Mindfulness-Based Programs Show Promise in Reducing Psychological Distress

Re:Mindfulness-Based Programs Show Promise in Reducing Psych... by lynx23 on Friday July 28, 2023 @05:25AM (#36904609)

Am I the only one who thinks meditation with an app is super hilariously weird? Its hard to explain without falling for too much cynism, but... the topic is mindfulness, not "have my phone tell me what to do next". If you are unable to mediate without the help of an app, start here, instead of pretending you are meditating just because some app tells you every step along the way.

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Re:Mindfulness-Based Programs Show Promise in Reducing Psych... by unmole on Friday July 28, 2023 @05:40AM (#36904702)

> Am I the only one who thinks meditation with an app is super hilariously weird?

Yes.

> have my phone tell me what to do next"

The phone is a tool. It doesn't tell me what to do.

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Re:Mindfulness-Based Programs Show Promise in Reducing Psych... by lazide on Monday July 31, 2023 @12:43AM (#36938890)

Teachers and the Sangha exist to help guide, direct, and provide accountability for the student.

None of which is possible for an App to do, because an App isn’t aware.

This outsourcing of basic human awareness and community to tech is quite concerning and actively harmful to our mental health IMO.

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Re:Mindfulness-Based Programs Show Promise in Reducing Psych... by Knee_Pain on Friday July 28, 2023 @05:28AM (#36904627)

Have you downloaded the app? Have you seen how it works and what its options are? Everything you wrote is coming from a place of ignorance.

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Re:Mindfulness-Based Programs Show Promise in Reducing Psych... by wodenokoto on Friday July 28, 2023 @05:29AM (#36904639)

Is guided meditation on cassette tape also hilariously weird? Or what about in-person guided meditation?

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Re:Mindfulness-Based Programs Show Promise in Reducing Psych... by throw_pm23 on Friday July 28, 2023 @06:08PM (#36914008)

Yes for the first, less so for the second.

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Re:Mindfulness-Based Programs Show Promise in Reducing Psych... by barrysteve on Friday July 28, 2023 @06:09AM (#36904883)

It is strange.

I wouldn't come to a tech site to air the counter-tech opinion and I wouldn't anticipate a fair and balanced response.

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Re:Mindfulness-Based Programs Show Promise in Reducing Psych... by lynx23 on Friday July 28, 2023 @10:23AM (#36907229)

Wait, I couldn't even survive without my smartphone, being blind and all. Given that context, if a person deeply emersed in tech to actually get things done during the day says they think not everything should be solved with an app, that is a counter-tech opinion?

And yes, I sort of deliberately put this comment here to see how HN users react if their believes or their bussiness model are seemingly "attacked".

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Re:Mindfulness-Based Programs Show Promise in Reducing Psych... by astrange on Friday July 28, 2023 @06:10AM (#36904891)

It's not any weirder than any other exercise app. It keeps you on track and reminds you what you're supposed to do. (Which isn't exactly "just sit there." You can do it wrong.)

You can even get an EEG reader for biofeedback meditation like Muse. Works well as long as you stay away from the Deepak Chopra stuff.

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Re:Mindfulness-Based Programs Show Promise in Reducing Psych... by throw_pm23 on Friday July 28, 2023 @06:10PM (#36914037)

Exercise apps seem equally weird to me.

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Re:Mindfulness-Based Programs Show Promise in Reducing Psych... by yadingus on Friday July 28, 2023 @07:59PM (#36915053)

I've done vipassana retreats where they play audio files from Goenka's instructions. You can do the same with a phone.

I've used analogue timers to determine when to get up from my session. Please explain the difference between an analogue timer and a digital one, for this purpose.

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