Losing Prana before sunrise: the invisible design that steals your morning
This morning, I woke up to the sound of my alarm. I pressed the first big orange button I saw: “snooze.” Then again. And again.
By the time I truly opened my eyes, I was already talking myself down, feeling behind, feeling guilty, like I had broken a small promise to myself before the day had even begun. And since I was already “behind,” I reached for my phone (again) in search for comfort. Before I knew it, I was deep in an endless scroll. It didn’t help. It left me feeling even more drained, anxious and disconnected. I missed my yoga practice. I didn’t have time for a proper breakfast. I wasn’t present with the sun that had already risen.
Here’s something I’ve come to realise, not just as a human being, but as an Ayurvedic Health Advisor who helps others restore vitality and balance: it’s not a lack of willpower. It’s purposely made by design.
Dark user experience
Dark UX (also called dark patterns) refers to design techniques used in digital platforms like apps, websites and devices, that are intentionally built to manipulate your behaviour. These techniques push you to take actions you didn’t consciously choose, or wouldn’t have done otherwise. It’s not about “bad design” or “user error.” It’s psychological manipulation, deeply embedded in how interfaces are built.
A common example? The alarm clock.
The snooze button is large, bright, and easy to tap in the middle of your screen, while the “dismiss” button is small and harder to locate somewhere below. In a sleepy state, your brain defaults to what’s easiest. Over time, this trains your body to ignore natural wake-up cues and creates a loop of morning disconnection.
And it doesn’t stop there.
Other examples of Dark UX include:
Autoplay on streaming services (keeps you from stopping)
Infinite scroll on social media (keeps you from pausing)
“Are you sure?” prompts when you try to delete or quit something (creates friction against healthy choices)
Red notification bubbles (trigger urgency or FOMO)
These small manipulations may seem harmless, but they shape how your day begins, how often you’re distracted, and how much self-trust and energy you carry with you.
From Digital Burnout to Digital Prana Depletion
Companies use Dark UX to increase engagement and profits. But for you, the user, it often leads to digital burnout… or what I, through the lens of Ayurveda, call digital prana depletion.
Even though your alarm clock may not seem like a commercial product, it’s part of a larger strategy. Each time you hit snooze, you re-engage with your device. These micro-interactions increase the chances you'll unlock your phone, check notifications, start scrolling, or open another app to help you “finally wake up.” It’s not just about the alarm, it’s about reinforcing a habit loop that keeps you distracted rather than self-directed.
Over time, your brain is conditioned to turn to your phone for regulation, comfort, and rhythm, instead of relying on your own body’s intelligence.
What is digital prana?
“Prana” is a Sanskrit word meaning life force energy. It’s the current that fuels your clarity, vitality, and presence.
In Ayurveda, prana is the subtlest form of energy and it’s directly connected to your nervous system and breath. Today, our digital environments play a major role in how much prana we preserve or leak.
Every unconscious scroll, every dopamine-triggering notification, every time your nervous system is jolted when your body craves stillness...you chip away at your own inner battery.
This isn’t just a spiritual idea. It’s where biology and design intersect:
Dopamine loops create constant reward-seeking
Cortisol spikes come from micro-stresses (like red dots or sound alerts)
Blue light and overstimulation disrupt your circadian rhythm
And all of it drains your ability to stay grounded and vital
If you want to explore prana deeper, I’ve written more about its link to biofrequency and your energy field here.
What you can do instead
It begins with awareness. And then… with choosing a different design inside and out.
One small shift: train yourself to press stop instead of snooze. That way, your brain knows: if I don’t get up, I will oversleep. This builds accountability and helps restore self-trust.
Some soul-friendly alternatives:
Keep your phone outside the bedroom (or place it a few meters away from bed so you’re forced to get up to end the alarm)
Allow at least 15 minutes of tech-free space after waking
Replace snooze-time with breathing, gentle movement, or a simple meditation
Use aromatherapy to signal wakefulness (just one intentional breath paired with the right scent can anchor you in the now and lift you up)
Personally, I use my prana-filled perfume oil blends each morning to cue clarity and calm. The Kapha balancing oil, for example, is designed specifically to uplift mood and energy during the Kapha time of day (6–10 AM), when sluggishness can feel most present. You can read more about Kapha mornings and their qualities here.
A moment to reflect
Before tomorrow arrives, ask yourself: “what is one unconscious digital habit that drains me daily, before I’ve even brushed my teeth?”
Write it down. Feel it. And then choose something gentler in its place.
This is why I do what I do
I dream of a world where health doesn’t start with a prescription but with a remembering of what it means to be human, and how we are designed to live naturally. I stand for the return of prana: the energy that flows through everything. Through my work, I offer tools to help people unplug from the unconscious systems around them and come back to their own design.
Final thought
You don’t need more productivity hacks. You need fewer unconscious inputs. So tomorrow morning, when your alarm goes off, ask yourself: am I the one designing my day, or am I following someone else’s? That one moment may become the most powerful choice you make.
Love,
Mandy
