It may look a little strange, but Pranayama does a great job guiding you through stress-reducing breathing exercises.
The holidays can be a stressful time. So can the weeks that follow. And Mondays, Mondays are always tough. The Swine Flu won't go away. Who's ready for financiapocalypse 2010? Glenn Beck says the country's ruined. Locusts! Ahhhhhhhh!!!
Whew, I need to relax. Easier said than done, right? Enter Pranayama and Stress Free with Deepak Chopra, two new iPhone apps designed to help you trade stressed-out for chilled-out.
Pranayama performs one basic function: guided breathing. According to the developer, research shows that 15 daily minutes of slow, deep breathing can improve overall health and even treat ailments like depression and insomnia.
To get started, you choose a "skill" level, breathing pattern (inhale/exhale or inhale/retain/exhale), and timing option (how long each step should last). Then, just tap Play. You'll hear a musical tone that corresponds with inhaling, then a different one for exhaling.
This audio-guided method lets you focus on your breathing without having to count or look at the screen (which, for the sake of learning, features an animated torso showing how to use your abdomen properly).
It's a simple, straightforward app, with lots of good built-in instructions and information. The $4.99 price tag may seem a hair steep, but it's a bargain if you get results.
Stress Free with Deepak Chopra is like an interactive self-help book.
Stress Free with Deepak Chopra is more of a soup-to-nuts self-help program, complete with activities, music therapy, nutrition advice, and videos of the mental-health guru himself.
It's designed to play out over the course of six weeks (though you can go at your own pace), with each week spent on the various stages of six "keys" to a stress-free life.
Along the way you'll get a daily e-mail showing your progress in the program and a recommended exercise. So this isn't just an app you turn to when you're feeling stressed; rather, it's a systematic self-help book made interactive.
And it offers some impressive features that no book could match. For example, in one activity you're encouraged to commune with nature--and the tap of a button displays nearby parks in Google Maps.
(Neat idea, bad implementation: the search missed most of the actual parks in my area, but instead found neighborhoods and developments with the word "park" in their name.)
Overall, there's a lot to like about this thorough, inventive app, and I can see where it will appeal to some users. However, I found it a little too touchy-feely, and something about Chopra himself rubs me the wrong way.
Will you like Stress Free? It'll cost you $8.99 to find out.
(Credit:
Enfren)
Of all the odd therapeutic lights we've seen--and there have been some doozies--this is one of the stranger-looking examples. We just can't imagine what could be so relaxing about something that looks like a cheap disco accessory.
But maybe the Korean-made LTK-200 "Therapy Station" makes up for its design with its features. The blue LEDs don't actually turn on until you've supposedly been lulled into a catatonic state by 24 soothing sounds that range from "concentration" to "therapy for depression," according to Technabob. Then the herbal aromatherapy kicks in, followed by a rush of negative ions to cleanse your oxygen.
The device may seem expensive, going for about $395 on the Korean market, but that might not even be enough to buy one spa treatment in Beverly Hills. Besides, it's better than walking around with a head massager.
(Credit:
Japan Trend Shop)
There's got to be a better way to relive your stoner days than wearing those Jamiroquai MP3 shades and, whatever it is, it's probably better done indoors where no one can see you. One solution could be this "Room Palette Skyrium" from the appropriately named "RelaxStyle" line of products from Japan's Banpresto. (But be careful of Japanese relaxation products, because they have a way of sneaking some perverse form of fitness into them.)
With any luck, this lighting experience will be totally devoid of physical exertion as it cycles through nine LED colors projecting various diffused themes on the ceiling, walls, or anywhere else you can see them, ranging from "Aurora" to "Resort Ocean," as described by Popgadget. If all works as planned, you could enjoy an adult version of those laser light shows so fondly remembered (or not) from your misspent youth. But be prepared: If you get the munchies, you're on on your own.
(Credit:
Smarthome)
Imagine coming back from two weeks in Maui with a perfect tan, thanks to the "PODillow." The healing effects of your vacation in nirvana are rapidly fading away, and you'll do anything to salvage even a shred of that tropical antidote.
Enter the "Memory Foam MP3 Blackout Shades" from Smarthome. It won't retain that George Hamilton glow (which will please your dermatologist), but Red Ferret says you can still be "blissfully submerged" in a blend of music and soothing darkness while your MP3 player is plugged into its built-in speakers. That may be so, but we think you could save $25 and get the same effect with your iPod earbuds and a blindfold. It does have that memory foam to mold around the contours of your face, however, so you'll know if someone is sneaking a moment of bliss with your shades when you're not around.
(Credit:
BornRich)
Whether it's disguised as a personal spa or an airport nap station, the trend is clear: There's a conspiracy afoot to create human pods.
Until now people might have been lulled into thinking that we actually need these things, letting their natural inclinations get the best of them. But look at the photos accompanying this post, especially the one on the right. How can that be a good thing? Using something called "psychoacoustic stimulation," it's supposedly an advanced sound system and de-stress mechanism "lets the music gently relax your whole body by emitting low-frequency vibrations that induce your brain to stroll through different stages of relaxation," according to BornRich, which adds that the interior is designed to "resemble the comfort of a mother's womb." Talk about creepy.
We know better than to listen to such gibberish, of course, and would like to point out that even its name is suspicious: "Armchair Paradise." Anyone familiar with the Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man" will immediately understand why.
(Credit:
A/V Stim)
We can just hear the Enya track now.
Stress relievers--or, more accurate, products that claim to relieve stress--are nothing new, of course, but that doesn't seem to deter a steady stream of them from coming onto the market seemingly every few days. The latest goes by the sci-fi-sounding name "MindSpa," which we appropriately saw on SCI FI Tech.
Like so many other so-called stress busters, this one uses a combination of calming lights and other New Agey stuff to lull us into a state of relaxation. According to its Web site, "The frequencies of light and sound in our eight Progressive Relaxation Programs (TM) assist the mind into entering slower, deeper brainwave states." Got it.
We'd like to keep an open mind about this kind of thing. Really, we would. But we can't get past SCI FI's trenchant observation: The price alone--$250--would likely prevent us from ever obtaining a state of full nirvana.
We're not too good at figuring out so-called relaxation devices here at Crave. It's been suggested that we're too tense (or dense) to understand how they work. Not so, we say. It's just that we like to keep our stress relievers simple--like a single-malt scotch, neat.
(Credit:
Brookstone)
And to prove it, we're actually going to endorse one of the said gadgets, at least in concept: the "Tranquil Moments Sound Therapy System" from Brookstone (otherwise known as a white-noise machine). Operation of this device is something even we can handle. Press button, get ocean surf. Press another button, thunderstorms. Get it?
Brookstone tries to throw some voodoo talk into its specs, but don't let that scare you. "Neuroacoustic research proves that sounds based on different brainwave frequencies can significantly increase your ability to achieve a desired state of mind. By playing sounds based on Delta, Alpha, or Theta brainwave frequencies, Tranquil Moments naturally coaxes your brain to 'match' these frequencies and enter healthier states of sleep, relaxation and renewal."
Please. Just turn out the lights and go away.
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