From checking emails before bed to constant notifications from social media, our phones can often contribute to our daily stress.
Penny For Your Thoughts
Our thoughts are like cars crossing a road, they come and go constantly from our minds. The key points of mindfulness are not to try and block out these thoughts, but to notice them arriving and leaving without judgment or holding onto them. When we focus too much on these thoughts that arrive, it’s almost as if the car has run out of petrol and got stuck. The thoughts ruminate and can cause anxiety and stress.
Take some time out for yourself by practicing daily mindfulness. We know you are busy and have a million work emails from the minute you wake up, but just trying 5-10 minutes of meditation a day will really enhance your daily life and help you to stop judging yourself and get caught up in the stories of these thoughts. The busier the mind is, the more benefits you will receive from mindfulness meditation.
Don’t Hate-Meditate
When you start to meditate, just like when you start a new fitness practice you will quickly see ‘beginners gains’. You’ll find that you reap the benefits so quickly. So don’t worry if you think you suck at it, in fact, you will receive so many positive tools.
Mobile meditation apps offer meditation for wherever you are so that having a busy schedule won’t get in your way. You don’t have to be like wise old Rafiki sat crossed legged to meditate, You can meditate during your morning commute, or even on your lunch break.
Here are our top 5 apps to try, you won’t regret downloading them.
Headspace
This straightforward app is perfect for meditation beginners. The guided exercises are designed for busy schedules and consist of just 10 minutes, starting with a 10-session pack that comes free with the initial download, perfect to find out if it’s your thing. Headspace is very user-friendly and we guarantee you will want to subscribe.
Buddhify
This innovative app offers different meditations to suit your personal situation. For example, if you have anxiety around food, there is a meditation whilst eating, or for whilst at work or traveling. The meditations for waking up and going to sleep are particularly useful if these are times that are difficult. There are nearly 100 tracks to explore, so there will definitely be at least one to suit your needs.
Calm
Calm is similar to Headspace. There is a free 7 day trial period where you can get a feel for the app. Once you pay, the beneficial sessions include a 21-day program for overall well-being, and for those who find it hard to unwind, there is a whole section for sleep. if you don’t need guided meditations there are a plethora of options with calming music.
The Mindfulness App
The Mindfulness App is extremely accessible and offers a wealth of meditation tracks both guided and unguided, from 3 to 30 minutes so you can build up over time. Similar to both Headspace and Calm there’s an introductory series to get you started and feeling confident.
Insight Timer
This free app offers over 2000 meditations from a variety of spiritual traditions, as well as ones similar to Buddhify, that are designed to help you sleep or de-stress. What is special about this app is that you can also create your own meditation through the timer section of the app. Here you can change the length of the meditation, the sound,(if you want sound) and at what time during the practice you want to hear a sound. There are many different settings, making this very user-friendly and appealing to a wide audience.
Find out more, with these: 4 mindfulness exercises for a more balanced life.