My iPhone can be a huge mindless distraction at times and a huge help in others. I’m sure this is the case for most of us these days. I’ve been thinking of ways to make my iPhone work more FOR me than against me lately… so that I’m feeling more of the true usefulness it can offer, rather than the tempting diversions. I’ve come across a few great apps that promote mindfulness and healthy living (beyond your basic Nike & Health fitness apps) and am very happy to share them with you!

Daily Water: This was just so relevant for me right now I had to download it. It can remind you to drink water / hydrate yourself at different times of day and towards a goal of 8 glasses per day (or however many you want) on average. I set it to remind me 3x a day to drink water - and find that’s more than enough notifications in one day to keep water in my mind - and mouth. If you have trouble with hydration, I recommend using an app like this for a few weeks to get yourself in the habit of drinking more, then you can delete it!

Headspace: This is a wonderful mindfulness meditation app for beginners. The free app gives you 10 meditation sessions (they call it the Take 10) that are based in mindfulness of the body and the environment around you. The guide has a nice, relaxed, British accent and his voice is very natural and personable to me. Once you complete your first session, the next one is unlocked for you for the next day - the idea is that starting with 1 meditation, 1x a day, for 10 days will help establish a habit of creating more “headspace” in your life.

Stop, Breathe & Think / Calm: These are 2 other meditation based apps that I like. Stop, Breathe & Think uses lots of infographics like Headspace but has some nice guided meditations on different topics that may apply to your emotional/mental state - like one on Great Compassion, Gratitude, or Being Present. The guide tends to talk a lot through these sessions - so if you find that a bit much, you can simply use their self-meditation timer that has a lovely gong sound to begin and end your session for the more seasoned user. Calm also has a self-meditation timer, timed guided sessions of any length you may want - 2, 5, 10, 20 minutes - and some nice visual relaxation scenes if you are using it on a laptop or computer. It’s a great break from long hours of computer work!

Moment: Like I said, the iPhone can provide many distractions and mind-numbing habits. If you find you are checking your phone gratuitously for emails, social media, news, photos, games etc on a chronic basis - consider an app like Moment that will let you know just how many times you checked your phone & how much time you are spending on your device in a given day. Some days will be more than others, but you can start to be more mindful, perhaps, of exactly what you did on your phone and whether it was helping you or hurting you (or others around you). They even have a family plan to monitor the kids phone usage if you feel it’s getting out of control. Their message is “Put down your phone and get back to your life.” Sometimes, I couldn’t agree more!

As far as apps go, there is a thing as TOO MUCH information - even when it’s trying to be useful or make life more efficient- that can add more stress than benefit to your life. :) So download with care and delete when unnecessary. Oh, the conundrum of technology!

A few weeks ago, in December just before the holidays, things caught up with me and my immune system crashed and burned a bit. I caught a cold and cough, then I overdid it physically during Christmas and had horrible back pain, then I didn’t sleep for a week, became exhausted, lost my appetite, and had some major digestive issues flare up. It was like a domino effect that I couldn’t stop! Things kept happening one after the other, despite what I thought were some pretty good efforts on my part - taking herbs, canceling one day of work, taking OTC stuff, steam inhalations, flu prevention, chiropractic etc. I started to worry pretty badly about the turn my health had taken, especially in regards to being pregnant and only 9 weeks away from this birth! Mentally I was draining myself.

I realized that I have been over-doing it, physically AND mentally. I needed to rest. Luckily, I had 3 days between Christmas and New Years to do just that, and boy how it did wonders for my health. I stayed in bed almost a whole day. I delegated household chores to my husband. I walked barefoot in the grass outside. I sat in the sun and meditated with my animals wandering around me. I took time each of those days to nourish my mind, heart, and body. I encourage you not to lose track of the importance of nourishing yourself, especially if you are one who takes care of people for a living. Moms, nurses, teachers, mediators, Dads, nannies, doctors, caregivers – don’t forget yourself and the space you need to recharge your batteries. I love the image above to remind us all how to “take a break” before we take someone’s head off… or just can’t keep up anymore. ♥

Can we find Mindfulness in Tech?

Nourishing the Body & Mind