The Power in Your Hands
Liberate Yourself from Attachment to Technology
by Shannon Algeo
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Pub Date Jun 02 2026 | Archive Date Not set
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Description
"A moving and inspiring book about the most important topic facing all of us." --Johann Hari, author of New York Times bestselling book Stolen Focus
Who will you become when you put down your phone and pick up your life?
The average smartphone user spends the equivalent of 61 to 80 days per year on their device. Smartphones have become the fifth limb of the human body as they move with us from the bathroom to the waiting room to the kitchen sink to the bed. But we aren't just physically attached to our phones; we're emotionally attached as well.
New research reveals how individuals with insecure attachment styles (anxious or avoidant) are more likely to develop a problematic or compulsive relationship with their smartphone. But all of us--regardless of our attachment style--are turning to our phones more and more to soothe and distract us, which numbs our empathy, diminishes the quality of our relationships, and drains the part of our brain required for creative focus. The more time we spend on our screens, the less time we spend engaging in our life with our own two hands. The good news is that we can course-correct by reclaiming the embodied and ensouled wisdom that our recent ancestors knew well. But digital detoxes are not enough. We need both personal and collective action to recover from the tsunami of digital distraction we now face.
In The Power in Your Hands, psychotherapist and meditation teacher Shannon Algeo invites readers to reckon with their attachment to technology through understanding the connections between compulsive smartphone behavior and their unique attachment style in relationships. He guides readers on a journey of reconnection to their inner child's needs for artistry, self-expression, and real human relationships. Through psychologically supported "rituals of remembering", readers will rewire their neuropsychology and reclaim their creativity so they can move from the despair of digitization to the fulfillment of re-humanization.
While we must address this problem collectively, only you can reckon with the underlying human needs, desires, fears, and insecurities that keep you reaching for a phone that would sooner have you scroll into oblivion than connect with your soul. Your attention, relationships, and desires are yours. The power is in your hands.
Advance Praise
“A moving and inspiring book about the most important topic facing all of us.”
—Johann Hari, author of New York Times bestselling book Stolen Focus
“The Power in Your Hands is a compassionate guide for anyone ready to change their relationship with technology by healing the deeper patterns beneath it. Shannon Algeo helps us understand not just what we reach for online, but why—and how to come back to presence, connection, and self-trust. A grounded, thoughtful road map for reclaiming your attention and your life.”
—Dr. Nicole LePera, author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers How to Do the Work and How to Be the Love You Seek
“The Power in Your Hands is a must-read for anyone who owns a smartphone—in other words, all of us! The bad news is that Algeo offers an unflinching and ‘tough love’ examination into what we already know to be true: We are in a toxic relationship with our technology. The good news is that he also outlines an empowering path forward, one that helps us reconnect with nature, with other people, and with ourselves.”
—Alexandra H. Solomon, PhD, licensed clinical psyhologist, adjunct professor at Northwestern University, bestselling author of Love Every Day, and host of the podcast Reimagining Love
“Shannon Algeo writes with the clarity of a scholar and the tenderness of a sage. The Power in Your Hands is rich with research, yet it reads like a prayer—a compassionate guide back to our embodied aliveness. This book is a balm for a world that’s forgotten how to look up, breathe deep, and be here now.”
—Sah D’Simone, bestselling author of Spiritually Sassy and Spiritually, We
“What we give our attention and time to is an immensely important issue. The Power in Your Hands beautifully weaves research and poetic reflection to help us come out of digital immersion and back into presence. Both the science and spirit of transformation shine through, guiding us to rediscover creativity, attention, and awe.”
—Yung Pueblo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lighter, How to Love Better, and the Inward Trilogy
“Shannon Algeo tenderly reveals how to loosen our grip on technology and return to the wisdom of our human hearts. This book is essential medicine for the spirit in the age of distraction.”
—Elena Brower, bestselling author of Practice You and Hold Nothing
“I’ve been waiting for a book on social media and attachment styles, and Shannon Algeo’s work does not disappoint. This is a trauma-informed, spiritually and scientifically based, nervous system–aware approach to changing your relationship to technology. It will help you put down your phone and step back into your life.”
—Amelia Hruby, PhD, host of the Off the Grid: Leaving Social Media podcast and author of Your Attention Is Sacred Except on Social Media
“WE NEED THIS BOOK. Algeo’s words are medicine for a culture starved of presence. This book is a deeply human invitation to remember what it means to be alive.”
—Africa Brooke, author of The Third Perspective and host of the Beyond the Self podcast
“Our time and attention are the most important things we are taking for granted every time we reach for our phone. It won’t be easy, but it is possible to profoundly change your relationship with the technology you use every day. And you are not alone—this book is a great starting point for questioning our current habits and giving us tools to reclaim control.”
—Joe Hollier, founder of The Light Phone
“Shannon Algeo’s thoughtful and elegant discourse on our culture’s increasingly deranged intimacy with our phones is grounded in a genuinely sophisticated psychological lens. His exploration of the attachment patterns that underlie our digital addictions landed with uncanny precision: I found myself suddenly recognizing my own avoidant style in a way I had not previously admitted. This book invited me, with kindness and clarity, to reclaim my whole self rather than banish the shadow.”
—Sam Stern, host of Voices of Esalen podcast and teacher of human-centered AI
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9798889832331 |
| PRICE | $28.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 313 |