A GUIDE TO YOUR MEDITATION JOURNEY

Benefitting from a long history of Buddhist influence, Thailand and its people have deeply incorporated the practice of meditation within the local culture. Thailand itself offers countless meditation retreats, to help practitioners re-connect with their spiritual selves in a serene natural environment.

Of course, many visitors have only a short time to explore the country, and are unable to join an immersive meditation programme. Yet modern technology has given us a valuable middle ground. A new set of smartphone apps can set up short sessions on relaxation and mindfulness, to facilitate your voyage of inner peace and self-discovery.

It can be quite difficult to find the time and method to meditate correctly, but by using these applications regularly, you can train your mind and body to find comfort in a place of calm contentedness.

Breethe

Breethe is a free app that helps you learn basic meditation skills, and sends a notification whenever it is time for you to sleep or wake up. Its lessons and talks help you balance your day-to-day activities, as the app recommends various kinds of meditation sessions that fit well with your lifestyle. For example, Breethe offers relaxing five-minute meditation exercises, along with programmes to reduce depression and anxiety. This meditation app is fully customisable, letting you tailor a unique meditation schedule according to your preferences.

Calm

Selected as Apple’s 2017 App of the Year, Calm is one of the finest meditation resources you’ll find. Its aim is to promote happiness, peace and inner clarity in the lives of everyone who uses it. Even if you’re still a beginner, you’ll find Calm exceptionally easy to use. The meditation app provides relaxing sounds of rain, calming melodies, crickets, waves, and the crackle of the living room fireplace, to bring you to a calmer and healthier state of living. Calm also has over 100 guided meditations to choose from. The purpose of these meditation sessions is to help with your mental concentration and sleep patterns, while showing you the way forward through situations involving anxiety and stress. Its guided meditation sessions can be customized, and may last 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 minutes, depending on how much time you have available.

Headspace

The meditation app Headspace works a little differently from the other applications that are in the list. In addition to its meditation resources, Headspace provides short, guided exercises that last approximately 10 minutes a day. Simply open the application and follow the programme you prefer, to train both your mind and body to a nice and healthy workout. When used correctly, the app will help you reduce stress, focus more clearly, settle into a regular sleep cycle, and feel better about yourself.

Keep Calm and Meditate

As Thai people discovered many centuries ago, meditation typically leads to deeper relaxation, improved emotional health, increased self-awareness, and a finer inner balance among those who practise it regularly. Travelling to Thailand presents a perfect opportunity to hone this skill – as the experience itself will bring you closer not only to the surrounding culture, but also to the rhythms of your own body and mind.