Mindfulness Apps

Buddhists and Eastern philosophy has long known of the positive health benefits of meditation and mindful practices.  What was once a foreign concept to the majority of Westerners has now become one of the most popular health trends in the United States and many European countries.  

Large corporations are getting on board with this trend and discovering the benefits of having a more relaxed and happy workforce.   Relaxed and happy employees is turning out to have a positive effect on production which is a very attractive prospect to large corporations concerned with finding ways to increase productivity and profit margins.  Companies are finding ways to encourage daily mindful practices for their employees by doing things like offering workplace classes and encouraging the use of mindful mobile device apps.

Western populations are increasingly looking at a more holistic approach to manage and prevent health issues.  Many recent studies have shown that regular meditation practices help manage stress related ailments, depression and pain.   Many of these health issues can be directly attributed to high stress jobs and being confined to desks for hours at a time.  Recognizing this trend and understanding the benefits of wellness as it relates to productivity and general health of employees has led to an increase of meditation and yoga classes being offered at work environments, schools and healthcare companies.  

Though it seems to go against the main purpose of traditional Buddhism and meditation practices which encourage letting go of materialistic desires, more and more corporations are using meditation, yoga and mindful practices as a new method to help gain larger profits.    

Another aspect of this phenomena is the desire for companies to save money on health care costs for employees.  Since incorporating mindful practices like phone apps and yoga classes are an inexpensive  method of reducing health issues, and create an environment with more of an emphasis on preventative health care.  Many people view this as a win-win for both employer and employee.

Investments are being made to limit stress in what is hoped will translate into fewer employee absences, lower health care costs and higher morale, encouraging workers to stick around.

In Silicon Valley companies like Google have created programs available to employees which encourage daily meditation and relaxation techniques.  Google hired a meditation instructor named Chade-Meng Tan who helped design a program called Search Inside Yourself, which is being taught to over 1,000 Google employees.  

To make mindful practices easier and instruction even more accessible there has been a surge in the creation of Mindful Apps available on smartphones and portable devices.

Tech companies eager to get on board are developing applications to cater to this growing demand.

Here are a few  examples:

Headspace

This cool app gives you instructed 10 minute meditation sessions and the first 10 days are free of charge. Then, you can choose to pay for a monthly or annual subscription.   The app uses animations to demonstrate how your mind works and tips on good posture and breathing.   You can track your activity and set daily reminders for times to meditate.

The Mindfulness App by MindApps

With this app you get a soft spoken voice that guides you through a meditation of designated lengths of time, for about 3 - 15 minutes or even 30 minutes long.   This app also has options so you can customize your meditation and track your progress.

Mindfulness Meditation from Mental Workout

Mindful Meditation is an app written and narrated by Stephan Bodian,  author of the book Meditation for Dummies.  The focus is on instructions on how to meditate and then encourages the user to guide themselves in their regular practice.