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My meditation practice is one of the very few things I am strict about.
I know that if I don’t practice I will notice the negative effects sooner or later. So every night I take the time to sit down and train my mind.
As someone who has been positively impacted by the work Sam Harris has done as a scientist and author, I was one of the first people who tried out his meditation app – as a Beta tester. Well, I was one of the first Android users to try it, as those Apple people are always the first ones to try everything, ugh.
No matter what you think of Sam and whether or not you agree with him when it comes to politics, free will or atheism, you can surely see that he is an incredibly good meditation teacher. He truly makes meditation worth practising.
The app is just so simple to use. Unlike many other similar apps, you are not bombarded with meditations you need to purchase. That’s what really bothered me with other apps. It’s just not relaxing seeing all the dollar signs everywhere and having to spend minutes searching for free meditations.
But as I have a full year subscription now, I want to tell you about this wonderful meditation app as a whole.
The meditations are very well guided and Sam truly makes sure that you know why you are practising. He guides you through the obstacles you may encounter during your first few sessions and he doesn’t judge you.
Sam knows thoughts will appear and you will get lost in them. He knows you will most likely forget that you are meditating or even fall asleep. But he will also gently shake you out of it and wake you up – pun intended – from being lost in thought.
You are not only getting the first 50 meditations that will introduce you to the practice and the different techniques you can try, but you also have lessons that will make you ponder on what consciousness is.
There are also meditations for children, that yes I went through, and Metta meditations which are probably the hardest ones for me. After you finish the first 50 days (the course you begin with) you will unlock daily meditations.
But in my opinion, you shouldn’t unlock them before you go through the first 50 days as they are really the foundation for your further practice.
Is there anything I don’t like about his meditations? Perhaps I would love longer guided meditations and more focus on different techniques, but this still doesn’t make it under the cons of using the Waking Up meditation app.
I prefer to meditate at night as I want to clear my head before I fall asleep but sometimes I do it in the middle of the day when I find myself getting bored and I want to spend this time examining my mind.
As for the lessons, I listen to them when I am cleaning my home or when I finish meditating but still crave more mindfulness and food for thought. Some are as short as 2 minutes while others are 30 minutes or longer.
If you read his book Waking Up then you are familiar with his lessons and you have most likely already heard (or read) some of it. But there are also lessons where he answers questions from users and readers.
If you want to try this app, and I truly whole-heartedly believe you should, please download the app here. I have never regretted giving it a try and it makes me feel empowered and strong.
I believe you will benefit from using it and meditation is something that just cannot harm you. Unless you have schizophrenia then it can apparently – but if you don’t, then do it.
Tanja
