If you keep up with Mouthing Off, then you’ve read several posts about stress relief and mental health. And if you are like me, you read them, but you don’t change any habits because of the notion that “there’s not enough time” to do so. Despite their stress-relieving benefits, I was continually telling myself that I didn’t have the time to do yoga or meditate. Over the past couple months, though, I noticed that with graduation looming, I was not sleeping well. I believed my lack of sleep was due to increased stress, so, while awake in the middle of the night, I searched for ways to relieve stress.
As a result, I decided I was going to start meditating. I recalled a previous Mouthing Off blog post that talked about the importance of meditation, and it discussed a guided meditation app. Here I’ll review some additional apps that may help you make meditation a part of your routine.
This app has a free membership that provides access to a series of meditations geared toward improving sleep, calming anxiety and there’s even one you can do while taking a shower. A great feature of the application is the “on-the-go” setting that allows you to select sessions based on the amount of time you have and the type of meditation you are looking for. After a free 30-day trial, a full membership is $7.99.
When you download the app, it asks about your experience with meditation. This determines how long the sessions will be. Next, you are asked why you chose Headspace. Options include sleeping better, decreasing stress or finding calm, to name a few. Then, you will decide when you want to meditate so you can set a reminder on your phone. You have access to multiple meditations without a full subscription, similar to Simple Habit. There are two options for subscriptions, if you choose to pay: $12.99 per month or $7.92 per month with an annual commitment.
Once you download the app, you’ll be prompted to select your meditation goals. At that point, you’ll receive a customized layout of guided meditations. There is some free content available, but a full monthly membership costs $12.99 or $4.99 with a yearlong commitment. It also has a lifetime price of $299.99.
This app can be used for non-guided meditation. I’ve used it to provide background noise while studying. The app allows you to customize your white noise, so if you want the sounds of a coffee shop in the rain, this is the app for you.
Guided meditation is best for me because I do not have experience meditating. I meditate after I wake up in the morning and before I go to sleep, and I’ve noticed that my sleep has improved in less than a week of starting. There will always be stress, but now I am more in tune with how to control it. I would recommend guided meditation to anyone who can spare five minutes a day to improve their mental health.
~Jerad Servais, Minnesota ’18, Electronic Editor
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