Digital Detox: A Reclamation of Energy
What you’ll find in this story
Why I chose to take a digital detox
What this detox looked like for me
My biggest lessons and reminders
Why digital detoxes don’t have to be difficult
Journal Prompts for self-reflection
A gentle invitation to stay connected beyond social media
Before we begin,
I invite you to settle into your body,
soften your breath,
and let this story meet you where you are.
So… why did I choose to detox from the digital world?
For the past few years, my life has been beautifully FULL!
I’ve been traveling consistently for work since 2022 — and by mid-2024 I was fully nomadic, fresh out of a 4-year relationship, moving from city to city and country to country every few weeks. I was teaching, performing, sharing my adventures online, and pouring myself into each community I found myself in! I was living my dream life and I absolutely ADORED this season!
Through this journey I’ve realized that even our dream lives can become exhausting. And sometimes, it’s hard to notice when we need a break — especially when we’re doing the things we love.
For context, my work as an artist and entrepreneur requires a lot from me:
planning workshop tours, mentorships, and creative projects
updating webpages, scheduling sites, and doing administrative tasks
taking photos and recording videos
writing, editing content, and sharing online
responding to comments and DMs
intentionally engaging with my online friends and creatives
meeting up with my in-person communities around the world
and being “on” in other countless and invisible ways
As a creator — and as someone who truly prioritizes being present in my physical life — I assumed I wasn’t spending that much time online because I wasn’t “just scrolling” or “mindlessly consuming.”
But when I looked at the sheer amount of time it takes to create, share, engage, respond, and maintain an online presence, I realized how much of my life force was being funneled into the digital realm…
8 hours a day, to be exact.
And that’s not inherently a bad thing — but for me, it was something worth addressing.
Between my lengthy screen time, constant travel, community connections, and my basic human needs of eating and sleeping, I barely had time for the rituals that truly nurture my creative energy. I was always in output mode — and it’s important to ask ourselves:
Where is that output flowing from?
Let’s just say, my creative well felt like it was running dry…
Fast forward to this summer — August 2025 — something inside me started whispering:
“You need stillness.”
“You need solitude.”
“You need to come home to yourself.”
September was on the cusp — pole retreat in Portugal, a month long Europe + UK workshop tour, and big project that needed my undivided attention — and a part of me wanted to call EVERYTHING off and disappear from the outside world.
Despite my fatigue, I honored my commitments, but with new boundaries:
no unnecessary social outings
declining new invitations
retracting a previous YES when needed
prioritizing rest, stillness, and silence
cooking at my accommodations instead of eating out
and ultimately guarding my energy for my final project of the season
These shifts supported me deeply and brought the grounding I’d been yearning for.
By the end of the tour, I was excited to return to the U.S. and root myself even deeper. I moved into a new apartment — my first time having my own space since 2021 — and I was grateful to have just one last thing on my plate: The Stripper Summit — a five day celebration in honor of my 10-year dance anniversary.
At this point, my co-organizers and extended community carried me through in the most beautiful ways imaginable, and I truly can’t thank them enough. Working with a team to bring such a powerful experience to life was an absolute honor!
Once the Summit began, my detox started naturally — I had to be fully present for five jam-packed days of facilitation. It filled my heart to witness the profound impact the Summit had on everyone who participated, and I’m so grateful to have seen it all the way through!
And when it ended, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a very long time:
S P A C E
No responsibilities.
No projects.
No upcoming travels.
Just… space.
Pure, empty space.
The space I’d been craving far longer than I realized.
The space I needed to fully rest, reset, and reclaim my energy!
Now let’s talk about what this digital detox actually looked like!
This wasn’t a dramatic “delete everything overnight” moment or “tell the whole world what’s going on” type of thing — instead it was a quiet, gradual, and intentional unwinding.
During the Stripper Summit:
I was naturally offline and fully present with my community
The week after the Summit:
I only went on Instagram to reshare and amplify the voices of all who participated
no scrolling, no lingering
I focused my energy on resting and nesting into my new home!
