I regained 150 hours of extra time in 3 weeks… and so can you

I’ve just come back from three weeks in the jungle on a self-imposed digital detox while completing my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training.

No phone. No scrolling. No notifications.

Just me, my body, my breath, and the present moment.

I didn’t realise how dependent I’d become on my phone.

I’d left my job, started an online business, and posted almost every day for two years. I danced every time I got a new subscriber, I poured my heart into my work—and I also relied on my phone like nobody’s business.

How often I was picking it up to ‘check the time’ or ‘important messages’ and how many beautiful little moments of nature and humanity and love that I missed when I looked away for even a split second.

I was taking myself out of the present. I was worrying about what I might miss out on… instead of just being in the moment right where I was.

And as a girl who literally received a call on a random Monday in August that a close family member was in hospital in a coma… I feel like I can still confidently say that 99% of the time, the messages on your phone are just not that important.

Certainly not more important than the micro-moments of life that occur every day when you’re glued to your screen.

When you keep checking your phone, constantly feeling like there's something you're missing out on, you're unintentionally activating your fight or flight response.

You reinforcing the neural pathway of stress and anxiety, rather than presence and peace.

When you aren’t using your senses and focussing on them in the present moment (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing) —also known as dissociating— you’re not in your body. You’re stuck in your mind.

This is stress. This is anxiety. This is depression… because we’re too busy worrying about what should be instead of what is. We’re not embodied in the moment.

So go ahead and check your screen time right now.

 I double dare you.

And if you have an average screen time lower than 30 mins a day, please reply to this with proof because I would LOVE to be wrong.

But the average screen time for women globally is 7 hours a day.

And are you kidding me? 

That means we’re spending 49 hours a week on our phones😳

So I decided to challenge myself and go completely screen free while I was away on my Yoga Teacher Training.

Every one of the 15 women there complimented me and told me how ‘brave’ and ‘admirable’ it was to give up my phone for 21 days.

And that makes me sad.

Because while I was sitting at breakfast looking out at the jungle and the ocean views, contemplating life and listening to my heart and getting clarity on who I was and what I wanted my life to feel like…

They were completely dissociated, eyes down on their screens, FaceTiming people back home or updating their Instagram.

The very point of yoga is to remind you to be present. Present in your body. Present in your mind. Present with your soul. The irony of living in the 21st century, amiright? 🥲

Even 5000 years ago, those yogi’s figured out that being present means being at peace.

Being distracted, means being disempowered, dysregulated, and dissatisfied.

I’m not saying it’s easy… it’s not.

At the risk of sharing really vulnerably, after receiving that call about my brother’s accident a few years ago, and then that call this August about a loved one being flown to hospital in a coma… I have a hard time ignoring my phone.

I panic when I miss a call or even a message. I constantly feel like if my phone is silenced and I miss something, it might be serious. It might be an emergency. They might need me.

But that’s not a healthy way to live.

It’s very dysregulating for our nervous systems, and women NEED nervous system safety and regulation above all else.

Our bodies literally shut down the energy flow to essential systems (like our entire reproductive and digestive systems) when we live in a state of stress for too long.

And yet we still aren't taught that this is why women have so many hormonal and gut issues, or how we can fix it with easy nervous system regulation tools and feminine connection 😑

So you know how I worked through it over the 3 weeks I was away?

🧘🏻‍♀️I regulated my nervous system every time I had that compulsion to pick up my phone.

🫀I reconnected with the truth in my heart, not the panicky thoughts.

✨I realigned with who I wanted to be, where I was, and what was important to me in the present moment.

Because when you learn how to be completely present and completely embodied in your own energy instead of an energy of fear, anxiety, or FOMO, you can do all of these steps in just a few seconds to reset yourself.

This is what it means to re-embody your feminine energy.

This process is what I practice and what I preach.

This is what helped me and dozens of my clients heal.

Because the feminine energy is internal… she is the feeling inside of your heart that reassures you it’s safe to be present, to soak in little moments of joy, to feel at peace with where you are rather than worrying about where or what else you ‘should’ be doing instead.

→ It’s how you go from reheating your cup of tea three times and forgetting to drink it, to actually tasting it… hands wrapped around the mug, steam rising, shoulders softening as you take the first slow sip and watch the sun rise.

→ It’s how you go from checking your banking app before you’ve even brushed your teeth, to trusting that you’re held, doing your morning stretch, feeling the ground beneath your feet, and remembering that abundance comes through your energy, not your effort.

→ It’s how you go from half-listening to your partner while mentally rewriting tomorrow’s to-do list, to letting yourself melt into the moment, laughing, leaning in, actually seeing him, remembering that connection feels better than control ever did.

→ It’s how you go from closing your laptop at midnight because you “just needed to finish one more thing,” to shutting it at 5:30, lighting a candle, and feeling proud that your peace matters more than your productivity.

→ It’s how you go from keeping your phone face-up at dinner “just in case,” to leaving it in the other room entirely, trusting that if something really needs you, it can wait until after dessert.

Because that’s what this work really gives you:

The ability to be with yourself without the constant hum of urgency or fear. To trust that you’re safe. That you’re guided. That your life gets softer, not because you did less, but because you finally stopped fighting yourself and racing against the clock like you have something to prove.

That’s what those 3 weeks in the jungle really showed me — that when you finally stop reaching for your phone, your checklist, your next hit of certainty… you start noticing yourself in the present moment.

You remember what it feels like to have the sun on your face, to laugh without filming it, to breathe deeply without rushing, to trust that life can hold you without you having to hold it all together.

That’s what being in your feminine really is, not dissociating from the world, but finally coming home to yourself to enjoy it.

If you’ve been craving that shift, from watching other women live the life you want, to becoming the woman who does, I have 2 spaces open to begin 1:1 coaching in November.

So that when 2026 arrives, you’re not scrolling and wishing…you’re already living it.

→ Apply here to start your next chapter.

Haley xx