APP-Y MEDITATIONS
For
those who have been planning to take up meditation but don’t know where to
begin, there are now plenty of apps to help you get started
The popularity of meditation apps has
led to a crowded field, and it can be tough to know which one to choose. Here
are a few things to consider when looking for an app to help you learn how to
meditate.
Start with an app that will teach you
the basic techniques of meditation through a free, guided program.
Calm and Headspace
seem to be the best for this, with sessions that introduce you to concepts of
mindful awareness and techniques such as focusing on your breath and body.
Calm has a free
seven-day introduction; you will need to subscribe for a more robust 21-day
program (Rs 2,600 for a year, or Rs 670 monthly). The meditation for each day
takes seven to 15 minutes and includes a few minutes of background on technique
and then a practice session.
Headspace has
a 10-day introduction that consists of 10-minute segments that teach the
concepts of meditation through short, well-produced cartoons and videos. After
the free 10-day program you will need a Rs 870 a month subscription (Rs 530
monthly for a full year). A subscription unlocks two levels of the program with
longer meditations as well as programs around topics such as stress,
creativity, pregnancy and sleep. Each of the programs includes videos
introducing new concepts of mindfulness and more than a dozen focused
meditations.
If a 10- or 15-minute meditation seems
too time-consuming, Mindfulness Daily
(Rs 130 on iTunes) offers a 21-day introductory program with most meditations
clocking in at shorter than five minutes. I found the slightly longer
meditations in Calm and Headspace worth the extra time, but the Mindfulness
Daily meditations are a good, bite-size alternative. And it’s cheaper.
Be warned that some apps don’t offer
much of an introductory program at all. Omvana, for instance, works more as a
clearinghouse for meditations, offering a few free meditations, with others available
for Rs 200 to Rs 500 for a single meditation track. There are a few beginner
meditations included, but I found their pacing rushed and more focused on
selling the idea of meditation than on helping you to learn how to do it.
ALERTS TO MOTIVATE
One of the more challenging problems in
learning to meditate is remembering to do it. Most apps allow you to set
reminders to meditate each day. Headspace will send your phone up to five daily
doses of inspiration. An example: “A closed mind thinks only of itself and
dwells on its own worries. An open mind lets go of its own worries to focus on
others.”
Mindfulness Daily offers the most
innovative alerts of the apps I tried. Swipe the alert to open a soothing
15-second video overlaid with a sequence of instructions to “Breathe in” and
“Breathe out”. It’s a potent reminder of how even a few seconds of focused
breathing can cause you to stop what you are doing and change your mood.
The 10% Happier app, based on a book by
Dan Harris, a co-anchor of “Nightline,” takes a different approach to keep you
coming back, by introducing the user to meditation with a personal coach. To
use the app, you put in your phone number and then you immediately get texted
by your coach asking if you have questions — which might feel helpful or
intrusive, depending on your personality. The app is Rs 1,300 for a two-week
introductory course that pairs each meditation with a slick video in the style
of a television newsmagazine.
MEDITATING DAILY
Once you have made it through the
introductory programs, or if you are interested in adding some variety, there
are apps designed to bring meditation to your daily activities. Buddhify 2 (a
Rs 330 download) begins with a wheel of more than a dozen activities such as
walking in the city, being online, and eating, and offers guided meditations
for each activity. Unlike the seated-with-eyes-closed routine of most other
apps, Buddhify 2 cleverly weaves lessons of mindfulness into your daily
activities in a way that broadens your experience. The downside is that it
doesn’t include a guided introductory program or daily reminders.
Stop, Breathe & Think, which seems
largely directed at children and teenagers, focuses on the user’s mood — angry,
anxious, disgusted — and suggests one of 15 free meditations and others that
you can pay to download. The app rewards your progress with virtual stickers
for meditating several days in a row, or completing a certain number of
minutes.
TRACKING PROGRESS
In this age of fitness trackers it is
no surprise that most of the meditation apps offer a way to track your
meditation.
Both Calm and Headspace dig into stats
around your average meditation, your longest meditation streak and total time
you have spent meditating. Buddhify 2 and Stop, Breathe & Think both allow
you to rate your mindfulness, concentration and balance and track those ratings
over time.
Mindfulness Daily takes this further by
prompting you (more aggressively than most apps) to check in with your feelings
each time you meditate or view the 15-second pause.
While it is possible to skip the
questions about your mood, I found them to be an annoying interruption.
VOICE INSIDE YOUR HEAD
While the features and strengths of
each app vary, the app you choose may ultimately come down to something
incredibly basic — do you like the voice and tone of the individual
meditations? Look for an app that allows you to test the voice at no cost
before you commit. Andy Puddicombe, the British founder of Headspace, is the voice
of its app. Calm and Mindfulness Daily both feature female American voices.
Buddhify 2 includes a mix of male and female voices with British and American
accents, so you may like some better than others.
TWISTS AND TURNS: YOGA APPS IN
INDIA
When it comes to yoga, apps have not
yet found as many takers in India as in the West. Here, most people still
prefer to go to yoga schools or hire a private instructor.
Prity Verma, 24, chose yoga classes
over watching instructional videos or using mobile applications.
“I watched many instructional videos,
but found I wasn’t able to get the full benefit doing it on my own. In the
class, my instructor monitors what I do and explains the asanas [postures] and
kriyas [breathing techniques], which further benefit me,” she says.
Among the tangible benefits she has
experienced is the disappearance of the migraines that afflicted her for the
past two years. Verma is preparing for competitive exams and as the stress
increased, so did the frequency of her headaches. Medicines did not help.
“At first, I used to take a pill and
sleep it off. But as I started putting in longer hours of study, my condition
worsened. The episodes also disrupted my schedule. So when I read that yoga
might be beneficial, I joined a class two months ago,” says Verma. “Now, I
hardly have any episodes.”
Nagesh Hiregoudar, who has been
teaching yoga at Satwa Yoga Centre in north-west Delhi for 10 years, insists
guidance is needed. “The curriculum has to be modified depending on the needs
of the person. A regular assessment is also needed to see whether the person is
doing exactly what he or she is supposed to. Without a trainer, it is like
experimenting with your body. In fact, it can be very damaging,” he says.
In people with hypertension, inverted
postures may lead to a heart attack. “There are certain asanas that pregnant
women and people who have high BP or back problems need to avoid. We also make
sure that people who have had accidents do not stress the affected body part
while doing various asanas. An app cannot monitor all this,” says Anil Chouhan,
a yoga instructor with Nityam Yoga Centre in Shakapur in east Delhi.
What make classes and home instructors
popular is affordability. “Group yoga classes cost Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000 for 20
sessions a month, while individual sessions cost Rs 8,000 and Rs 15,000 for
three to four sessions a week,” says Verma.
“I pay Rs 1,500 a month, which is very
affordable. I spent more than that on medicines and doctors. So, if I can get
supervised instruction, why should I opt for an app,” Verma adds.
Brian
Hamman ■ NYT
HT29NOV15
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