The following weeks:
I kept my phone on DND or airplane mode most of the day
responded to essential messages only
chose not to get back on my creating/sharing regimen (teachings, projects, posting, and day-to-day story shares)
chose not to take photos/videos of my life — instead, truly immersed myself in each experience and cherished every moment
limited social media consumption and cut myself off when I noticed I was scrolling for stimulation
limited my engagement with online friends because it easily spiraled into hours of screen time
eventually abstained from opening Instagram entirely
only used my phone for music, podcasts, transportation, necessary correspondence, and other utilities.
Overall, I was able to bring my screen time down to only 30–60 minutes per day!
With all this newfound space, I invested my energy into:
REST!!! lots of sleep, relaxation, silence, solitude, and stillness!!!
self-reflection — how do I want to invest my energy into creative work going forward? what do I want my life to feel like? what habits weren’t working for me? what are my current inspirations?
nesting into my new home — lots of unpacking, organizing, cleaning, resale home goods stores, and facebook market place linkups
having fun cooking all my favorite (and very extensive) meals
slowly cultivating a gym routine and returning to my flexibility practice (a major key for my well-being that I went a long time without)
getting into a new work schedule at the club (such a powerful means of support during this time away from teaching and facilitating events)
going on nature adventures
self-care rituals
and reading (one of my most cherished activities) !
Ultimately, I took all the energy I had been using to create outward-facing results and redirected it into the parts of my life that people don’t see — the foundational, nourishing, behind-the-scenes pieces that truly sustain me.
Instead of feeding the external (the content, the projects, the community) I nourished the internal: the woman, the artist, and the human beneath it all.
Now, four weeks into this detox, I can see my previous season with much more clarity: the pace I was moving at, the stories I was operating from, the habits that were supporting me, and the ones that weren’t.
I understand that life is cyclical, and I’ve been feeling that more deeply with every passing year. Autumn is a season of gratitude and release intended to appreciate what we’ve cultivated while letting go of what no longer aligns. And winter invites us inward to nourish the roots, tend to the unseen, and strengthen the ground we’ll build from when spring arrives.
I’ve been aware of these rhythms for a long time… but this year, they finally feel embodied. And in this current season of self-reflection, inventory, and preparation for deeper inner work, I’ve already gathered so many lessons that I’m excited to expand on and integrate as winter unfolds!
Here’s a little peak into my biggest lessons and reminders this detox gave me:
1. As mentioned… Life has its seasons!
Outward seasons. Inward seasons.
Seasons of travel. Seasons of stillness.
Seasons of sharing our creations.
Seasons of refilling the well from which our creativity flows.
Our most important role is to honor the season we find ourselves in.
Attuning our awareness to the moment a new season arrives is essential. When we can recognize the shift — internally or externally — we can make the necessary adjustments: releasing ways of being that no longer support us, and expanding into what our current chapter is asking of us.
One way to understand our seasons is by looking back at our past rhythms — noticing when significant life-changing events (both big and subtle) occurred, and observing the patterns that repeat. This helps us align with our natural cycles so we can meet what’s coming with clarity, trust, and preparation.
Here are a few quotes from an excerpt of The Wizard’s Way by Deepak Chopra that speak to this beautifully:
“In truth, such struggles are not necessary. You can't fight to make a rose bloom. You can't struggle to make an embryo evolve into a baby — it just happens, following its own rhythms. Your ego easily accepts this fact about roses and babies, but not about money, houses, relationships, and other things it gets attached to. But the wizard sees the same universal laws governing all of life.”
“Nature takes things away for its own good reasons at its own good time. If you want flowers out of season, you can embroider flowers that will last forever, but who could pretend that they are actually alive?”
“You will have to acquire trust before you can surrender your control.”
“…first escape this delusion that you are beyond nature. When you can begin to see the seeds of opportunity in the ashes of disaster, then trust is beginning to grow.”
“… look for the other face of disaster or loss, the tiny seed of the new that wants to be born. When you look into the ashes, look well.”
