Mindfulness can help you fall asleep, reduce your stress, enhance performance, and gain insight into your own mind. It’s backed by research, is something anyone can do, and with practice, can enhance your day-to-day experience.
Here are a few free apps that can help you practice mindfulness and incorporate it into your daily routine.
- Insight Timer – Thousands of teachers & soundtracks. Find your favorite teachers and follow them for their latest guided meditations, sleep sounds, and more. Link.
- Smiling Mind – Features hundreds of meditations, including structured programs like Mindful Foundations and Stress Management. Link.
- Balance – Each day, you answer questions about your meditation experience, and the app tailors the practice to your unique needs and likes. Free for the first year. Link.
- CBT Thought Diary – Guided meditations not your thing? Try mindful journaling to gain insight into your thoughts and the cognitive distortions behind them. Link.
- Paid apps include Calm and Headspace
Prefer something you can do on your own without an app? Try the simple breathing technique, square breathing. It can be used for anything, from helping you fall asleep to finding calm during a state of panic. Simply:
- Breathe in for four seconds
- Hold your breath for four seconds
- Release your breath for four seconds
- Hold an empty breath for four seconds Continue until you start to feel more grounded or relaxed.
Babson also has a guided meditation voicemail that you can call when you are feeling stressed, anxious, or are having trouble falling asleep. Just call 781-239-7378 and select your preferred meditation practice.
Questions about mindfulness? Babson Counseling & Psychological Services would be happy to help you out. Call 781-239-6200 to schedule an appointment.
