There are so many apps which promise scientific benefits like relief from stress, better habits, etc.<p>Unfortunately most of them are free for only 7 days or 10 days and followed with a steep cost. I'm okay paying if there are any real benefits but the reviews are really mixed on the play store.<p>So just wondering what you guys think? Has any such app has had real life benefits? What do you think?
After trying Headspace and Calm I settled on the app Waking Up[0] and have been using it for a couple of years now. It's been a huge help. It's a lot more than just a guided meditation app.<p>While you can get some benefits from simply practicing meditation, it can feel a bit aimless. What I like about Waking Up is the conversations with experienced meditators where they talk about the practice itself. These serve as a guide for my own practice. There's a whole section that consists of conversations on the theory behind meditation. As an HN type I eat these up.<p>I also don't think you can get the full benefit of a meditation practice without considering the nature of mind and consciousness. The app includes several discussions on this topic as well and it helped to inform my practice substantially.<p>[0]<a href="https://wakingup.com/" rel="nofollow">https://wakingup.com/</a>
I think you're misunderstanding the point of these apps, which might very well be intentional on these companies' part to get you to spend money on something that you might not need.<p>Therapy doesn't "solve" anything by itself, you must see it as a tool to help you put your mind in a better position so that <i>you</i> can solve your problems. Lots of people see these as magical apps that will somehow magically make them better with no effort from their side and then proceed to get disappointed when this obviously doesn't happen.<p>So to answer your question:<p>- Will these apps provide "scientific benefits" (whatever that is supposed to be)? No.<p>- Will these apps assist your own effort of improving mental health? Yes, as long as you're committed to it and keep going.
I feel like 45min to 60min high intensity interval training (HIIT) cardiovascular exercise (e.g. swimming, running, rowing, bicycling, stairs, elliptical, etc) would be cheaper and address a host of other health issues also. Include some compound weight lifting like pull ups, deadlift, squat, bench press, lunges, and core workouts like planks, and I bet outcomes greatly exceed whatever an app can provide.
I used Headspace for about a year ~5 years ago. Before that, I had tried meditation randomly but hadn’t gotten much out of it. After a few months of using the app, I learned enough to see the benefits. It helped get me to a point where I also added IRL meditation classes and community.<p>I no longer use the app, but I’ve maintained a practice since. The app was useful as training wheels / structure. I was motivated to learn about meditation and it helped me.<p>I think any number of free resources could have worked, but paying and having structure was a motivator to continue.
I feel like these apps are much like 24-hour gyms. The profits are because nobody uses them but says they will use them one day.<p>I love the headspace story and the founder Andy Puddicombe. His mission is a real one of literally "spreading awareness" to everyone.<p>I've had a subscription to headspace for over 3 years now(corporate discount) and used it tons when I first started to learn about meditation. However 3 years wiser, I realize that I don't need a guide and do it all myself. I forgot I was subscribed until I saw this!<p>Much like exercise if you don't do it everyday, you get bored of it quickly. I really enjoyed the NBA series on headspace that I would use to kick-ass at work for awhile before I finished it and nothing else seemed interesting.<p>I also used their sleepcasts for awhile when battling insomnia. I enjoyed them but then found myself able to fall asleep naturally because I changed my habits to work out more and would be physical tired by the end of the night.<p>All in all, I think headspace can truly change your life. It just depends on how you decide to go about it. Meditation, awareness, mindfulness, and many of the skills it teaches are some of the most important skills to be getting accustomed to throughout one's life. I don't think I'll ever stop meditating or practicing in my life, but I am at the point where I no longer need these apps after 3 years.
I got the most lasting value out of the free UCLA Marc guided meditation sessions[0] which now have an app. When I first used them years ago it was only a list of recordings on a web page. In that time I've tried a few of the other apps that have popped up, and was grandfathered into the Waking Up lifetime membership, but I always think that MARC gave me more lasting benefit than, for instance, the guided meditations in Waking Up. However, this could be due to MARC being my first real introduction into meditation practice that I stuck with, and the others would never have that chance.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.uclahealth.org/marc/mindful-meditations" rel="nofollow">https://www.uclahealth.org/marc/mindful-meditations</a>
You should check out Medito - <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=meditofoundation.medito&hl=en_GB&gl=US" rel="nofollow">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=meditofoundati...</a>. It's free & non-profit with daily sessions. No need to pay for anything like this imo, but I have donated to Medito because they offer a good service, for free, and for the right reasons.<p>Fwiw, the benefit I've found is just in a more general mindfulness, and meditation can be part of that. Notice yourself tensing or clenching your jaw, and make a conscious effort to reduce that. Pay attention when something feels good, or hurts to think about. It has given me some modicum of clarity and engagement I didn't before.
