3 Apps for Beginner Meditation

I'll be honest, meditation freaks me out a little bit. It sort of makes me think of foreign movies with monks chanting and whatnot. And I'll admit, I am not a huge meditating person. I meditate maybe three times a week, if that. So it would seem like I am not the person to be telling you about meditation, but I've started practicing it and I think it's worth a try, even if it feels totally weird at firest. I just want to show you that meditation is easy + doesn't need to be something that only woo-woo hippies and monks and life coaches do. 

I could do a quick google search and I'm sure find many benefits of meditation on all parts of your life, but I'll just tell you my experience. Meditation helps me chill the heck out. I'm not a huge worrier but I do get anxious sometimes (which is actually very different). Meditation is great for calming down if you are a worrier or if you're like me, just a better way of maintaining your peace.

I like to meditate when I get up in the morning, before bed and in the middle of a busy day. It doesn't have to be a long time--I usually only take 5-10 minutes. I really like apps that offer guided meditation because let's be honest, meditation is a really weird concept and it's always helpful to have someone tell you what to do. Here are my favorites:

Stop, Breathe and Think / I especially love this app because before you start, the app asks you to take a moment and assess your emotions--are you concerned, content, distracted? Then it offers meditation tracks based on what you report. The only con of this app is there aren't many different tracks to choose from (maybe 10-15). But it's totally free, so it's still a great option.

Buddhify 2 / This is the only paid app on this list and at $3, I think it's worth it. The cool thing about buddhify is it aims to have you practicing mindfulness throughout your day. You choose from activities like traveling, walking in the city, in nature, and for when you can't sleep (and a bunch more). There are lots of options in this app + it always helps me connect with my day.

Deep Relax / This is not exactly a meditation app because it doesn't offer any sort of voiceover telling you what to do. Instead, it's just natural sounds and white noise that can be used as a background for your meditation. I have a saved mix of crackling fire, rain, waves, quiet frog croaking and a quiet buzz in the background that I use for meditation. This is also great for yoga and falling asleep! I swear I sleep better with rain noise in the background.

Do you meditate?! Do you have any tools that help you incorporate meditation in your daily life?

9 Ways to Calm Your Brain After a Busy Day

Last week, I was with my wellness coach (and yes, those are a very real thing) and we were talking about relaxation and destressing in positive ways. Like a lot of you, I work all day and think all day and then at night, somehow we're supposed to be able to just stop thinking. Just like that. 

And I'm sure you've found out...it just doesn't work that way, especially if the thoughts running through your head all day have been intense or complex. So my coach has been teaching me that those feelings are natural. We can't just think-think-think all day and then go to sleep; we need to transition our brains to calm the heck down and let them know they can shut up for the day. 

The biggest way we can do this is through relaxation techniques and calming activities. But all of the suggestions that my wellness coach offered just didn't quite...fit me. I'm not a huge journaler and I have never gotten into the habit of meditation, so she encouraged me to find some other ideas and try them out. 

1. Read (in bed!)
2. Cross-stitch/knit/crochet/doodle/do some sort of repetitive hobby.
3. Do a little yoga--here's a great end-of-day yoga sequence.
4. Take a slow 15-20 minute walk around the neighborhood.
5. If you don't like journaling, try taking a scrap piece of paper--or even a sticky note--and writing down your highs and lows of the day. You don't even have to keep it; just toss it in the trash when you're done!
6. Take a long shower (once in awhile is fine!) and try to let all the bad moments of the day go down the drain. 
7. Clean up your living space. At the end of the day, I tend to clear up my desk. It's a pretty mindless task and I like to think it sort of symbolically tells me brain that I'm done at my desk for the day. Plus, then your desk will be clear for you in the morning!
8. Watch a little TV. Haha we all know I love television, but as long as we use it intentionally! At the end of the day, I love relaxing to an episode of Dance Moms or Lost or something!
9. Listen to binaural beats, nature sounds or white noise as you finish up your work. I really like the Deep Relax app for both binaural beats and relaxing sounds. Plus, these are perfect to transition you into sleep!

How do you relax and destress after a busy day?