2. There is power in EMPTINESS
As the old Zen teaching reminds us, “only when the cup is empty can it be filled.”
It’s important to sit in the void of not having a project to produce… not having something to share… not having tasks to fill every spare moment.
The emptiness we often avoid is the exact space needed to commune with the essence of creation. When you befriend this empty space, you become incredibly mindful of what you choose to fill it with. Each sliver of space becomes something sacred — intentionally curated with what truly aligns with your soul’s calling.
In recent years, I’ve welcomed this “zero-point” energy in many forms.
As an entrepreneur, there were seasons where I had zero dollars to my name — and each encounter with that kind of emptiness made me more and more comfortable with it. Instead of panicking, I learned to see these moments as invitations to redefine my relationship with money and rebuild from a place of alignment. I began filling that space with work that was meaningful, sustainable, and true to who I was becoming.
When I first became nomadic, I got rid of almost everything I owned. I put six boxes of my most cherished items in storage and set out to travel full-time with two suitcases and a backpack of essentials. That experience revealed just how much I could live without — and as I continued traveling, I found myself releasing even more.
When I arrived in my new home this fall, I was reminded of something powerful:
When you’ve found true solace in emptiness, you don’t rush to fill it.
Instead, you honor it.
You tend to it.
And you let every new addition be intentional.
I didn’t fill my space quickly. Instead, I’ve been curating every detail with patience and devotion. This mirrors exactly how I’m approaching my work and creativity after this detox.
One of my favorite universal teachings, stated beautifully by Deepak Chopra in How to Know God, explains:
“The empty void contains the potential for all life and all experience. The one positive quality that can be attached to God in stage seven is existence or pure being. No matter how blank the void gets, it still exists, and that is enough to give birth to the universe.”
I love this perspective because it reminds me that the void, the emptiness, the “zero-point” is not a lack… It is infinite potential.
It is the exact space where we can choose a new way of being, a new path to explore, and a new way of showing up in the world.
3. Your creative channel thrives when you aren’t consuming… and often times when you aren’t creating either…
Outside inspiration is beautiful… until it dilutes your inner voice.
Having periods of abstinence from consuming clears your energetic and creative channel from outside influences — especially those directly connected to your line of work. When we consume too much from peers in our field, subtle emulation begins to sneak in. But when you step away, your authenticity expands.
We know this on a mental level, but it can easily slip beneath the surface of our awareness. Returning to the practice of minimizing consumption is ongoing work and it helps to remember that everything flows in seasons. There will be seasons of receiving inspiration from the world around us… and seasons of turning inward to hear ourselves again.
Something we don’t talk about as often is the power of abstaining from creating.
As mentioned in the previous lesson:
the void is the essence of creation — it is where infinite potential lives.
Stepping away from your creative practices for a while doesn’t diminish your artistry; it replenishes it. It recharges the channel, clears the noise, and expands your creative essence in ways you can’t access when you’re constantly producing.
When I was traveling, I stepped away from the personal creative rituals that fueled me — and as that season came to an end, I’ve been able to re-cultivate those rituals with renewed intention, purpose, and devotion.
During my detox, I abstained from my home pole practice, teaching, social media, and many other forms of output. And after giving myself that space, my creative channel now feels like it’s bursting with new inspiration.
Ultimately, it’s all about cultivating harmony between both ends of the spectrum:
creating and not creating, consuming and abstaining, doing and being, expression and rest.
All of it is sacred and only you know when its time to honor what’s needed in each moment.
4. Your attention is PRECIOUS and you only have so much energy each day
I’ve found that one of the most humbling (and hilarious) perks of being consciousness in human form is… limitation lol.
Oliver Burkeman speaks to this in his book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, and although it can feel like a soul-crushing realization at first, I found it refreshingly grounding. It reminded me that the limitations of my focus, time, and energy aren’t problems — they’re invitations. They ask me to use what I have with deeper intention.
