When I think of mindfulness, what often comes to mind is my early morning sitting practice . . . both the struggles and the benefits.
My Droid smartphone and my laptop aren’t anywhere in the picture.
And yet, perhaps they should be.
Technology has given us computer programs and apps for just about everything, so it stands to reason that there would be something helpful for stress reduction and mindfulness, too.
I decided to investigate.
Here is some interesting mindfulness-based technology that I found (and no, I’m not getting any kind of commission from mentioning these):
• Chronicle Books’ The Essential Meditations Deck app – it’s a deck of 50 meditation cards with a guided meditation on each one. The cards can even be e-mailed in case you want to share a meditation.
• The Stillness Buddy – you download this program to your computer. Every 30 minutes (or in whatever increments you set), the program will prompt you to take a quick (20-30 second) mindfulness break. Every 1.5 hours or so, the program sends you a 1-2 minute meditation to practice. You can tailor the intervals between breaks, as well as which meditations to practice and from which teachers (including the Dalai Lama, Jack Kornfield, Roshi Joan Halifax, and Thich Nhat Hanh).
• Holosync and Lifeflow meditations – audio technologies that put you into states of deep meditation (though admittedly at a steep cost).
• Happy Tapper apps – they have a series of apps that include a vision board, a gratitude journal, and “little Buddha” inspirational quotes.
• For Android and iOS users – there’s an Insight Timer (really a Zen singing bowl) app, which you set to periodically ring through the day. If you’re on Twitter or Facebook, you can link the timer to your account so that you and your friends can support each other’s practice.
There are many others. Do you know of one to share?
Mindfulness technology will never replace the richness of the in-person meditation experience and yet, it can still be a valuable tool in maintaining a mindfulness practice throughout the day.
Do you already use technology as an aid to your mindfulness practice? Do you think your patients would find an app helpful? Please leave a comment below.
Please let us know if you find this helpful. If you do, maybe we’ll share some others down the road.
For many years I have enjoyed the mindfulness bell, which has always been a free download and which is now available online…it is a very simple tool, but nice…
http://www.fungie.info/bell/#
I challenge many of my clients to the 10 in 10 on Headspace (Getsomeheadspace.com) Andy Puddicombe makes it easy for the new mindfulness practitioner to dive right in.
Also Mindfulness Meditation by Mental Workout…These are two great Apps!
I enjoy the “3-minute retreat” from Loyola Press. you can get it in your mailbox everyday. it’s simple and short and draws me into deeper Peace. thanks for your suggestions, i’ll take a look at them.
The Mindfulness App is a very nice app that introduces the user to mindfulness exercises nicely. It also has reminders and mindfulness notices. Available on AppStore
Holosync is expensive……but it’s a fab way of easily training one’s brain into great states. Recommended. Have downloaded the gratitude app – seems like a fun way to remind one of all the many things to be grateful for. Thanks for the links, Ruth!
Mexico city is a very large noisy and extended city with incredible traffic. On the other hand technology is here to stay. I think is ts a great idea to incorporate technology into our lifes in ways that build us stronger and help us with the search of our spirituality. The STILLNESS BUDDY will be a great relief and a good aid when stuck in traffic. The part that excites is to have a ” companion” that will remind me to take a mindfulness break tailored for my needs between patients, i am sure it will help with my private prActice.
Thankyou for the pointers.
Although this is not an app it has been helpful for me to become more aware and present. The Inner Bonding Institute (Dr. Margaret Paul) sells the MotivAider which you can set for almost any amount of time. It will vibrate for whatever times you need a reminder to be present. It’s under $75.00.
“Enlightening Quotes” for Android — a series of prompts for insight into no-self:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.liberationunleashed.eq
Ruth, try Mindfulness Bell, which will ring as often as when you want to remind you to take a moment for mindfulness. Another favorite is Pzizz, which is a wonderful hypnotic app that helps you either sleep or will energize you, two different apps. Both have been great, the energizer is the best for a short nap, while the sleep version of Pzizz is a great help to get to a natural state of sleep.
I have only been meditating for about a week using this model and technique I’ve been able to achieve a degree serenity and peacefulness. The process is very simple – achieving full benefits is a marathon and I need a lot more practice, but I am so pleased with the results, I look enjoy my sessions.and look forward to the future and how it will only improve my life!
Great notice and look at the postive side. Thank you.
Thank you Ruth – this makes a lot of sense and looks good. I will investigate. More news later.
I encourage my clients to take periodic breaks to breathe, stretch, notice the good…..another good resource is http://www.meaningtopause.com. This is a small California company owned by two women. They sell bracelets that gently buzz every 60 or 90 minutes to encourage the wearer to pause and be grateful, or breathe, or…..
hi,
i’m thrilled to know of these apps, but have another issue:
i keep trying to read your 2009 posting on anger, but it keeps bringing me back to this page.
i’ll check back here, but if it’s possible to email me any possible solution — or a copy of the posting, i’d appreciate it. nancyobrienyoga@gmail.com
thanks ….