Tried it (Calm, Headspace) several times but it didn't really work for me; what worked for me instead is just using Otter.AI to make voice memos and so that helped me to get things out of my head.
The apps are only what you make of them. It’s like going to the gym, but for your mind.<p>Are you willing to make mindfulness in to a lifestyle? If you are, it’ll be worth the money, just like a gym membership.<p>I personally found that mindfulness practice helped me recognize anxiety, stress and illogical thoughts, take a moment to realign with a more objective reality and therefore improve my personal life (i.e. realizing my anxious thought was unsupported by any objective evidence and alter my behavior to be more logical.)
I tried headspace for a while. I think it's possible it could be helpful but what really helped me at the time was getting in the habit of a regular practice of silent meditation. I found this much better than guided meditation and ultimately just used headspace as a timer.<p>The common recommendation, which I also now believe is correct, is that meditation will only work if you do it as close to daily as possible and the sessions must last pretty long, like 40-60 minutes. I found that when I managed this level of practice, I was actually developing the skills and getting somewhere with meditation. Doing 10 minutes guided meditation every once in a while when you feel stressed won't bring much. It's like trying to get fit, it won't happen if you just do a few pushups once in a while, you need a pretty strict routine.<p>So, like most good things in life, you really have to work for it. And that's not something that's easy to sell in app form.
I've always held a strong opinion about meditation apps, especially something like Headspace, which was founded by an ex-Buddhist. And, the fact that these apps also charge _money_ is just dumb. The strawman argument is that, "Yeah, but some people need guidance.". Which doesn't make any sense. You have to learn to guide yourself.<p>For a lot of people, these apps are an excuse to go and poster themselves as "spiritually aligned", "woke" and all kinds of other nonsense. And yet they fail to sit down with themselves, completely unplugged, and find that moment of peace that <i>will</i> come once the mind slows down.<p>Those scientific benefits can be achieved without apps. They just throw that stuff in your face to make you pay them money for a service that doesn't need paying for. Seriously.
I have struggled with depression and anxiety for most of my life. I just completed a full year without depression for the first time in my life, and a big part of that in my view is my use of headspace every day. I just crossed the 365 days in a row mark and I’m really proud of the progress I’ve made.<p>I use it not only for guided meditations (which really help my anxiety) but also and almost more importantly, I use it for sleep. The wind down visualization is a nightly ritual for me, and sleep casts are great for when you want to let your mind wander off to rest.<p>I am in no way affiliated with headspace, ymmv, but I’ve had great success with it and happily pay yearly.
The biggest benefit I’ve received in order are from these 3 apps:<p>Way of Life (habit tracker). Since using it I’ve been much more consistent with important habits like working out, flossing, gratitude.<p>5 minute journal - I use this primarily as a gratitude journal. We train our brains to look for errors (debugging software, sending out VC rejection letters, lawyers looking for mistakes etc) and this forces you to search for and find good things. It’s helped tremendously in my marriage.<p>Waking Up - meditation app already discussed in this thread.<p>Easy enough to find free replacements for the first two if needed. Waking Up is great for learning - the content Sam provides is like nothing else I’ve found.
As someone who does an hour of meditation a day, I don't think you need an app. I used to use one of the main ones but no longer do. You just need some kind of timer. What works best for me is actually the timer app on my Apple Watch, which I have set to vibrate instead of making a sound. It's a gentle way to end a meditation session.<p>Additionally there are physical meditation bells which make wonderful, rich sounds. My wife and I often use one when we meditate together; she rings it at the beginning of a session and I ring it at the end after my watch timer goes off.
Easily 99.99% of all "apps" have no utility or value.<p>It's one of the reasons why I'm serious considering a dumb phone - save money and less distraction/uselessness. I don't really see too much being lost by stepping down. People already call me "the human GPS" because my sense of direction usually doesn't require using GPS devices. I don't "do" social media. Most of what I do professionally does not require a smart phone in any way, shape or form.
I’ve not used headspace specifically all that much, but I do think meditation is very helpful. You don’t necessarily need an app for it[0], but they can help provide some structure.<p>[0]: There are books you can use as guides instead, or local meditation centers, or to start: every morning sit for 10 minutes with your back straight, eyes closed, and focus on the physical sensations of breathing. You’ll get distracted; when you notice, just begin focusing on the breath again.