In another one of my favorite books, There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem by Wayne Dyer, he shares this teaching from the lens of emotional experience — that you can only truly experience one emotion at a time. You can’t be happy and sad simultaneously; rather, you’re happy, then sad, then perhaps happy again moments later. Your attention lands on one feeling at a time.
As I both approached and moved through my digital detox, these teachings resurfaced with renewed clarity. I’d been practicing them since I first read these books over a year ago, but this detox felt like the culmination point — the moment I was finally embodying them fully. It felt like everything had been preparing me to reset my attention and pour my energy intentionally into the places that matter most.
Throughout this detox, I extracted my attention from:
feeding the pressures I’d placed on myself to perform, produce, or accomplish things in public
showing up in the digital space
and watching the curated lives of people I follow
I returned my attention to my real, tangible, immediate life.
In doing so, I realized something huge:
The “long-term expansion” I believed I was building wasn’t actually expanding me.
I wasn’t investing my energy — I was spending it.
For me, the distinction is simple:
Spending satiates momentary needs, looks good on the surface, and offers minimal reciprocation.
Investing fulfills long-term needs, happens quietly behind the scenes, and yields profound, lasting returns.
Now, whenever I feel a pull for my attention — whether it’s social media or in-person social engagements, productivity pressure or internalized expectations — I ask myself:
Am I spending my energy or investing it?
Right now, I’m investing my limited attention and energy to nourish my daily rituals, routines, and unseen practices that strengthen my internal foundation and support my long-term visions. And as this foundation grows, I’m excited to branch off into outward-facing work with more clarity and intention than ever before!
Now, it’s important to note…
Detoxing can be hard… but it doesn’t have to be!
This digital detox felt surprisingly easy, but not because I’m superhuman!
Rather, I reached a point of pure need.
My whole being was craving this reset, and I was genuinely excited to finally have the space to honor it.
But as the days went on, I realized something important…
The ease didn’t come solely from desire — it came from the foundation I’d been laying for years:
keeping my phone on airplane mode while sleeping and long after I wake up
putting my phone away when I’m in the presence of others
consciously making the shift to create more than I consume (circa 2020)
not owning a TV since 2021 (stopped watching tv shows long before)
only watching movies when I’m on long distance flights
These small, yet very impactful choices had already softened the digital grip on my life. And alongside this foundation, the detox felt approachable because I didn’t try to cut off everything else at once — I eased into it:
first, I stopped creating & sharing since this is what I invested most of my time into
next, I reduced consumption & engagement since I noticed I began supplementing my creation time with consumption time
lastly, I fully abstained
In the end, it was the combination of deep need, long-term lifestyle practices, and a gradual approach that made this digital detox feel so supportive and sustainable.
Ultimately, I can’t emphasize enough how powerful incremental change can be! There’s truly never any rush. Always remember to give yourself the spaciousness to form new habits with grace — this practice allows you to witness the impact of each choice and it helps you see, with stunning clarity, where your freed-up energy naturally begins to flow!
And that’s the point of all of this — to reclaim our energy and invest it wisely into the moment-to-moment choices that support and sustain our long-term visions!
If you’ve read this far… thank you.
I trust my story has touched you, inspired you, or mirrored something you’ve been feeling.
If so, I invite you to sit in self-reflection for a moment.
Here’s a handful of journal prompts that may stimulate clarity and direction:
What am I currently consuming (socially, digitally, emotionally) that subtly disconnects me from my own inspiration or inner voice? What am I doing that does connect me more deeply to Self?
Which aspects of my life deserve more of my awareness, attention, and devotion?
What are three rituals or routines I’ve been craving but haven’t made space for yet? Why? What three rituals have I been devoted to — and how are they impacting my life?
What season am I in right now — outward expression, inner cultivation, integration, or something else entirely? How can I honor that more fully?
Additionally, I would love to hear from you when I’m fully back online as your reflections mean more than you know!
Send me a DM on IG
I’ll be sure to get to it when I get to it 🫂
Thank you for tuning in to this experience with me!
With Love + Gratitude,
Nirvana 🕊️
W