Meditate regularly - I finally found the solution

One Year with Muse

Meditate yes, it is something you may have already tried. It is simple but how to do it regularly! For me, it would never have been meditation every day without the use of technology support. With the support of a neurofeedback app on my smartphone connected to an EEG headset, it became easier to build a recurring meditation habit.

                     In Swedish

 A good habit

For 365 days I have meditated every day and I have consistently set aside at least 20 minutes a day for meditation. This is not only boast, I'm a pretty lazy type. Or I was aware, like most people, that meditation can be useful. But from there to also do something about it can be trickier. For a long time I have known that meditation can do wonders, see for example this list...(LINK). Meditate yes, of course, you have tried it, It is easy but how to get to it regularly! For me, it would never have been meditation every day without using technology support. With the support of an app with neurofeedback on a smartphone that is connected to a EEG-headset  it became easier to build a recurring meditation habit.

The best result with creating a lasting habit is just that... a lasting habit. But the Muse app measures not only daily diligence but also concrete changes as I rebuild my brain through my mind. What where the brain changes, how it felt and what became the tangible measurable result of a year of technology-assisted meditation I will describe in the following.

Refocus is the thing

Concentration meditation with EEG technology support becomes something quite different from sitting daydreaming with eyes closed. With your smartphone you get instant feedback to refocus. Concentration is one of the most basic ways to meditate. And not just when it comes to training the mind, but in everything we do. Without concentration we cannot act at all.

With exercises in concentration meditation, we work with a very simple recurring experience, called a "meditation object." Standard objects in meditation include things like breath, sounds, focal points in the body, a simple phrase or even a visualization. Whatever we choose, we put all our attention there and try to keep it as long as we can.

At some point, often quite quickly, our attention will be lost or rather move on to something else. We begin to float away in our thoughts and think about job relationships, yes anything but the meditation object. The fact that the mind wanders is not a problem, what we should pay attention to is the next step. RECOVERY or refocus! That's the thing. This is to note that we have walked away in our thoughts and then kindly but firmly directed our attention back to the object.

And so it continues to focus, maintain focus, loose focus, mind wanders, discovers this and refocus.

A simple workout, but that can be quite difficult to master. But with good equipment and a repeated training sessions we build our "brain muscles" That's why it is sometimes called brain gym. With an EEG Headset you can track your results in real time.

The training gives effect as the graph above shows. The need for refocusing decreases as the brain becomes better at focusin as we can see days with zero recoveries increases 

In much the same way as actual strength training, physical strength improves, so the concentration strengthens the muscles of attention. As our attention span grows, we become less distracted. External distractions and stimuli gain less control over us when we have trained ourselves to be present. As a result, our emotional baseline, our normal state, becomes more calm and relaxed. A natural joy and clarity begins to emerge as our concentration improves and we feel that we enjoy even the most mundane and simple activities more.

The concentrated mind is also a more effective mind. When your attention gets stronger and more attentive, you can apply it to everything you do, whether you work in the garden, manage a complex project, or listen to your family tell about their day. Concentration is a superpower.... SUPER POWER

Bird song as a reward

A fun thing with the Muse EEG headband and smartphone application is the neurofeedback it delivers. For every five seconds your brain is in focus, you hear a bird singing.

In the beginning I was completely disturbed and excited when I manage to get a bird song. So the birds made me loose concentration However, after a while, I could  take it more  easy and thereby improve my results. Below is my change in the number of birds and total meditation points received on average per month.

Important to note is that no results are really definitive but rather relative and sync up  and compare against your personal calibration at the beginning of the session. The birds are just one part of the feedback that Muse has put into the app there is goals and awards. And as in computer games, there are also a number of sub-target levels / LEVELS from 1 to 24.

This is fun and strengthens you motivation to continue. It took me intense 99 days to reach the highest level. But then after this level roof you also have a never ending hight score percent figure showing  how much of the meditation time you actually have been in the calm state. And you can always increase the session timer for even tougher challenge.

 Muse measures EEG brain waves but processes its own algorithm and presents the results in a graph with the levels Active, Neutral and Calm.

The special thing with technology support

Now you may be wondering. How difficult can it be.  Can´t you meditate just by sitting down and closing your eyes?  Sure, but what looks so easy also contains its own special difficulties.

A common observation for those who have tried meditating before they started with technology-assisted meditation is the realization that a very large part of the time you previously thought was meditation time turns out to be wasted in time for daydreams and mental chatter. 

With an EEG headset like MUSE you can get real-time feedback and learn over time and you improve!

Education with technology support

Soon after I realized the great advantage of technology support in meditation, I started my own course activities. By offering companies training courses for their employees with the Muse headband we could make the learning process so much more interesting and fun. As an example; Exercises can be performed  as  a group meditation with Muse headband and with all their  Muse-app's sound feedback at maximum volume, without earbuds! A group meditation with a fantastic concert of birdsong

A group meditation with a fantastic concert of ... birdsong

Add to this, the opportunity that during  students home exercises the teacher can help by collect study and comment all individual meditation graphs. All this speaks for engaged participants and good progress.  At the end of a 8 week "Hightech Mindfulness" course, the participants took a survey and  this was their experienced health result.

60% Found the course improved their focus and mood

60% That it reduced stress

60% experienced Improved emotional well-being

Perhaps those subjective health results is short-lived but could be made more permanent  for those that succeed in incorporate meditation into their lifestyle and create a lasting good habit. 

/ Lars-Åke Lidström Founder and facilitator at MeditationHightech.se