5 Apps That Help You Develop Meditation Habits

It’s no secret meditation has an incredible array of benefits, from lowering stress to curing insomnia to helping you find a sense of inner peace. But if you’ve tried to build a meditation practice, you already know it can be a challenge. Clearing your mind sounds so easy when you read about it, but as soon as you sit down, those intrusive thoughts creep in – and before you know it, you’re thinking about what you’re going to make for dinner instead of focusing on your breath.

If you’ve ever gotten frustrated by your lack of success in building a daily meditation practice, the good news is that there are apps to help you. If you are ready to bring a better balance and perspective to your life through meditation, here are five of the best apps to help you achieve that goal.

1. Calm

You may have learned about Calm from seeing their instantly soothing “Do Nothing for 30 Seconds” TV commercial, or perhaps you became familiar with this app after hearing that Apple named Calm its 2017 App of the Year. Calm is effective because it comes with a range of meditation lengths, as well as seven- and 21-day programs for people who need help developing a healthy habit. For users with insomnia, Calm offers “adult bedtime stories” that will relax you off to dreamland in no time.

2. Headspace

Headspace likens itself to having “a gym membership for your brain.” Its easy-to-follow guided meditations are categorized by theme, but there are also one-off meditations you can do whenever you need a quick break. Going through an especially rough patch in your day? The “SOS” meditation option is ideal for anyone who needs to prevent a mental meltdown. Headspace also offers meditation geared toward kids.

3. Buddhify

If you struggle with anxiety, you might want to install the Buddhify app on your iOS or Android device. Buzzfeed rated this beautifully designed app as their top meditation app to ease anxious thoughts. Buddhify differs from other apps in that its meditations are structured to fit into a busy lifestyle. With Buddhify, you can meditate on the go, no matter where you are. Even if you only have four minutes to squeeze in a meditation session, Buddhify is there for you. Choose your meditation based on what you are doing or feeling at a specific moment. Buddhify also allows you to share the good vibes by sending a meditation to brighten a friend’s day.

4. Stop, Breathe & Think

Available for both iOS and Android devices, Stop, Breathe & Think teaches users to check in with what they are doing and encourages them to take short breaks. After you tell the app where you are mentally, it will provide you with a recommended list of tailored meditations you can try. The app can also provide motivation that keeps you on track with developing your meditation habits by allowing you to view your progress.

5. 10% Happier

If you’ve been curious about meditation, but have found yourself skeptical about its benefits, 10% Happier is the app for you. An offshoot of journalist Dan Harris’ bestselling book of the same name, the app presents the facts about meditation so you can learn how to apply it in your life. This app offers guided audio meditations for coping with stress and anxiety, as well as for specific daily activities like walking and falling asleep.

Your Path to Inner Peace

At Complete Harmony, we have integrated holistic healing treatments like meditation into our hybrid addiction treatment model. Our California drug and alcohol rehab facility offers an integrated approach for clients who wish to undergo healing in a therapeutic setting that treats them as a whole person and allows them to address the roots of their addiction from a mind-body-spirit perspective. Contact us to learn more about beginning your recovery journey.

Solutions to Common Meditation Excuses (Fears)

Meditation may have a long list of benefits for people in recovery, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to begin or stick with the proven practice. In fact, there are many fears and excuses that can prevent people from fully incorporating regular meditation into their recovery routine.  

Here, we take a look at a few excuses (or perhaps fears) and how to prevent them from interfering with the many ways meditation can help you stay focused, self-aware, spiritual, self-confident and in better control of your sobriety.

• "I don’t have time." Meditation doesn’t require an hour or even 30 minutes. Experts say that even five minutes a day can have transformative effects; it can result in reduced stress and increased focus.
• "I'm afraid to be alone with my thoughts." In fact, meditation can help free you from any thoughts you’re trying to avoid, say experts. Author Jack Kornfield wrote in The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology: "Unhealthy thoughts can chain us to the past…Fear can be transformed into presence and excitement. Confusion can open up into interest. Uncertainty can become a gateway to surprise. And unworthiness can lead us to dignity.” 
• "It’s too hard." It does take practice and discipline, but so does most things that will help improve yourself. A tip from Yoga Journal: Start slowly and just focus on counting your breath. For example: Deeply inhale and at the bottom of your exhalation, mentally count one. Repeat until you reach 10.
• "I can’t turn off my thoughts." Of course, you can’t stop your thoughts and that’s not the goal of meditation. Instead, meditation is about observing your thoughts and catching yourself so you can anchor yourself back to the present moment.
• "I can’t sit still." You practice staying still each night, as you prepare to drift off to sleep. With this in mind, experts suggest meditating lying down if you have trouble sitting still. 

Finding Holistic Treatment 

At Complete Harmony, we specialize in different cutting-edge techniques to help patients recover from addiction, including meditation, yoga, massage therapy and acupuncture. To learn more about our programs and rehab facility, call today: 866-930-4673. 

Study: Could Mindfulness Meditation Prevent Major Depression?

