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.

Meditation (and specifically mindfulness meditation) has become increasingly popular, thanks to apps such as Headspace and studies touting the lasting effects of mindfulness on the mind and body. But are these apps really as effective as serious meditation training? And do these studies’ findings have any basis in reality?

Achieving that zen state of mind is crucial for maximum productivity at work and at home.

Mindfulness meditation apps are all the rage, but repetitive sessions, irrelevant meditation themes and lack of customisation can leave you feeling disconnected.

Mindbliss’s customised meditations keep your needs in mind for more peace of mind in less time.

iOS: Throughout the day, I always know I should be doing things to better my health and overall disposition: Standing at regular intervals, drinking a lot of water, telling my friends they are great and we should hang out, and so on. And while these thoughts hit me on occasion, they're never enough to create a regular lifestyle pattern. Thankfully, the free iOS app Aloe Bud is happy to help out.

Sometimes, the best and only way to unwind is to pop open a bottle (or can) of your favourite beverage, dim the lights a little bit (or light up a candle or two or 20), and fire up some Bob Ross videos.

Hack your notification badges. Go greyscale. Announce the reason you are about to look at your phone. There are endless tactics available these days to help you reduce the amount of time you spend on your phone.

iOS/Android: When I run, my inner monologue sounds like an argument between a good coach and a bad coach. One voice tells me to take it easy, find my best pace, not to look at my watch, just find the right level of effort. Then the other voice butts in to say something like "Oh, look at you, running so slow, and you're already tired! You suck!"

Mindfulness can be as powerful for children as it is for adults - it can help them regulate their emotions and respond more calmly when life gets stressful. But simply telling your kids to "clear your thoughts!" or "be present!" will probably just make them more confused (and therefore more stressed).

People use Grindr, Two Dots and Reddit of their own free will. But they don't really feel good about it, according to a joint survey by the mobile app Moment and the Center for Humane Technology.

"I'm too busy!" "I don't have enough time!" "If only there were more hours of the day." It's weird how feeling overwhelmed and busy rarely coincides with getting a lot done. Maybe the problem isn't that you don't have enough time. It's that you don't have enough attention.

There are a lot of reasons to keep your phone out of the bathroom, but protecting your phone from germs or potential falls into the toilet are secondary - though, yes, stop putting your phone in your back pocket, that's dangerous. But the real reason to leave your phone out of the bathroom is mindfulness.

How's your neck feel right now? Not great? Probably because you keep looking down at your phone, a move that will give you more than a tension headache if you keep it up. Ditch the bad habit in 2018, and leave your pocket computer in your pocket instead of pulling it out every 30 seconds. We've got a few ways to help you through the tough time of ignoring your emails and texts for the sake of your sanity.

There are a lot of things you might be worried about right now: your job, your health, your relationships, your loved ones, the last thing you read on Twitter, our current political landscape, the threat of nuclear war... you get the idea.

If you're an anxious flyer, here's one way to calm your nerves as your flight begins: count to 100.

The mindfulness craze has already been tapped for a huge variety of benefits -- improved sleep, increased productivity, cutting out mindless snacking and so on. And we now may be able to add another upside to the list: Researchers with the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University and the University of California, Davis, have found that mindfulness practice can be channelled to increase compassion, which can in turn, help us all deal with irritating (or downright) difficult people we encounter in our day-to-day.

For some, winter is a magical time of year. For others like me, it's a gloomy, cold, darkness you just have to wait out. But there's a better way to get through winter. A mindset that involves embracing the unique aspects of the winter months. Enter the Danish concept of "hygge".

iOS: What if a meditation app didn't ask you to focus on your breathing? What if you didn't have to listen to someone's voice telling you what to think about? A new meditation app, Sway, takes a different approach.

Positive thinking has a ton of benefits, from expanding your creativity to boosting your health, but if you're prone to a more negative outlook, it can be hard to see the glass as half full. Here's how you can retrain your brain to become a more positive thinker.

We often think of happiness as those moments when we feel especially joyful or bright, but seeking out only those moments can lead to feeling like you're not happy at all. Here's why you should embrace only feeling OK, too.