The story of our time is one of growing anxiety, fueled by the pace of change in technology, globalization, and knowledge, outstripping the ability of conventional learning to build social cohesion. This vastness of change and complexity demands that individuals transact connections and function faster.
We find ourselves distracted, overwhelmed, and in information overload.
- The expectation, today, is to be digital: to be mobile, adaptable, instant, and always on.
- We engage in the information presented in media binge-forms and emojis: Streaming videos, email, texts, social media.
- Emails bombard professionals at a rate of 300 a day.
- Smartphones get checked on average 150 times a day.
- By day’s end, we can be left lost, confused, and isolated.
It’s time to pause …
We have created this page to support you in organizing items that can distract you from important focus, in achieving new levels of excellence and in supporting contemplative practices. We have included only those applications (and reviewed them) used by us or those recommended by our network of reputable sources.
SecureSafe
Storage solutions today are necessary to manage the dozens of passwords, web links, usernames, credit cards, CVVs or CVCs, or other codes to access accounts. This Swiss company offers free use of the app for the first 50 codes and then offers unlimited access for a fee. We have used this app for more than a decade without any disruption or complications. It seamlessly integrates with smartphones, tablets or PCs.
Grammarly
We use Grammarly at Bhavana Learning Group for revisions, thesaurus, grammar, and spell check to create documents and edit blogs. See here for a quick gif of the chrome extension in use. This app integrates itself to work seamlessly in documents, emails, blogs, posts and in most social media.
Calm
Selected as App of the year (2017) by Apple, Calm offers an assortment of guided meditation experiences. Meditation times range from 3 to 25-min sessions. Calm focuses on relaxing visuals and sounds (which can be adjusted to wood in the fireplace, flowing waters, evening crickets and more) and a choice of three tabs: music, meditate and sleep. The app’s initial sessions are free, but additional 7 and 21-day programs on stress, anxiety, self-esteem, happiness, gratitude and more, are available on a subscription basis ($12.99 monthly, or 1-yr commitment, $4.99 monthly)
Insight Timer
This FREE meditation app features over 8,000 guided meditations from over 1,700 meditation practitioners. It also features thousands of groups discussing topics “from humor and compassion to spirituality and support”. If you’re looking for options and customization, whether it be timed meditations, guided/unguided mediations and different types of meditations (loving-kindness) — this is the app we’d recommend.
10% Happier
10% Happier – Developed by Dan Harris alongside the well-known teacher, Joseph Goldstein. Unique to this app is a library of video courses. A subscription is required to access the full library. Subscriptions are $11.99/mo on a monthly basis or $ 6.67/mo for the year. I was able to try it free for 30 days and then canceled, which highlighted a great customer experience detailed in this blog post.
Headspace
Headspace offers a free 10-day Basics pack on the essentials of meditation and mindfulness. For more meditations, you can subscribe, starting at $7.99/month. The subscription offers 1- to 3-min mini sessions, 3- to 10-min single sessions, or 10-session packs (10 to 20-min each). On many of these sessions, you have the option of changing the duration.
Minis or singles range from body scan to at-work presentations, to eating. The packs include health, anxiety, stress, sleep, and work along with performance and productivity, creativity, focus, much more.
A recent update has added an “Animations” tab, offering a library of video animations. “They bring to life everything from essential meditation techniques, to FAQs like Am I Doing It Right?, as well some traditional stories like the Very Impatient Yogi.”
