and spiritual renewal.
The time I used to spend watching TV (30 hours or so a week) is now dedicated to yoga, reading, socializing, trying new things, and living life.
I now can’t imagine where I found the time to watch TV. I’m not a fanatic, and when I recently stayed with my mom on a trip to Michigan, I enjoyed some shows with her. But now I cannot imagine that I’ll return to watching TV. TV has lost its appeal. Amazing how things shift!
Perhaps you could try on a “no TV diet.” It just might change your life.
Original Article – August 2010
I decided to go on a “no TV diet” for a week.
As the days get shorter, I can watch more junk food TV. Last week, I started a “no TV diet” and have been free of TV for seven days. Do you know that in the U.S., the average person watches 4.5 hours or more of TV a day?
In a yoga class two weeks ago, my teacher, Courtney Hayes-Jurcheck, from Sidhi Urban Yoga, read a quote during relaxation pose: “Watching TV is like painting black paint over your third eye.” Our third eye is our chakra center for intuition and clarity. Her words echoed in my mind and got my attention. I don’t want to hinder my intuition or my thinking.
This started an internal dialogue about my TV habits, and I asked myself: Is what I’m watching on TV what I want to fill my mind with? The answer was a resounding no.
When we watch TV, we go into a passive trance-like state where our subconscious mind soaks up everything we see and hear with little discernment. Have you ever noticed that once you turn on the TV, it’s hard to turn it off, even if there is nothing you really want to watch? Have you noticed that you’ll find yourself channel surfing and settling for the best of the worst?
Some of the detrimental effects of TV that have been studied include increasing the risk of depression, dampening creativity, reducing the power of imagination, decreasing attention span, and increasing our waistlines. TV also robs us of our time. Yikes, none of this is good.
If you have ever gone on a diet, and who hasn’t, why not go on a “no TV diet”? You could aim for a few days, a week, or longer and see how it goes. If you feel restless, check out this article on things to do instead of watching TV. This is your life, and you can choose how to live it.
I don’t plan to stay on the” no TV diet” forever, but I’ve noticed a new bounce in my step for now. When I watch TV, I plan on being much more mindful about what and how much I watch.
We often live on auto-pilot, failing to realize that we can start anew every day. This is why it behooves us to stop what we are doing and evaluate how we use our sweet time. We can make conscious, life-affirming choices starting today.
Choose wisely and have fun.
Lisa
Links:
Top Ten Reasons to Turn Off Your TV
Ten Financial Reasons To Turn Off Your Television – And Ten Things To Replace It With
TV Linked to Weight Gain, Even for Healthy & Active
Want a Better Relationship – Banish the TV
Have you experimented with a “no TV diet”? If so, please post your comments/experiences here. What benefits have you noticed? What has pleasantly surprised you about not watching TV?
I have noticed that as my TV viewing time has decreased, that when I do turn the TV on, I cannot believe what is being offered on network TV, in terms of slapshot humor and gratuitous violence, so I turn it off again…I think my next move will be to disconnect the cable as I usually just watch PBS anyway.
I’ve been on a self-imposed TV diet all summer. I decided I wanted to live life instead of watching other people live it. I too watch only 1-2 hours a week now and what I’ve found is when I do turn it on I am much more disappointed each time with the quality of what is offered. I went for three weeks at one point without turning the TV on and I am thinking seriously of getting rid of it altogether. I haven’t yet because it doesn’t cost anything since the cable is included as part of my internet service. But, I am now finding I have so many other interesting things to do instead that I wonder how I ever had time to watch TV. There is so much more to life!
Lisa, I followed your lead and started my tv diet a few months ago. I was determined to stay away for 21 days, and I must say that during pre-elections in Brazil & the Chilean miners episode it was not easy. But I stood tall… well ok, I did go see the first miner come up… and to be honest I realized I had better use of my time.I am taking this a little further and have decided to go until Jan 1st without tv. After learning so much from Dr David Frawley about how we over-stimulate and depleat our senses by tving&computering I am taking this to heart and listening to my own inner talk and not the talk of others! The world is still out there, it hasn’t changed much, all that is important I get to know and the junk just remains that: junk! You are always an inspiration to me !
Debbie, That is terrific! A big congratulations to you for taking that on and for continuing until the end of the year. It’s so exciting to hear you and others following suit. It’s a raise in consciousness on the planet! I am still on my “no TV diet.” I planned initially for 7 days and it’s been months now and I plan for this to be pretty much be my lifestyle. I did watch the miners too – that was an inspiring and amazing story. Just recently I had a client in for a Reiki treatment and after the session she commented that programming from TV shows (drama, crime, tension) was flashing across her mind and releasing. . . .she realized that all of that is/was stored within her and impacting her. It’s true that whatever we watch on TV, read about or surf onto gets absorbed into the mind.
We have been on a “TV” diet for 6 years! We have watched TV exactly TWO TIMES in the last six years. Sell your TV, and invest in books instead. There’s nothing TV has to offer that a book can’t offer better, and there are no “commercials”. If you want fantasy, that is what fiction is for.
We got tired of insulting ads and hair-brained sitcoms. Books cannot insult you, because YOU pick what you want to read. You DO have control of what enters your life. Use your TV only if the emergency broadcast signal goes off!