I've been diagnosed with anxiety and ADHD. I wanted an alternative to medication and subscribed to Headspace. I allotted 60 days and 5 to 15 minutes a morning for meditation. For the last two weeks of the experiment, I increased the time to 30 minutes, and occasionally sat down twice a day. During this time, I was also reading "The Power Of Now" by Eckart Tolle. After the 60 days I reduced my practice back to a couple days a week.<p>The first few days felt silly. I didn't feel an improvement, understand what the point of meditation was, and didn't believe I was doing it correctly. Gradually over time, I began to feel more relaxed throughout the day. Situations that would normally cause my anxiety to rise did not affect me. My focus improved drastically and I was able to concentrate for longer. I felt exponentially more comfortable in social situations. In one specific instance at the height of my practice, I had two different friends comment positively on a noticeable difference in my “energy”.<p>Towards the end of my 60 days, I increased the time I was sitting down since I experienced a marginal improvement. The unexpected consequence was that I no longer cared about most things. I won’t say I was enlightened by any means, but I no longer needed external stimulus or material things to be happy. I felt indifferent towards most critical components of my life. Why did I need a job? Why do I need money? To buy material objects I don’t need? This pattern of though cascaded across all other aspects of my life. At this point in time, I legitimately believe I could be homeless and happy.<p>This transcendence scared me, and I cut down to a couple days a week. As it turns out, even balance needs balance.
For those that do find these useful, do you have a mental image? The "close your eyes and focus your attention on something" just falls very flat for me. I did have a decent experience with counting things. Breaths, steps, pedals, stairs, etc. That said, I don't really think I can claim any lasting improvement from anything. (Besides the exercise...)
Personally the Whim Hof method has been a game changer for me. The breathing exercises are the fastest way to clear my head, even if you never do the cold exposure training he's famous for. I believe he has an app that guides you through his meditations/breathing but there's also plenty of YouTube videos that walk you through it as well.
It's possible to set up a daily reminder system for helping yourself with ah, 'behavioral modification' etc. using Linux and cron:<p>> "Cron is one of Linux’s most useful tools and a developer favorite because it allows you to run automated commands at specific periods, dates, and intervals using both general-purpose and task-specific scripts. Given that description, you can imagine how system admins use it to automate backup tasks, directory cleaning, notifications, etc."<p>For example, one could get a cheap Raspberry Pi, set it up as a server on your local network, and use cron to have it send your phone daily email alerts about taking care of yourself on a particular schedule. Hmmm FOSS project?<p>[Edit re OP question: I wouldn't use pre-packaged apps for this because of the motivation issue. If I build something myself I'm far more likely to use it, because I want some kind of payoff for that original input of effort.]
I was completely burnt out. Like ACTUALLY burnt out with almost all the symptoms. Headspace definitely helped me on bad days. If i was feeling a panic attack coming on I'd stop what I was doing and use Headspace to recenter myself. I'd use it on stressful days to help calm down.<p>I'm very thankful for it.
I Paid for the fabulous app for some time, honestly, it helped a little only at the beginning and I think it is because we are committed to getting better and kind excited about it.
But it seems not to be that helpful after some time, even with those thousand features (That for my country is really expensive).
"In my case" what really helped was consulting with a psychologist every week, committing to get better with a person that also is committed to helping you.
I think the apps really help if you use them as a secondary tool for improvement, commitment, the problem is that they sell it to us like a miracle, which is not (because is easy to ignore a cellphone notification).
I tried a related app for weight loss (Noom) and have lost 40 pounds so far. I imagine the cost is a filtering mechanism. People who feel it is worth it to pay past the 7 day trial are the ones who will get the most benefit from what the app offers.
I'm developing right now an app like fabulous for tracking your routines & habits. Personally, what I can say - if you stick to routines, you will feel better & have more energy, it is a crucial part of your life.
I specifically wanted to learn meditation several years ago and used the headspace app to do so. After going through their several basic programs and then the various 'pro' levels I stopped needing the app to meditate.<p>The app was invaluable to learn how to sit quietly and control my mind but after like ~2 / 3 months it stopped being useful as I was much less interested in the 'medititaion for running" "meditation for relationships" etc. I just wanted to learn the basics and not apply the meditation to a specific topic. For that it was great. As with anything though, YMMV
Some friends / former colleagues an awesome app called Finch, which uses a bit of a behavioral tweak. Often, when you're feeling down, it's hard to take care of yourself in a disciplined way (eg mediation apps).<p>So Finch uses the concept of a virtual pet (with a twist) and, in taking care of the pet, you end up taking care of yourself. It's brilliant. (Also mostly free but with a paid upgrade).<p><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.finch.finch" rel="nofollow">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.finch.finc...</a>
I used Headspace's mindful meditation for a few weeks to attempt to manage some work related stress in an old job. It did help me a little bit initially but it wasn't helping with the root cause of the problem (that the job sucked and I should look for another one).<p>I know people who have really benefited from mindful meditation as a means to manage stress though so I don't doubt it does help some people. Possibly better for the types of stress and anxiety that builds up over time from a mixture of sources than solely from one obvious cause like in my case.
