04/17/2020
PSA: A few folks have asked me about my mindfulness meditation practice and whether I think it would help them with stress, anxiety and so on that stems from the COVID-19 crisis. The answer is a most emphatic "maybe”! But it's not always easy to get into without some help so here are some resources, if interested.
HEADSPACE, CALM, and INSIGHT TIMER are three apps that contain guided meditations, instruction, courses and related stuff. They each also have excellent guided meditations to get you to sleep, if that's an issue. The first two are rather commercial in origin (CALM was recently valued at $1B for an IPO), they provide a free two week trial and then charge you monthly or for a discount by the year unless you cancel. They are very good, no doubt about it, but I love the Little Engine That Could - Insight Timer. It's mostly free, but you can upgrade for way less money than Headspace or Calm, but it’s not really necessary.
Headspace and Calm are mostly mainstream, secular Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction focused (MBSR). Insight Timer tends to have a mixture of approaches including some very "woo woo" stuff, but you can easily ignore that if its not your thing.
HEADSPACE https://www.headspace.com/
CALM https://www.calm.com/
INSIGHT TIMER https://insighttimer.com/
There are also any number of books on mindfulness meditation, if reading is more your learning style; my recommendations are:
"10% Happier" by Dan Harris
"Wherever You Go, There You Are" by Jon Kabat-Zinn
"Meditation Is Not What You Think: Mindfulness and Why It Is So Important" By Jon Kabat-Zinn
If interested, hope you'll try one out and see if mindfulness meditation is helpful for you in the midst of all this craziness.
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