In an age of smartphones, instant messaging and 24/7 availability, it’s increasingly hard to find time to step away and reconnect with one’s self.
But before you lock your smartphone away for an hour a day, check out some of the apps and websites for learning and practicing meditation and mindfulness-based stress reduction.
You don’t need a new gadget to meditate; all the equipment necessary comes installed in the product: you. But some meditation and mindfulness trainers are using technology in interesting ways. They range from simple timers to courses.
Kabat-Zinn’s website is one of the oldest commercial websites, launched in 1998 when the World Wide Web was still in its swaddling clothes. Now, colleagues in Sweden have developed apps containing Kabat-Zinn’s series of guided meditations.
“The idea is basically to make this as widely available as possible so people can practice the meditation on a regular basis in their own lives,” Kabat-Zinn said.
• Headspace: Headspace Meditation (Apple and Android). First 10 lessons free. $7.99 a month for a yearlong course. (Apple and Android): This popular app settles you down, leads you through a relaxing body scan, then teaches techniques for settling the mind, pushing thoughts gently away and bringing the mind and body together to experience the present moment. If you’re not ready for a yearlong commitment, a month of sessions are $12.95.
• Insight Timer: Free. Spotlight Six Software (Apple and Android): With more than 13 million downloads, this timer is clearly popular. The timer comes with sounds the user can select to mark the beginning and end of a meditation or yoga session. Sounds range from gongs to singing bowls.
• The JKZ Series 1-3: (Apple and Android.) $9.99 for each of three sections. These apps contain Kabat-Zinn’s three programs in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. The three apps can be downloaded from Mindfulnessapps.com. These were formerly available only on CDs. The CDs and digital downloads are also available at Mindfulnesscds.com.
• Mindfulness & Health: Free websites Mindfulnesshealth.com and Mindfulnesshealth-psychotherapy.com created by Silicon Valley psychotherapist and mindfulness trainer Renee Burgard. They feature information about her classes and downloadable guided meditation and mindfulness sessions.
• Mindfulness Meditation (Mental Workout): Multiple platforms. “Lite” version free, full version $16.99 a year. A meditation guide by Stephan Bodian, author of “Meditation for Dummies.”
• Buddhify (21awake): (Apple) $3. Custom meditations for different times of day and different situations.
