Mindfulness Meditation with Headspace

One of my resolutions this year was to practice mindfulness. The main reason being that I often find it difficult to take time out from doing things and give myself time to unwind. Being busy for prolonged periods of time or stressful situations would often cause me to melt down and lose it, and I'd feel completely demotivated and unhappy for days or weeks afterwards. Jess suggested that I should find something to 'do' that would involve me doing nothing at all - sort of like a brain hack. She suggested something like sitting and listening to music or meditating. 

I felt like I wouldn't be able to sit still and concentrate on listening to music each day with my mind constantly reminding me about how much other stuff I could be doing in the time, so I opted to try to get a better understanding of my mind through meditation. I also felt like I would need to be guided in the practice of meditation, so I started searching for something that would fit my needs and lifestyle. I found a great app called Headspace, which I've been using now for a number of months.

Headspace is a guided mindfulness meditation app designed to suit modern life. We can't all be monks, living in a secluded monastery and becoming one with the universe - but we can set aside some time each day to observe how our minds work. The app was recently updated, however I haven't tried out many of the new features yet. The original version has a number of programs that you work through sequentially. It starts with Take 10, which takes you through the basics of meditation practice for 10 minutes each day for 10 days. As you move through the programs, new techniques are introduced and the duration is increased. I'm currently on the 'Discovery' series, which has so far been about being more aware and present in your body, noticing physical sensations, as well as underlying moods and your reactions to them.

The app works particularly well for me and motivates me to continue my practice. It's got a number of stats that track your progress and you can see how far you've come. With the update, they also recently added a 'buddies' system.

If you're interested, download the app to try out the Take 10 program. After that it's a small price for a subscription to get access to the rest of the content. I would link to it, however the app I'm typing this up on doesn't have that feature; just Google it if you're interested.

Note: I didn't get paid to write any of this, just thought I'd share something that's been working for me.