What I Learned From Using A Meditation App For One Week (And Failing)

I like the idea of meditating. Taking time out to disconnect with the world and just… be. If only it were that simple. As it turns out, I couldn’t even keep it up for a single minute.

Meditation picture from Shutterstock

Last week I used the Mindful Minute Meditation app. On the website it asks:

“Is this you? Stuck in your busy office, working so hard and then suddenly you realise it’s 5pm and it’s time to go home? Where did the day go? You sat at your desk for hours without having a break because you’re just too busy?”

Yes, yes and yes.

Sounded easy enough: “Take one minute from your day to stop, relax, reflect and unwind”. If any meditation was going to work for me, then one minute, a couple of times a day would be a good starting point — or so I thought.

Now, I don’t consider myself particularly wound-up, but this mental exercise was excruciating.

On the hour, every hour, I had to put down everything I was doing, walk away from my desk and listen to my pre-selected Tibetan bowl sound and stare at a fake sunrise trying to think of anything but work.

Meditate, the app suggested. Breathe deeply and close your eyes, repeat a mantra or affirmation.

Instead of feeling zenned out, all I felt was rushed and under pressure as I returned to my desk, most often frustrated that I’d lost the roll I was on or had forgotten where I was up to.

Needless to say I failed miserably. In fact, I only made it to day four and gave up meditating.

Sure, this type of app is perfect for someone who is looking to break up the day by taking allocated breaks. But for someone like me, who wants to get in and get out of the office and spend my down time at home or at the gym, this was not for me.

It hasn’t put me off meditation altogether. I still like the idea of it but perhaps I’m more of a once-a-day meditator.

Actually let’s make that a once a week.

This story originally appeared on Business Insider Australia.


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


6 responses to “What I Learned From Using A Meditation App For One Week (And Failing)”