Over the last month, I have been focusing on consistent meditation. My goal is to meditate for at least ten minutes per session five times per week. I have been using guided meditation with the Waking Up app. 

The problem I have with meditation is that I have no measure of progress. They say it’s the act of doing it that counts, but what if I’m not really doing it effectively? Some people do thirty minutes or an hour of meditation per day. If I get to that level, I certainly want to make it count.

Good thing it’s the holidays when a) gadgets go on sale, and b) someone asks what do you want for Christmas. My girlfriend gifted me with something called the Muse 2. According to the website, “Muse 2 is a multi-sensor meditation device that provides real-time feedback on your brain activity, heart rate, breathing, and body movements to help you build a consistent meditation practice.” Somehow this device can measure brain waves much like an EEG, and infer brain activity during meditation. 

I’ve only used it once, but so far I’m intrigued. 

Aside: “You don’t wait until Christmas to open presents??” No, I’m not a kid anymore. I don’t wait for January 1st to start some new resolution, and as far as I am concerned it’s Christmas all year ‘round. Why delay personal development for even one day?

I like having the app that gives me the summary result of each session so I can compare data day-to-day. I’m also interested in the guided meditation sessions, which is a separate subscription, that focus on topics such as sleep and stress. I am definitely going to be putting this device to the test to see if I can take my meditation practice to another level.