Stress relief - forget about it
Don't Sweat Meditation 9/10 Free
Take a moment to insulate yourself from distractions and interruptions. A good intention, made a little more feasible with the Don't Sweat Meditation app.
The expression 'don't sweat the small stuff' became a catch phrase after the publication of the now deceased Dr Richard Carlson's book, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff. The book is a compilation of advice on how to live a more peaceful, fulfilling life by focusing on what is important. This is important because stress is a killer.
The app is produced by Carlson's 'soulmate' Kristine Carlson, together with her friend, Bob Beth, and is clearly designed to sell more books. But, unusually, there is value in the app itself.
Advice shared from the book such as 'Ask yourself the question ... will this matter a year from now? Most of the time it won't, and I laugh and I save my energy for joy (Chapter 16, pg 45)', or 'Repeat to yourself ... I have the humility to admit that, in most cases, I create my own emergencies ... (Chapter 22, page 61)', is all good. But taking time out to chill out, or meditate, allows space in your life for these ideas to become reality. Without that time, most of us are just too stressed to even take the ideas on board. The app brings the two aspects together.
In the app, the advice is called an intention. To set up, you select one of the many intentions for your meditation, select whether you want the intention repeated once or on several occasions, and whether you want your background music track to be 'magic', 'strings' or 'trust'. You can also select your meditation duration, from one minute through to 30. There are no excuses for not taking a moment out of your life to calm down and get a reality check.
Beth leads the meditation, where you are encouraged to put your mind in quiet mode, breathe deeply and rhythmically, and allow your busy thoughts to 'ride out on your out breath'. Carlson reads out the affirmation. The result is relaxing and calming, so much so that I do not recommend using it before bedtime as you'll be asleep before the first affirmation is read.
