The Power in Your Hands: Liberate Yourself from Attachment to Technology

"A moving and inspiring book about the most important topic facing all of us." --Johann Hari, author of New York Times bestselling book Stolen Focus

Who will you become when you put down your phone and pick up your life?

The average smartphone user spends the equivalent of 61 to 80 days per year on their device. Smartphones have become the fifth limb of the human body as they move with us from the bathroom to the waiting room to the kitchen sink to the bed. But we aren't just physically attached to our phones; we're emotionally attached as well.

New research reveals how individuals with insecure attachment styles (anxious or avoidant) are more likely to develop a problematic or compulsive relationship with their smartphone. But all of us--regardless of our attachment style--are turning to our phones more and more to soothe and distract us, which numbs our empathy, diminishes the quality of our relationships, and drains the part of our brain required for creative focus. The more time we spend on our screens, the less time we spend engaging in our life with our own two hands. The good news is that we can course-correct by reclaiming the embodied and ensouled wisdom that our recent ancestors knew well. But digital detoxes are not enough. We need both personal and collective action to recover from the tsunami of digital distraction we now face.

In The Power in Your Hands, psychotherapist and meditation teacher Shannon Algeo invites readers to reckon with their attachment to technology through understanding the connections between compulsive smartphone behavior and their unique attachment style in relationships. He guides readers on a journey of reconnection to their inner child's needs for artistry, self-expression, and real human relationships. Through psychologically supported "rituals of remembering", readers will rewire their neuropsychology and reclaim their creativity so they can move from the despair of digitization to the fulfillment of re-humanization.

While we must address this problem collectively, only you can reckon with the underlying human needs, desires, fears, and insecurities that keep you reaching for a phone that would sooner have you scroll into oblivion than connect with your soul. Your attention, relationships, and desires are yours. The power is in your hands.

Shannon Algeo is an American and Irish writer based in California, psychotherapist, researcher, poet, Yoga Nidra teacher, and co-founder of We Human and the We Human Podcast (formerly SoulFeed). He is the author of The Power In Your Hands and Trust Your Truth, is on faculty at the Esalen Institute and the Kripalu Center, and leads digital liberation programs and offline retreats around the world that support people to reclaim their humanity, creativity, and attention in the digital age. He was named one of the "35 Under 35 in Wellness to Watch" by Wanderlust, and has spoken at the United Nations and the Museum of Contemporary Art, among other prestigious organizations.