TOBY MIZZI, COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGIST, STRONG MINDS PSYCHOLOGY
For those of you have had a go at some of the mindfulness meditation activities discussed throughout this blog, I am sure you would have met with some resistance or struggle being able to apply the techniques in actual practice. This is a perfectly normal experience and one which often continues to occur even after a significant amount of practice. Sometimes it can be helpful to utilise other resources to assist in our mindfulness meditation practice so for this week’s blog, I wanted to provide a brief overview of some apps and resources available that you might want to consider using.
Smiling Mind – Smiling Mind is a 100% non-for-profit organisation whose sole focus is making mindfulness more accessible to everyday people. They have a great app that is available on IOS and Android that contains different mindfulness programs based on age group. Best of all it is a free app so it is certainly worth checking out. Smiling Mind is also a good way to encourage your children to think about and practice mindfulness. More information is available here: https://www.smilingmind.com.au/smiling-mind-app
Headspace app – Headspace is an organisation that is devoted to providing mental health support to children, adolescents, and young adults. On top of the many great resources and programs they offer at the many Headspace sites, they have created an app available on both IOS and Android that provides information on mindfulness as well as opportunity to practice mindfulness. For more information, check out https://www.headspace.com/headspace-meditation-app
Insight Timer – this is one of my favourite apps as it provides thousands of recordings in a number of different topics and formats including guided mindfulness, meditation, music, talks and more. New tracks are added daily and there is the option to search for particular recordings according to what type (e.g., meditation, music, mindfulness, talks), length, rating and so on. The recordings are streamed so this app does require an active internet/cellular connection. It is a free app unless you subscribe in which case you get additional features such as the ability to download the tracks so you can play them offline (i.e., without internet/cellular data required). Even without a subscription, there is an offline mode with some good features but to get the most out of this app you will want to be able to access the many thousands of tracks that are available through streaming. If you are at home with Wi-Fi or have a generous data plan, this may be less of an issue. For the record, I use this app regularly and I have not subscribed. The majority of content is available without a subscription; subscribing only opens up new features rather than more content. This app is available on both IOS and Android and more information is available here: https://insighttimer.com/
There many other apps available out there. If you are to search for mindfulness and meditation based apps in the Apple Store or Google Play, you are likely to find hundreds of apps. I think the above three represent a good place to start but I certainly haven’t used all of the ones available on the market. You might find some other great apps out there too. At the end of the day, these apps provided guided activities that can help make those initial attempts at practice formal mindfulness a bit easier. In addition, they have lots of helpful information and resources around mindfulness including practical tips in applying mindfulness to daily life.
About the Author:
Toby shares his time between the Strong Minds Psychology team, Swinburne University, and his young family. He is passionate about providing individualised support, and empowering people to enhance their mental health. Toby provides counselling and therapy for children, adolescents, adults and couples – helping with depression, anxiety, self-esteem, relationship difficulties, grief & loss, and family conflict. Mindful Mondays will be a regular blog on our website and Facebook page.
If you would like to discuss how the Strong Minds Psychology team can support your mental health needs call us on 0417 389 941 or send an email to strongmindspsychteam@gmail.com