Today’s article is my form of a service announcement. I have been struggling with my mental wellbeing. Other members of my family and some friends have too. With COVID and all the uncertainty, changes, and risks, this is not surprising. I consider myself lucky to have started my own meditation practice significantly before the COVID-19 shutdown in March of 2020.
I have read about the benefits for meditation for a while and decided to give it a try years ago. My meditation history started with trying to do it on my own. Then someone recommended Headspace a so I gave that a try and did not love it. Then I started doing a Tony Robbins morning Priming practice, and later modified this to make it my own. Then I tried Ten Percent Happier (which I still do occasionally. They have a “Ted Lasso” kindness meditation challenge that I plan to participate in next week). For the past six months or so, I have been using and liking the Healthy Minds Program. A good friend recommended this app to me (thanks Bob!) and I have really enjoyed it. I thought this program was worth sharing.
Basically, this app / program is a non-profit that is backed by a lot of science to help improve your wellbeing. You can check out their website and / or download their app for FREE on Google Play or the iPhone App Store. I like this application better than any of the paid applications that I have tried. The program’s research comes primarily from Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The four main pillars of wellbeing that this program focuses on are:
- Awareness
- Connection
- Insight
- Purpose
The research shows that this practice increases people’s ability to focus, be calm, and resilient. People are also more compassionate and have better health. All things we want and need and seem to be in shorter supply in these days of COVID.
Here is what I like about this app:
- It has educational audio recordings that are about 5 minutes in length.
- You can do a guided meditation for an amount of time that you select (5, 10, 15, 20 or 30 minutes).
- You also get to choose to do the meditation as an active or sitting meditation. I love having this option.
- It is all set up so that you follow a guided path. Basically, I go into the app and it queues up whatever is next for me and I get to choose what fits my parameters at that moment.
- It has you take a questionnaire to see if your wellbeing has improved or changed every few months.
- I love that it is science and research based too.
- It is about more than just being mindful and meditating.
Full disclosure here, even though I have been doing this program for six or more months, my wellness score has not improved – at all. In fact, my most recent scores went in the wrong direction, which I think is indicative of how I felt on that day. This can feel discouraging. But then I wonder if maybe I would be in much worse mental shape if I was not doing it. Yikes. A little scary when I think about that. I am trying to be patient and just keep at it. I like what I am learning and I like how easy and flexible it is for me to do. (Although you have to remember I am an Upholder).
I am considering (planning) on having my family try to do this program all together regularly (although they don’t know that yet). We all seem to be struggling in various different ways and if this program can help us in any way, even a little bit, I am willing to give it a try. It is teaching worthwhile skills that I hope will help myself, my husband, and my boys now and later in life. I will let you know how it goes.
If you are struggling, please know you are not alone. Look for and try things that will help. Get help if you need it. Prioritize your mental health which affects everything – your physical health, your relationships, and your own wellbeing. There are many lessons to be learned right now. There always are but especially right now it seems. Please focus on what you can control, keep noticing, learning and having hope.
I am sending love and patience to all and hoping and praying for a safe, in person, good school year for everyone.
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