Need to fall asleep fast? One mid-century relaxation technique, developed in the US Navy Pre-Flight School, supposedly works within minutes. It may not be magic, but it seems like a pretty good way to relax your body and mind.

Hand-washing. It’s the 20-second chore that, up until the coronavirus came into our lives, many of us treated more like a four- or five-second chore. But now we know better and we’ve got the Happy Birthday song on an endless loop in our heads, which also is ... not great. I came across a suggestion from the meditation app Headspace recently, though, that has managed to turn this chore into—dare I say it—an actually pleasant experience.

If it seems like our kids are more scheduled, more anxious and more pressured than ever before, it’s because they probably are. It can be challenging for them (and us!) to find ways to unplug and relax. But for kids as young as preschool age, a few minutes of meditation every day can teach them how to stop, focus and breathe.

This year I’m trying to meditate more, which has involved a pretty deep dive into all of the meditation tools you can find on the internet, specifically there ones.

Everyone knows that being a teacher can be a stressful occupational choice. The app Calm is aiming to make that slightly less so by offering teachers around the world a premium subscription to its meditation app for free.

Despite the fact that I have dutifully studied all of the reasons why planes are the safest form of travel, I am still an anxious flyer.

Between hygge, the Danish concept of cosiness, and Sweden's lagom, which encourages living a balanced life, there are plenty of buzzy Nordic lifestyle methods that proponents claim will make you a better person. But if your problem is less about finding happiness and more about tuning out the nagging voices in your head, you may want to head slightly south and check out the Dutch concept of niksen.

This week on The Upgrade we spoke with author and meditation instructor Sharon Salzberg about love.

Video: If you’ve wondered what the dying can teach us about how to live well, Koshin Paley Ellison can tell you.

I once ran a marathon and gave birth to a baby in the same year, and found them to be, mentally, very similar events. In both cases it doesn’t hurt too much in the beginning, but you know you have to save your strength. You will hit a point where you feel your body can go no further, and yet there is still further to go. And you can never truly predict what will happen in the end.

I've meditated maybe four times in my life: once on a couch in therapy, once on a bench in Central Park, once in bed trying to sleep. I'm one of those people who's been saying "I should really try meditation" for years. And maybe I will, after meditating for the fourth time in my life, on a bus in downtown Manhattan. I haven't learned anything that will be new to experienced meditators, but if you're another of those "I should try" people, read on.

Video: Meditation expert and author Dean Sluyter teaches the practice of “natural” meditation. In the video above, he explains how to get into the proper mindset, how often one should meditate, and how to avoid the common problem of “trying” to meditate.

If you already use Audible for audiobooks, you now have a new perk in your account: Access to three fitness programs from Aaptiv, with more in the works.

We all know that waking up to an alarm clock is pretty much the worst way possible to get up in the morning, although arguably the most efficient.

As a kid, Mallika Chopra’s father, Deepak Chopra, would ask her to explore four questions: Who am I? What do I want? How can I serve? What am I grateful for?

Now as an entrepreneur, public speaker, and the author of the new children’s meditation guide Just Breathe, Mallika uses those questions to help others know their intentions and improve their lives. She has taught meditations to thousands of people around the world, including her two daughters, Tara and Leela. Here’s how she parents.

Having trouble falling asleep, but meditation isn't your thing? The good people of Reddit have some recommendations for chatty podcasts and tracks where the sounds of voices can lull you into dreamland.

Google has given us the best email service, the best Maps app, one of the best AI assistants and the best search engine. And now, they're getting into the mindfulness game, as well.

Take a deep breath... hold it... breathe out... now wait a sec before breathing in again. Bookmark QuietKit's box breathing for a follow-along animation to help you do this any time you need it.

When you just want to turn your brain off and sleep, meditation apps are perfect. A guiding voice, or the sounds of something peaceful such as rain, helps to fill the silence so your thoughts can’t creep in. The best ones strategically bore you into drowsiness. (You can look for sleep-focused meditation tracks, but I’m guilty of misusing the Headspace intro lessons for this purpose.)