As I have been engaging more in online spaces this year, I have been very much holding the layers of this question/reflection within myself and having this conversation in my circles about the paradox of social media:
How am I supposed to promote nervous system healing, integration and expansion on the very system that alters our physiology and affects our brain function?
For the last 5 years I have run my Peak Performance and Somatic Coaching business almost exclusively through referrals, without being present on social media. My clients come to me through word of mouth and google searches. Last year I posted maybe a handful of times on my personal and business Facebook page. On Instagram I posted once in Jan of 2021 and that was it.
This year, in my growing desire to shift markets, from working with high performance athletes, to working with more entrepreneurs, practitioners and coaches, I have been showing up organically more on Facebook and Instagram over the last 10 weeks or so, making connections, engaging and posting a little bit.
I have to say I am in major conflict about it. Anyone else feel me?
On one hand, I desire to be in connection and get more visibility with the folks that I know would benefit from my work. I understand that I need to get in front of people, so that they know that I exist and my work exists. I understand people are in these online spaces which is why I am choosing to explore a bit and play here.
However, I am finding myself in a deep internal conflict. I very much desire to share about my work and how it helps people. To be a mirror and reflection as a mother who homeschools AND who runs a successful business for others who may need expanders on their path.
And yet, at the same time, I don’t want to just keep contributing to the addictive vortex of social media, particularly as I am working to support folks’ nervous systems and energy fields. It seems super contradictory to be discussing and promoting finding and taking SPACE for integration and healing, by contributing to the system that is hijacking our time and attention.
I can feel my own shifts in my nervous system as I engage and spend time in these online spaces. I work my practices and invite in consciousness as I read and scroll, AND there are very real changes in my system, due to the nature and fabric of the tool. I’ve built in a portal practice to help filter the energy before I engage, and a cleansing ritual for after engaging or posting. I have worked on orienting to sharing as a way to be in my expression and as a way to contribute to collective healing, as a way to be of service.
While I do believe that on the one hand, the other hand feels like this is some serious bullsh*t…
Sure, I can convince myself that I am helping (which IS true on some level in a very tangible way reflected by people reaching out to book sessions, or share with me how my writing has touched them in some way) AND at the same time, my contribution feels like it is more stimulation and noise in the vortex of the online world.
Now I totally understand this is a tool that we utilize for connection. It exists and people engage. People are here. It is a way to share creatively and expressively. There are many benefits to social platforms….
AND… BUT…
It’s not helpful for the health of the collective, us individually, getting sucked into the scroll and reading post after post after post and consuming more and more information in our brains. I don’t know about you, but it certainly jacks up my nervous system and overloads it with information. Despite setting a timer, even in small chunks, the very act of being on the device is activating our systems.
Many successful online entrepreneurs are not even posting themselves. Social media is the first task that gets outsourced. My coach asked me last week if I wanted to have my Virtual Assistant start to take over posting, so I can be engaged less in the online spaces. A good idea perhaps. However, that doesn’t feel right to me either. That I would be paying someone else to add to the noise of the space that we as business owners often don’t even want to be navigating ourselves?
There has to be another way to do this connection and visibility thing, so I am not continuing to perpetuate and support something that currently exists that is interrupting (and dare I say, destroying) our healthy biological processes.
Can I be in integrity with the nature of my nervous system work and also contribute on Facebook and Instagram? Is it an either or? I am not sure...
I don’t have an answer right now. This paradox is just something I am acutely aware of as I play in these spaces and think about how I want to be in my expression and creativity in my business.
I choose right now, to continue to stay and play and be in the spectrum of exploration.
If you do feel called to stay connected and desire to more fully choose into engaging with me, I invite you to subscribe to my email list! You can find the link below.
