Using Technology for Good
The App as a Tool, Not a Distraction
Most of us carry a phone that’s designed to capture our attention. It may ring or buzz, but often pulls us away from the people right in front of us, away from our own breath, away from the present moment. It’s fair to ask whether a phone belongs in a spiritual practice. But the same tool that scatters us can also call us home. It all depends on the intention we bring to it.
In Chapter 6 of Choosing Presence, Jim Heaney names one of the most common forms of resistance: “Trying to take three conscious breaths throughout the day, I get busy and I just forget.” His answer is simple and practical. “We need only set the reminder app on our smartphone,” he writes, “so even if we’re busy and forget, we always have our phones reminding us.” What surprised Jim was that even after years of practice, the reminder “deepens the practice and makes it even more powerful.”
This is the reason Jim created the Practicing Presence app. Used with intention, each hourly chime is not another notification demanding something from us — it’s an invitation to put the phone down, breathe, and return to reality. As Jim puts it, the app “serves as a consistent reminder that we have a choice not to be taken over by negative emotions and reactions throughout the day.”
This week, let your phone become a doorway rather than a distraction. Set your reminders, and when they sound, answer them by consciously taking several deep breaths.
Enter by the narrow gate…
the gate is narrow and the way is hard,
that leads to life.
Brian Mueller – Poet, Community Organizer, and Spiritual Guide
Brian Mueller is a poet and community organizer based in Dayton, Ohio. He serves as Director of Education & Engagement for ChoosingPresence.org and is an active member of the Ohio Chapter of Illuman, where he co-leads writing retreats that support men’s spiritual journeys. As a writer, Brian is known for his candid, accessible poetry, with works including Cock‑A‑Doodle‑Doo: 100 Morning Haiku, the Poem of the Day series, and the Bull Series. Inspired by poets like Rumi and Mary Oliver, he believes everyone carries the voice of a poet within.
