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.

Book Review: The QI Book of General Ignorance by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson

I was pretty close to finishing this one before I posted last week, and I was considering holding off until I could add this one as well, but I felt as though I just needed to write something - anything - to start getting back into a habit again. Anyhow, onto the quasi-book review.

The QI Book Of General Ignorance - John Lloyd and John Mitchinson

Image Credit: Amazon

Know your way around pub trivia? Think you have a reasonable grasp of general knowledge? Think again. This book lives up to its advertised 'everything you think you know is wrong' tag line. The book is essentially a collection of short articles, usually no more than a page or two each, that drill down into a question that you might believe that you know the answer to. The results are usually surprising, confusing and amusing; proof that the truth is always stranger than fiction.

Because of the short lengths of the articles, it was a great read at work - you could easily pick it up and put it back down after reading the answers to a few questions. However, the downside of the format was that it was easy to become overwhelmed by new information, and with no coherent 'story line' (topics seemed to flow into one another, but there was often not much connecting one article to the next) it didn't really encourage you to keep on reading, so making progress is slow.

Overall though, it was an interesting read. Topics covered pretty much everything from sports to nature to religion, science, history and more.

Book Review: Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

Time to get back on the horse; writing recently has been difficult because Jess and I have been moving house. Having now gone through that, and getting somewhat settled into a new routine, it's time I got back into a habit of putting pen to paper. Or in this case, keystrokes to internet.

Given Jess and I have been busy packing up our stuff, there hasn't been a lot of time to devote to other pursuits. I've only got one book finished in the last little while:

Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett

Image credit: Amazon.com; buy it here

Wyrd Sisters centers around three witches who have to meddle - not meddle, witches never meddle - influence the affairs of the kingdom of Lancre after the king is assassinated by the Duke, his mad brother, planned by the built-like-a-fridge Duchess. The king's firstborn baby son is delivered into the hands of the coven of witches, while the king, by virtue of having a strong anthromorphogenic field, remains undead enough to haunt his crumbling castle and even play a part in the events that unfold. Granny Weatherwax makes a comeback (the last book she was in was Equal Rites, I think), as does Death (one of my favourites). A good read, and there's also a cartoon adaptation of the story for the 'I'll just wait for the movie'-types.