Meditation
I have been practicing meditation regularly since 2018. It has given me a lot of mental health benefits. I feel calmer and more focused now, and I pay more attention to my immediate environment. You do not need a special app for simply focusing on your breathing, but sometimes it helps to have a music background or someone guiding you on how to do it. Or simply something for you to keep track and remind you to meditate every day. This way it is easier to create a habit for it. For anyone starting on this practice I can recommend using the following apps:
- Insight timer. Probably the nicest of them all. It is mostly free, with a premium feature. Unlike many of the apps out there, that ask you for a subscription after 7 days or so, this app has lots of free stuff. I have used the free version for the past 5 years.
- Balance This one is by Google. I got it some time ago, and I remember seeing an offer of one payment for getting a life subscription. I only use the free version. It offers a series of short courses to teach how to meditate with a focus on handling stress, improved focus, etc.
Besides the two apps above, I also recommend these two wonderful books:
- Waking up, by Sam Harris.
- The miracle of mindfulness, by Thich Nhat Hanh.