Tag Archives: apps

Digital Serenity Explained

It’s that time of year once again. Ads for holiday shoppers, our friends’ post-Thanksgiving photos, and the final exam schedule all fight for our attention. It’s the annual End-of-Semester Dash. It’s fun. It’s intense. And sometimes it’s just-too-much. You just want to reach out … grab your PHONE and turn on some peace and quiet.

Wait. Can your phone really be the shelter in the storm? It’s an interesting question that John Tresch, a historian of science at the University of Pennsylvania, considers in his blog post, “Buddhify Your Android” (Tricycle blog, 4 Dec 2015). Continue reading →

OPB’s Here and Now on Meditation

Curious about meditation? Having trouble getting past some of the roadblocks that your imagination has set up? Here is a simple way to bring your thoughts back to earth, get some straight facts, and get started: listen to two meditation experts speak with NPR’s Here and Now’s Robin Young.

Andy Puddicombe is the developer of the Headspace meditation app. Here and Now interviewed him on Wed (21 Oct 2015) on Technology Stressing You Out? There’s an App for That.

Jon Kabat-Zinn is the developer and moving force behind Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a medically proven therapy for alleviating stress and pain. Here & Now interviewed him today (22 Oct 2015) on The Science of Mindfulness and Meditation.

Meditation apps

Can a smartphone (or tablet, or laptop) be conducive to the cultivation of mindful awareness? It just might if it happens to equipped with a meditation app. The NY Times Personal Tech file published reviews of four iOS and Android meditation apps, Calm, Headspace, Happier, and Digipill that claim to help users calm down, cultivate awareness, get better sleep, and so on.

NOTE: Some of these apps are free and some are not. I have not tried any of them and I am not endorsing any of them. If you decide to try one, let me know what your experience is like.

Update (Mar 30, 2015): Robin passed along info about another app: Simply Being – Guided Meditation for Relaxation and Presence (available for iPhone and iPad).