Do you feel like life is getting harder to navigate, year after year? We all hope this year will be different, which is possible with hard work, dedication and support, but that’s not how life works sometimes—unfortunately, circumstances can sometimes be out of our control. What can be controlled is how we choose to deal with those circumstances—either in a healthy way, or a way that can cause harm in the long run.
I recently started using an app that helped me with mindfulness: the Insight Timer. Truthfully, at first, I didn’t think meditation was for me. I was the type of person who’d make everyone in my professional and personal life believe I wasn’t struggling, and that everything was OK when it wasn’t. This caused me a lot of anxiety, overthinking and insomnia.
In the past three months, I’ve tried various meditation apps on the market. The Insight Timer, in particular, was highly effective for me—it helped me manage my everyday well-being, in regard to anxiety, sleep and stress, for free! As a beginner, I was skeptical, but I’ll continue to utilize the app and upgrade to access the premium features like live events, workshops and mentoring with one-on-one coaching that covers topics such as mindfulness, self-love and reducing stress.
3 reasons why Insight Timer is life-changing
It’s a universal hub
At first, the app was overwhelming because of the large selection of content at my fingertips, but once I started to explore and play around with it, it became easier to navigate. This app has a wide variety of free content, including more than 100,000 guided meditations led by more than 11,000 leading meditation teachers, musicians and sleep experts from Canada and other parts of the world.
Insight Timer feels like a universal community hub, as I can see who is attending live events in real time. The reviews written by other meditators have allowed me to see how certain tracks and courses have helped and inspired others, which gives me a feeling of belonging and identification.
It offers a timer
Silent meditation is my preference—usually, I start my day with sounds that boost my morale—but this tool was also beneficial during low-mood periods and high-stress situations. With Insight Timer, I can set a timer and meditate to intermittent bells, calming ambient noise or soothing music. I noticed that doing this would help me relax and clear my mind.
It aids with sleep
I’ve struggled with mild insomnia—I couldn’t sleep or stay asleep since I had a lot weighing on my mind. Every night, I’d wake up after no more than three hours of sleep, which resulted in cognitive issues and a lack of energy during the day. I knew that if I didn’t do something in the early stages, the symptoms would get worse.
The Insight Timer helped me tremendously with this problem, as it offers more than 1,000 free tracks of music for sleeping, along with soundscapes and meditation courses that helped me create the best environment to calm my mind and improve my sleep patterns.
Ready to give the app a try?
At times, life can be uncertain, but how we choose to deal with those uncertainties is up to us. The Insight Timer is a great app for anyone who wants to learn to relieve their stress, reduce their anxiety and improve their sleep through meditation practice. Now, after using it for a while, I can see situations for what they are while remaining calm and staying in the present moment.
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image 1: Conscious Design; image 2, Insight Timer (mobile screenshot); image 3: Insight Timer (mobile screenshot)
