Years ago, I meditated every day for ten to twenty minutes, usually after a workout. Somewhere along the line, I dropped the practice. For years, one of my New Year’s resolutions has been to meditate 10 minutes a day and practice mindfulness. I haven’t been able to stick with it for even a week.

Recently I decided to add some structure and guidance to the goal and installed Headspace on my iPad and iPhone. A week into my free trial, I concluded it was the perfect tool for me.

The app is set up with courses and guidance for both meditation and mindfulness. I find it easy to follow and am always surprised when I see how long I have meditated. The app has a ton of content focused on helping you change the way you relate to stress and anxiety, and I can say I do feel more positive. When I feel anxious, I just open the app and even do a short three-minute session (as opposed to grabbing a few cookies and pacing around my kitchen)

The app provides suggestions for the day, but you can also explore the many available practices. I tend to worry a lot about things I have no control over and some of the mindfulness guidance has really helped. I’ve even started using the binaural beats at night to help me fall asleep.

If you have anxiety (we all do) and want to try meditation and mindfulness, download the app and use it for a week. You can start a free trial and if it doesn’t work for you, just cancel before the trial period is up.

The structure has really helped me be consistent—I haven’t missed a day. When I do feel stressed, the guidance has helped me deal with it in a better way. It isn’t a magic bullet, but it might help you too.

Be a Light!