{"id":54683,"date":"2016-12-16T07:15:31","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T12:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=54683"},"modified":"2021-05-18T17:44:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T21:44:53","slug":"meditation-app-mindfulness-simple-habit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/tech\/meditation-app-mindfulness-simple-habit\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Mindfulness: The 5-Minute Meditation App for People on the Move\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
Photo: Twenty20<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the last few months, I\u2019ve noticed just how much my mind wanders. Maybe you\u2019ve been here, too: When a comment or question requires your response mid convo, and you have to resort to the lame (and obviously distracted) nod and smile. Naturally, I\u2019d like to blame social media<\/a> for this lack of attention span. I\u2019ve caught myself thinking more about what my Instagram<\/a> caption will be than actually experiencing the intensity of my workout or savoring every sip of my Bloody Mary. The first step is realizing you have a problem though, right?<\/p>\n

So when my editor asked if anyone wanted to try a new five-minute meditation app, Simple Habit<\/a>, I quickly raised my hand. (Because I was listening closely that time!)<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>40 Resources for Practicing Mindfulness Every Day<\/a><\/p>\n

This wouldn\u2019t be my first attempt at powering up my mindfulness skills<\/a>. I occasionally listen to a Buddhify<\/a> meditation before I go to sleep. I try to eat my dinner at least a few nights a week sans Gilmore Girls\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 that way I can taste my food without distraction. I\u2019ve also signed up for more yoga<\/a> classes than ever. But I was ready for some extra\u00a0tech-spiration.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Meditation Meets HIIT in New Mindful Fitness Approach<\/a><\/p>\n

Simple Habit: A Meditation App for People on the Move<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The idea behind Simple Habit (free on iOS and Android) is, well, pretty simple: Listen to the short,\u00a0guided meditations<\/a> throughout the day to\u00a0gain a calmer, more in-the-moment mindset \u2014 aka exactly what I needed to get focused. Founded by an entrepreneur who started meditating to deal with her own work-related stress<\/a>, Yunha Kim had discovered that a few quick bouts of mindfulness each day tipped her mental scale toward zen.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Simple Habit, we believe that starting with just five minutes of daily meditation is the easiest entry point into a lifelong meditation practice,\u201d she says. \u201cOne common mistake beginner meditators<\/a> make is setting the bar too high \u2014 like committing to 30 minutes of meditation every morning.\u201d While an admirable goal, she says, it\u2019s easy to miss a day and get discouraged.<\/p>\n

I was in that same boat, only able to get through a lengthy meditation when fully submerged in a studio setting. But a five-minute solo session? Totally doable, I thought. Here\u2019s what I learned after trying the app for a little over a week.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>9 Mantras to Find Zen from Gabrielle Bernstein\u2019s New Book<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The
Photo courtesy for Simple Habit<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

5 Things I Learned from Using a Meditation App<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1. Scheduling a meditation really helps you stick to it.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I knew I wanted to try to meditate for at least a few consecutive days to feel the effects. But with a busy day at work, followed by events and sleepiness, I made it to whopping Day Three before messing up my plan. And that\u2019s mostly because it just slipped my mind. (Have you sensed the distracted theme yet?) The next day I decided that I\u2019d add \u201cmeditate!\u201d to my calendar every morning for the next seven days, and I could adjust on the fly if I wanted to listen to the app on the way to work or after leaving the office. Lesson learned: Actually having a wellness-boosting task on the schedule \u2014 complete with reminders \u2014 will get you to do it.<\/p>\n

2. A midday mindfulness sesh can<\/em> boost productivity. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

In Simple Habit\u2019s \u201con the go\u201d feature, a wheel of meditations lets you choose based on the activity you\u2019re doing \u2014 commuting, walking<\/a>, etc. I chose \u201cat work,\u201d which opened up a few more options\u00a0from which I\u00a0selected \u201cimprove focus<\/a>.\u201d (Within the work category, you can also opt for \u201clunch break,\u201d \u201cstressed<\/a>,\u201d \u201cfrustrated\u201d or \u201cwork break.\u201d) I sat in a small conference room to listen. While it took me a minute to get over my fear that someone would see my eyes closed and think I was sleeping<\/a>, I quickly pressed play and settled into my five minutes of peacefulness. A voice with an Australian accent told me to roll my shoulders down, relax<\/a> and tune into how my hands felt. Concentrating on just one sensation certainly helped bring me into the moment.<\/p>\n

Without the distraction of emails, Slacks or chats gone wild, I did manage to walk out of the room ready to take on the next task. (Hint: writing this story.) While I don\u2019t think that calm and concentrated vibe lasted through the remainder of the day, it was definitely\u00a0a welcomed break. And confessional side note, I didn\u2019t really <\/em>get over the fear of a co-worker thinking I was sleeping. So I did this one with my eyes open<\/a>. Picture the possibilities if I had them closed.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Single-Tasking: The Secret to Less Stress, More Productivity<\/a><\/p>\n

3. You can meditate anywhere, even on your morning commute. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

I can\u2019t even imagine\u00a0just how lovely the New York City subway would be if everyone listened to a meditation while on it. Just think of the benefits of stepping\u00a0onto the\u00a0train to de<\/em>-stress<\/a>!<\/p>\n

That’s precisely what I did on day two of testing this app\u00a0\u2014 as soon as I got on\u00a0the subway,\u00a0I popped in my earplugs to meditate. While most people read or play music to pass the time, the app\u00a0forced me to stay in the moment. I listened as the\u00a0voice in my ear instructed me to observe the sounds, sights and smells around me. It\u2019s certainly tough to tune into everyone and everything you encounter on your morning commute<\/a>, but it\u2019s probably one of the most effective ways to learn to focus on the present. I plan to practice en route to work more often, even if that opens my eyes to more subway shenanigans.<\/p>\n

4. Not all guided meditations are the same. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

As mentioned, this app offers different categories for various meditations. Besides work and commute, you can choose one for sleep<\/a>, the morning, a tough day, a big event, walking and more. For each of those categories, comes more subcategories that practically called my name: Mallory, are you restless?<\/em> Want to improve your mood? Feeling under the weather? We have the magic formula, just click here.<\/em><\/p>\n

I wanted to hear what all of these meditations sounded like. So I\u00a0ended up\u00a0listening\u00a0to two of the audios on some days. For example, I’d tune in while walking to the subway in the morning, when I’d pay\u00a0attention to how my body was moving and observe the environment around me. Then I’d listen\u00a0again before I went to bed, when I concentrated more on my breath. With so many options, it\u2019s easy to find a meditation you like or one that better fits your schedule.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>7 Ways to Carve Out Time to Meditate<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Meditation is the best way to get out of bed.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u2026especially for non-morning people, like me. Even if I go to sleep at 10 p.m. and only need to get up around 7 a.m., I still have a tough time crawling out of the covers. A quick post-snooze mindfulness session changed the game, though. Taking five minutes to listen to Simple Habit before jumping to my feet basically put me on cloud nine and let me float through the morning. In other words, stay in bed for a few extra minutes tomorrow and try it. Day, made!<\/p>\n

Want to try Simple Habit? Download it for free on iOS and Android devices. It also has additional in-app purchases for more guided meditations. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Need a little help practicing mindfulness? The five-minute meditation app, Simple Habit could be your answer. At least it was for this writer. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":54691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,25,10,16],"tags":[173,229,117,280,282,341,360],"class_list":["post-54683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apps","category-gear-gadgets","category-tech","category-tracking","tag-meditation","tag-mindfulness","tag-relaxation","tag-sleep","tag-stress","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2stress-management"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}