Critique of Doom Narratives and Powerlessness

In this conversation with designer, mindfulness teacher, and friend Jay Vidyarthi — we explore how to reclaim agency in the age of the attention economy without rejecting the magic of technology.

We discuss why mainstream narratives about digital distraction often leave out empowerment, how to build healthier relationships with technology, the nuanced role of AI, the sacred responsibility of attention and why awareness is the first “spell” in your own defense against the dark arts of distraction. Listen to this conversation and learn how to enjoy the best of tech while setting boundaries around the worst of it!

Connect with Jay

📚 Check out Jay's brilliant book 'Reclaim Your Mind'
💌 Subscribe to Jay's free newsletter 'Attention Activist'

Explore More from Jonny

👋  Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁  Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🎴  Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱  Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝  Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

This is my flagship 5-week bootcamp designed to equip you with evidence-backed protocols to cultivate calm and emotional regulation. Our 8th cohort will run in Fall 2025 ~ and applications are currently open. My sense is that if this conversation resonates with you, then you'd likely be a great fit for our upcoming cohort. This curriculum represents my attempt to distill everything I've learned in recent years about creating the conditions for our nervous system's flourishing.  It's run in an intensive cohort-based way since this is, in my experience, the most efficient way to embody and practice the protocols.

Previous students have shared how partaking improved their sleep and quality of relationships and tapped into deeper states of joy, clarity, and confidence in their lives. We've had over 1000 students have completed this training, and many have said that it has been the most impactful thing they've ever done for their personal growth — so if you're intrigued at all, you can find more details and apply to join this year's cohort over at nsmastery.com

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️  I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧  I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎  RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖  I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode's show-notes + timestamps
📝  Test out my favourite journaling app using journal prompts that have made a huge impact in my life.