{"id":16567,"date":"2018-03-01T01:10:12","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T06:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=17226"},"modified":"2018-02-25T18:57:19","modified_gmt":"2018-02-25T23:57:19","slug":"review-headspace-the-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2018\/03\/01\/review-headspace-the-app\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Headspace, the App"},"content":{"rendered":"

Headspace: Everyday Mindfulness<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I decided to continue on my mindfulness mission by having a go with Headspace, an app with the tagline \u2018<\/span><\/span>A few minutes could change your whole day.<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u2019 This app focuses on the practical benefits of short meditations: reducing stress, improving focus and sleeping better. Just like with my Calm review<\/a>, I\u2019ve only reviewed what content I could get for free. The financial commitment for Headspace is pretty hefty. UK prices, you\u2019re looking at \u00a39.99 a month, or a one-off cost of \u00a371.88 for the year. Want to unlock all features permanently? That will be \u00a3299.99 please. I just think these prices are very off-putting, and will stop people even trying the app for free in some cases, as they know that if they like it, and it works for them, they are going to be shelling out a huge amount of money.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Actually using the app is a doddle. It starts with a \u2018meditation basics\u2019 program, which is actually really useful. The speaker is male, British, with a calming and down-to earth tone. He speaks about meditation as if it\u2019s a daily requirement like brushing your teeth, and makes it seem easy and accessible for all. For the first time in guided meditation like this, I am told to start with my eyes open. Each meditation session can be tweaked to reflect how much free time you have in your day. You can meditate for as little as three minutes, and as much as ten in one go. I found the ten-minute sessions were useful at the end of the day for relaxing me before sleep time. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As well as the basics program, there are other freebies, which seem to change from day to day. Today\u2019s was an exploration of stillness and silence. Before the meditation started, the guide spoke of the nature of silence, and whether it is passive or not. He explored the usefulness of stillness, and how it helps us to be present in the moment, not wrapped up solely in our own thoughts. This aids us in listening to others.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSilence is the foundation of calm and clarity that allows us to hear what others have to say.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There are also some mini meditations, but for free, you only get access to the \u2018Breathe<\/i>\u2019 mini, which as the title suggests, gives you 60 seconds of exploring the sensation and mechanics of your breathing. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One of my favourite things about Headspace is that it can easily be linked to the \u2018Health\u2019 app on your iPhone, and I presume there will be a similar option on Android devices and similar. So, when I look at my \u2018Health\u2019 stats, if I have meditated with Headspace that day, the phone will describe how many \u2018mindful minutes\u2019 I\u2019ve taken. I like the sense of achievement that comes with this, and recognising that I\u2019ve been good to myself and my mind for at least a few minutes each day. The app itself also records some data for you, and shows you how many minutes and on what days you\u2019ve meditated. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a kids\u2019 section, split into ages 5 and under, ages 6-8, and ages 9-12. These have titles such as \u2018Appreciation\u2019 and \u2018Kindness\u2019; good at any age! But particularly useful for young, developing minds. Sadly, as far as I could tell, none of the kids\u2019 stuff was available on the free version.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to keep the app on my phone, as even just having the basics package has been really useful. It\u2019s so easy to use, there\u2019s no set-up, you just download it and start meditating. An absolute beginner could use this, even if they had zero experience of mindfulness or meditation. I really hope the prices reduce at some point though, as at the moment, they are just far too high to consider a full subscription. Perhaps one day, when I\u2019m a bit more flush with cash! But all in all, an excellent user experience; very relaxing and very unique in its informal and easy-going style.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mabh Savage<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>is a Pagan author, poet and musician, as well as a freelance journalist. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She is the author of\u00a0A Modern Celt: Seeking the Ancestors<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Pagan Portals: Celtic Witchcraft<\/b>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Follow Mabh on\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>Twitter<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>Facebook<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0and her\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>blog<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Click Images for Amazon Information<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Headspace: Everyday Mindfulness I decided to continue on my mindfulness mission by having a go with Headspace, an app with the tagline \u2018A few minutes could change your whole day.\u2019 This app focuses on the practical benefits of short meditations: reducing stress, improving focus and sleeping better. Just like with my Calm review, I\u2019ve only reviewed what content I could get for free. The financial commitment for Headspace is pretty hefty. UK prices, you\u2019re looking at \u00a39.99 a month, or a one-off cost of \u00a371.88 for the year. Want to unlock all features permanently? That will be \u00a3299.99 please. I just think these prices are very off-putting, and will stop people even trying the app for free in some cases, as they know that if they like it, and it works for them, they are going to be shelling out a huge amount of money. Actually using the app is a doddle. It starts with a \u2018meditation basics\u2019 program, which is actually really useful. The speaker is male, British, with a calming and down-to earth tone. He speaks about meditation as if it\u2019s a daily requirement like brushing your teeth, and makes it seem easy and accessible for all. For the first time in guided meditation like this, I am told to start with my eyes open. Each meditation session can be tweaked to reflect how much free time you have in your day. You can meditate for as little as three minutes, and as much as ten in one go. I found the ten-minute sessions were useful at the end of the day for relaxing me before sleep time. As well as the basics program, there are other freebies, which seem to change from day to day. Today\u2019s was an exploration of stillness and silence. Before the meditation started, the guide spoke of the nature of silence, and whether it is passive or not. He explored the usefulness of stillness, and how it helps us to be present in the moment, not wrapped up solely in our own thoughts. This aids us in listening to others. \u201cSilence is the foundation of calm and clarity that allows us to hear what others have to say.\u201d There are also some mini meditations, but for free, you only get access to the \u2018Breathe\u2019 mini, which as the title suggests, gives you 60 seconds of exploring the sensation and mechanics of your breathing. One of my favourite things about Headspace is that it can easily be linked to the \u2018Health\u2019 app on your iPhone, and I presume there will be a similar option on Android devices and similar. So, when I look at my \u2018Health\u2019 stats, if I have meditated with Headspace that day, the phone will describe how many \u2018mindful minutes\u2019 I\u2019ve taken. I like the sense of achievement that comes with this, and recognising that I\u2019ve been good to myself and my mind for at least a few minutes each day. The app itself also records some data for you, and shows you how many minutes and on what days you\u2019ve meditated. There\u2019s also a kids\u2019 section, split into ages 5 and under, ages 6-8, and ages 9-12. These have titles such as \u2018Appreciation\u2019 and \u2018Kindness\u2019; good at any age! But particularly useful for young, developing minds. Sadly, as far as I could tell, none of the kids\u2019 stuff was available on the free version. I\u2019m going to keep the app on my phone, as even just having the basics package has been really useful. It\u2019s so easy to use, there\u2019s no set-up, you just download it and start meditating. An absolute beginner could use this, even if they had zero experience of mindfulness or meditation. I really hope the prices reduce at some point though, as at the moment, they are just far too high to consider a full subscription. Perhaps one day, when I\u2019m a bit more flush with cash! But all in all, an excellent user experience; very relaxing and very unique in its informal and easy-going style. *** About the Author: Mabh Savage\u00a0is a Pagan author, poet and musician, as well as a freelance journalist. She is the author of\u00a0A Modern Celt: Seeking the Ancestors\u00a0and\u00a0Pagan Portals: Celtic Witchcraft. Follow Mabh on\u00a0Twitter,\u00a0Facebook\u00a0and her\u00a0blog. Click Images for Amazon Information  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16567\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}