App of the week

Chakra Tuner

HK$23

Rating 8/10

According to Hindu and Buddhist teachings, your body contains many thousands of chakras, or energy centres, but your seven main chakras are aligned from the base of your spine to the crown of your head. Each chakra corresponds to the health of a set of organs or glands. If your chakras are out of balance, it is said that this will affect your health, or vice versa.

There are a number of apps to help you tune your chakras, many free, but I chose Jonathan Goldman's Chakra Tuner. On his website, Goldman explains that he is author of Healing Sounds, creator of album Chakra Chants, president of music label Spirit Music and director of the Sound Healers Association, which suggests he knows what he is doing in this field.

If this is a new field to you, the app gives you a rundown on each chakra. Besides being associated with a set of organs, each chakra has its own colour, associated gemstone, related musical note and vowel sound. Om, the sound we most often associate with Eastern spirituality, is associated with your seventh chakra, the crown chakra. This, in turn, is said to be the foundation of your spiritual, or better, self. If you're feeling a bit egotistical, it is probable that your crown chakra is out of kilter.

If you are a beginner there is an option for a seven-minute chakra tuner session that automatically runs through the chakras. Choose the guided option where Goldman introduces each chakra, and leads with the sound and tone. You follow, breathing out, intoning the sound and allowing it to resonate through your body. It is peaceful and relaxing. Once you are familiar with the routine, you can turn Goldman off.

If you are tuned in enough to know which chakra is out of tune, the app allows you to select a chakra on which to focus, and then set a timer. You can set this for 23 hours, 59 minutes if you desire.

Whether you believe in the concept or not, most will agree that a few moments of quiet meditation is always beneficial. This app will help you focus, and tune out busy thoughts, and may perhaps be working at another level as a bonus.