I’m a mindfulness junkie.
And by junkie I mean that because I’m not a naturally mindful person, I surround myself with mindfulness-related things (books, blogs, conferences, apps) in order to encourage myself in a direction I’m not otherwise inclined to lean.
If you’ve ever wanted to be more mindful, I’m likely not going out on a limb when I say that it’s likely also a struggle for you in your daily life.
Indeed, despite our best efforts to stay calm and centered, when the world comes crashing in we all tend to lose ourselves. And it doesn’t even take the world crashing in for us to feel out of control and overwhelmed.
I’ve long heard of the powers of meditation, and have tried for years to make it a daily part of my life. Last year, I decided that guided meditations would help me better get there, as they felt like an easier way to make it work for me. It gives me something to concentrate on (the words of the meditation), as opposed to just my crazy thoughts.
Although I’d be exaggerating if I said an app could transform your life, I wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that a mindfulness app can really transform your approach to meditation. Honestly, having something prerecorded I can just press “play” on is so much easier to use than relying on my own willpower to keep my mind thought-free. Furthermore, it encourages me to use it anywhere — not just in a quiet room. Listening to my guided meditation in a cab might not be the best, but it’s a start, right?
Here are four mindfulness apps I’ve tried that could help in your journey:
Headspace has free and paid options and is a sleek, well-designed and well-liked app aimed to teach you to meditate. It starts with a free version of a 10-day meditation series (1 meditation per day) and is a great intro into all this app can offer at the paid levels. I really enjoy this one, and fully recommend. It also comes with some great animation videos that talk about the power of meditation in general, and showing you what it can do for you.
Mindfulness – Guided Meditations
This app is free, and although it has some good meditations, it is a bit beginner level — more interested in teaching you HOW than in providing guided meditations. I like both, but am currently into the guided meditations that target a specific issue or concern I’m dealing with, so this would not be my top choice for that kind of content.
This app is $.99 and has some good simple guided meditations of different lengths you can choose from. Good for the price.
Meditations for Stress and Relaxation
Joan Borysenko is one of my favorite authors, and this app (which is the priciest of the lot at $5.99) gives you a host of guided meditations that she walks you through. Since I love her, I’m a fan of this, and would recommend it.
Are there any other mindfulness apps you’ve tried? Or what do you do to encourage mindfulness on a daily basis?
I really dig calm.com. I practice vipassana meditation regularly. A common object of focus in vipassana is the breath. Although there’s nothing magical about it, it is a good way to keep you in engaged in the present moment. After 6 months of following my breath (between random thoughts, of course) I found myself bored to death of it. I prefer listening to sounds of nature like flowing water, or birds chirping. Calm.com has a variety of cool simulated nature scenes that, to me, are much more engaging to listen to and provide an equivalent experience to following your breath. Check it out!