By now you’re likely familiar with the fact that depression and addiction often go hand and hand – you or someone you love may even be suffering from both. But what if we told you that mindfulness mediation could help prevent major depression? Well, that’s what researchers set out to prove in a new study published in the Annals of Family Medicine. 

For the study, researchers selected 231 adults with subclinical depression, which is defined as the presence of depressive symptoms that are not yet severe or persistent enough to warrant a diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD), according to researchers. The study participants were split into two groups: The first group took part in a two-hour mindfulness mediation session once a week for 8 weeks; the second group received usual care. The patients were recruited from 16 outpatient clinics in Hong Kong. 

The results: The mindfulness meditation group showed fewer depressive symptoms – MDD was diagnosed in 10.8 percent compared to 26.8 percent in the usual care group. 

What Is Mindfulness Mediation and How Can it Help Your Recovery?

Mindful meditation is a psychological practice that helps us to be “fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us,” according to Mindful.org. Another definition: It helps give us a necessary pause so we approach daily life with warmth and kindness – not judgment – toward ourselves and toward others. 

Being more mindful can certainly help your recovery. For one, it will prevent negative thoughts, feelings and emotions from distracting you or interfering with lasting sobriety. Here are a few more of the study-proven benefits: 

• Better emotional control
• Less anxiety 
• Reduced anger and increased compassion
• Greater self-awareness
• Improved focus and impulse control
• Deeper spiritual connection

Finding Holistic Treatment for You

At Complete Harmony, we encourage the use of many different cutting-edge techniques to help clients heal the mind, body and spirit, including mediation. To learn more about our treatment center and our approach to addiction recovery, call today: 866-930-4673.

Meditating for Warmth and Gratitude This Season

We’ve talked about the importance of meditation for addiction recovery. To recap: A few of the many benefits include: 

• Better focus
• Increased self-awareness
• Improved impulse control
• Reduced anxiety
• Deeper spiritual connection

But did you know that meditation can also help you ward off the winter blues? Studies show that meditation can help improve connections in the brain to help us process emotions. What’s more, the right type of meditation can provide warmth and gratitude – the perfect combo to brighten your mood and help you feel abundant during the winter months.

NBC.com recently published meditation and mindful tips from Dina Kaplan, founder of The Path Meditation, designed to channel gratitude – even when you’re cold and sad. Below is a summary; give it a try or use it as a starting point to create your own. 

• Take your focus off the parts of your body that are cold (like your hands or feet) and turn your attention to an area that feels warm. For example, if you’re wearing a cozy sweater, feel the warmth of your arms. How does it feel? Examine the sensation.
• Now take a moment to be grateful for your warm sweater and be grateful for yourself for putting it on this morning.
• Engage your sense of sight. Do you see holiday decorations or leaves on the ground or an ornate architectural detail you’ve never noticed? What colors do you see around you? Admire the beauty of any nature or craftsmanship in your field of vision.
• Now take a moment to be grateful for all nature, colors and details and your fortune to notice and admire them.
• Tap into your sense of smell. Can you detect a nearby house fire or coffee from a café? Again, be grateful for all the delicious smells in your environment.
• Now go back to your sense of feeling. And ask yourself the following: What does your warm clothing feel like on your body? What does the ground feel like under your shoes? What do your shoes feel like on your feet? 
• Let the warm sensation of gratitude fill you up as you continue to light up your senses and enjoy the holiday season.

Finding Holistic Treatment for You
At Complete Harmony, we encourage the use of many different cutting-edge techniques to help clients heal the mind, body and spirit, including mediation. To learn more about our treatment center and our approach to addiction recovery, call today: 866-930-4673.

Are You Making These Meditation Mistakes?

By now you likely know the numerous benefits of meditation for people in recovery from a substance use disorder. To recap: It will help you stay focused on drug-free healing; enhance self-awareness; improve impulse control; quell anxiety; push away thoughts of self-criticism and blame; find a deeper spiritual connection; and more!

Still, especially when first starting out, many people struggle with some meditation mistakes. Here are four common ones:

• You’re doing the wrong kind of meditation: Just like no two recovery paths are alike nor are two minds. This is why it's important to find a meditation style that works for you. For example, you might benefit from transcendental meditation over guided visualization or mindfulness over Qi Gong. The best way to find out is to experiment and see which technique best helps you meet your meditation goals.
• You’re not giving it enough time. Meditation is a lifelong practice and you may need a little practice to make it work for you. Don’t give up: Take a week and schedule it into your every day and you’ll likely start reaping some of the many benefits.
• You’re expecting to completely clear your mind. Unfortunately, you can stop thoughts from coming to your mind, but you can learn to not react to them. Think of yourself as an air traffic controller, say experts. The goal is to learn how to choose what you focus on and what you let go of in order to stay mentally healthy.
• You’re not convinced that meditation really works. We said it once and we'll say it again: Meditation is really good for your recovery. Give it a chance and let it work its magic for you!

Finding Holistic Treatment 

At Complete Harmony, we specialize in different cutting-edge techniques to help patients recover from addiction, including meditation, yoga, massage therapy and acupuncture. To learn more about our programs and rehab facility, call today: 866-930-4673.