Two years ago I decided to try meditation. I was starting my first business and had a lot of things going inside my head. Surprisingly, meditation didn’t only help to calm my mind but it also introduced myself to a new variety of concepts. I consider these concepts important for the personal development of anyone. One of them is self-awareness:
Self-awareness (sometimes also referred to as self-knowledge or introspection) is about understanding your own needs, desires, failings, habits, and everything else that makes you tick. The more you know about yourself, the better you are at adapting life changes that suit your needs.
The easiest way to get started is with an app
I believe that the fastest way to start is by practicing with an app and complementing your knowledge with a good book.
I started with an app known as Buddhify. After some meditation sessions I wondered what other apps could offer. So I tried another 6 apps:
- Headspace
- Breathe
- Zazn (iOS only)
- Smiling Mind
- Insight Timer
- Calm
All of these are great apps that work for a wide range of needs and all have free content. The one that I liked the most was Calm.
The Calm app
I liked this app a lot because it has great programs for beginners like “7 Days of Calm.” It teaches you how to meditate and talks about all the fundamentals. Also, you can choose from a wide variety of background music.
The Calm app also has a daily 10 minutes meditation session known as “Daily Calm,” be aware that this is a paid feature. I believe that after consuming the free content you will be able to decide if it is worth a yearly payment of $60.
Give meditation a try
Thanks to technology we are able to discover new habits and improve our lifestyle. You just have to sit, plug your earphones and listen. Give meditation a try and tell me which app worked best for you 😉
One more thing…
As I said before, it is good to complement your practice with a book. I recommend “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” by Shunryu Suzuki. This is the book that Steve Jobs read and was an important source of inspiration for him.
If you have read any other books related to the topic I would love to know about them in the comments section.
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