I find the Bio Breathing app really wonderful as well.
I have been using an auto-responder gratitude journal myself. It comes as many times a day as I’d like. I immediately stop and focus on something for which I am grateful. The best part is, at the end of the week I get all of my postings sent back to me. The cost is very low for such a wonderful service!
http://www.grateful160.com/about/
What a big help and will be putting these up on my web site for clients to use. Keep up the good work.
Hello All,
Technology can in some ways really impact mindfulness practice in a very positive way and bring it to people who otherwise may not be exposed to the benefits.
We created an app call Mindful Meals for the iPhone to help individuals who struggle with emotional eating. It helps people eat mindfully and track their emotions as they eat.
You can check it out here.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mindful-meals/id535440148?mt=8
Would love to know what you think and get feedback for making it better.
Thanks,
Duane
I have been using the Insight Timer to ring randomly when I am with clients. Now they ask “Where is the bell?” if I forget to turn it on. The parents love it when it’s “time to take a breath”.
I can recommend Naturespace and Pocket Pond as very relaxing. I’m looking at DeepRelax, but have not had the time to really appreciate it
Health and fair winds,
Focusing on Mindfulness and Values Work in Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
Kelly G. Wilson, Ph.D. University of Mississippi
November 3 & 4, 2012, 9:30 am-5:00 pm at
Marina Village
1936 Quivira Way
San DieGo, Ca
Thank you Ruth, as ever. A portable, voluntary timer with a singing bowl sounds good…
For more EMF safety while being “closer”, if unavoidable, to phones/computers for this purpose (or any other): Cutcat.com sells airtube headphones + a tiny box that clips on your own portable ear wires, other things with info; ElectricSense.com has many tips + thoughtful research; and VibesUP.com is a beautiful, fun + endearing source of thoughts + products to use to be in harmony with Nature, technology, Earth changes, and all…HIGHLY recommended! Love to hear if anyone has tried them.
An app called get some headspace is a nice simple introduction to mindfulness http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/
I often recommend it to my patients and use it myself.
Deepak Chopra does a free 21 day meditation program each season…each session goes for about 20min. I have done them all and believe if more people did the summer 2011 sessions we could change the planet. I am one of those many that up until this had a great deal of difficulty quieting my mind during meditation. These programs have changed that and I can now get to the gap anytime I want to without the use of the program.
Hi…I wrote a review of mindfulness apps I found interesting a while ago:
http://www.prisondharmanetwork.net/profiles/blogs/review-of-best-mindfulness-apps
Consider this is what a trigger looks like for us. The navy seals learn to move when fear is present. How? The slowing of the exhales.
http://ptsdawayout.com/2012/07/12/the-brain-fear-navy-seals-12/
The goal of mindfulness is to reach a state where distraction, thoughts and emotions, fade. A no thought stage where we are still aware but below the ego (Cognitive). A concrete, simple model for the us to practice slowing the mind down and letting to of thought. That is all we are after.
Amazingly though, this skill is meditating and can be developed and deepened for the rest of you life.
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Can you accomplish this with a simple concrete model Eliminating 99% of the complexity, abstract mess and difficulty. You do not have to be an accomplished meditator to heal.
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You apply this at each trigger as it explodes. If a client can stay present when cortisol and adrenal stress explodes, all symptoms start to lose power.
A client with the confidence to stay present and not dissociate will gain confidence and a stabling of the nervous system.
My model lets a novice activate their parasympathetic nervous system, absorbing cortisol and calming us. Give a client a tool to face his/her fears and life changes with daily action.
It is much simpler than and easier to heal this way. A therapist can now influence a client and fine tune their own healing.
http://ptsdawayout.com/2012/05/24/mindfulness-for-beginners-no-problem/
My Breathing track model does so much more so much quicker for free. this model brings two more senses to our focus. it also incorporates a three dimensional ability to follow the breath with eyes open tracking the breath.
You can accomplish things that took me years in a few months. it is portable as the model is habit for the mind.
Here is a post on the breathing tack.
My Breathing track model does so much more so much quicker for free. this model brings two more senses to our focus. it also incorporates a three dimensional ability to follow the breath with eyes open tracking the breath.
You can accomplish things that took me years in a few months. it is portable as the model is habit for the mind.
Here is a post on the breathing tack.
http://ptsdawayout.com/2012/05/27/the-breathing-track-secrets-i-think/
The goal is to reach emptiness while being aware.
This model e
Imitates so much that confuses everyone.
Describe to someone, a novice how to meditate online.
That is what the breathing track does. You can use mindfulness by copying a model and starting on your own.
Please name me another model that can do that. MIT is concrete simple and immediate exactly what moves the mind and body when cortisol and fear explode.
It must be that you can not make a bunch of money off this because it works.