I did headspace quite regularly for a year. I think its asmr-like sleep talkdowns helped me much more than the meditation parts. Of those, the “active meditation sessions” (walking meditation, commuting meditation) worked better for me than the more “traditional” sit-down-and-close-your—eyes ones. Those made me more aware about how easily distracted I was, and how easily my mind wanders, but I saw no improvements on that department despite practicing regularly for many months. After trying the mindful eating one, I now enjoy eating meat less.
I did Headspace daily for awhile and want to get back to it. Even though I don't do it daily or even regularly anymore, it made me infinitely more aware of how I can deal with stress and other negative emotions by slowing down, focusing on my breath for a couple minutes, and taking a break from the dramatic and spiraling emotions that can feel so consuming. I now find myself subconsciously calming myself by regulating my breath when I'm in an argument or feeling great distress or grief.<p>It's been a nice positive in my life :)
I use Insight Timer, completely free. I just use the timer mode in the app, so I can see my stats overtime.<p>Meditation is one of those things that you do not notice immediate benefits. It takes a couple of weeks.<p>Start with 5 mins a day and aim to build up to 10mins.<p>Has it transformed my life? Probably not.<p>Has it helped me stay calmer under high pressure situations? Absolutely.<p>The biggest change is you start to become self aware of how you are feeling.<p>"okay, I am feeling anxious and can feel my heartrate accelerating. That's okay, let's just focus on my breathing and stay calm"<p>Etc
Found headspace helpful but only really noticed after a month where I made time for it every morning. In particular I appreciated some of the techniques in different courses - different forms of attention and focus, noting, visualization. My consistency has fallen off and I can see an impact on ability to find and stay in flow; but even without a regular practice I find I’m more aware of <i>when</i> and <i>how</i> I get distracted and don’t fall quite as far away from it.
I’ve used Headspace for years and it changed my life. Guided meditation and learning how to work with my emotions has gotten me through some rough times and PTSD. The amount of content in the app like daily videos, exercises, sleep aid and more keeps me there. Headspace is expensive, but I renew every year because it works for me. The only negative I have to add is they they need to make a decent iPad app.
I have spent a considerable amount of time using various apps. I wanted to build better habits and procrastinate less.<p>The app that helped me was free. It was Google Family link. Using this app, I was able to disable chrome and youtube from my android phone. This did cut down on my procrastinating hours.
I've used headspace almost everyday for meditation for years - I used to do there programmes but now just do the daily meditation. And every night, I put on the sleep stories. I also put on pooch palace sleep story for my son each night.<p>Absolutely love it - well worth the money for me.
I’m sure others have, but I’ve gotten no real life benefit they as these apps require attention and fiddling.<p>And notifications (of which I don’t have many) get in the way. I could configure some Do Not Disturb mode, but so far, it’s been less trouble just to use something less technical.
I've gotten a lot of Headspace. A 20 minute meditation really helps calm down my runaway brain. Do I need an app to meditate? Of course not. However, my crazy brain can manage to open the app and start a meditation session and the audio keeps me on track.
I used headspace for a bit. I think if the workplace'll pay for it it's definitely worth using, but regular yoga and meditation is less expensive. IMO the hard part isn't how you meditate, it's just making time to do it to begin with
I use Headspace daily and it changed my life. Daily guided meditation has gotten me through some really rough time and PTSD. The app has so much in it with exercises, sleep assistance and daily videos. I’ve paid for it for years and will likely continue.
I've tried headspace, fabulous, and a few others I don't remember. Fabulous was awful, I hated it. Headspace was good but it never really clicked with me enough to continue using it.
I started with the app and then after about half a year stopped using it and started exploring further. I think headspace and waking up are good. But after a while I wanted to go deeper
You have to really commit to the process that the app puts you through can’t just do it randomly. I noticed some benefits with Calm but only if I did it everyday.
I used Waking Up pretty regularly for a year or two. In the first week or two I found profound benefits. I started to appreciate the sensations and imagery of things around me (something that Sam Harris focuses on). I was able to pay attention through an entire boring weekly all-hands meeting with no trouble for the first time ever. My focus performing work improved similarly.<p>After that my experience regressed back to beneficial but not profound. By the end of it, I couldn't even meditate anymore.<p>Lots of things in life seem to follow this pattern for me. At least this one was somewhat beneficial for a longer time.
I went on popular podcast to discuss the life altering benefits and cross promoted my unrelated ebook and self help program. Now I make 7 figures working 4 hours a week from Bali. I've never used any of these apps or meditated once, I have severe ADHD, slight brain damage from a scooter accident and short term memory loss from all the weed. Aurora rocks. AMA.