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.
Can a video game get you in shape? Nintendo says that Wii Fit will definitely point you in the right direction. With more than 40 exercises and activities, the game helps you keep track of your BMI (body mass index) over a period of time, allowing you to become more aware of your body.
While the game may not have you losing pounds left and right, it'll certainly help you improve your balance and posture--it can even make you work up a sweat.
The Wii Fit package comes with the Wii Fit software and balance board. The board is quite sensitive, with four points of measurement able to sense the slightest of movements. You'll take part in yoga, aerobic, strength training, and balance game exercises all with the help of your virtual personal trainer. The game encourages you to participate in at least one activity a day so that you can more accurately track your progress.
Wii Fit goes on sale May 19 and will retail for $90.
After you've watched our First Look with Wii Fit be sure to also check out our Q&A with Nintendo and Wii Fit mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto.
The Enso Clock by Salubrion may well be the most unalarming alarm clock you'll ever find.
Geared for practitioners of yoga and meditation, it draws its name from the Japanese word for circle, a shape that commonly symbolizes enlightenment, elegance, and the universe.
(Credit:
Salubrion)
Rather than counting time with minute and second hands, the $99 digital clock features a circle that slowly and unobtrusively draws itself along the perimeter of the display to mark the passing time.
The Enso Clock allows users to set sequential timers that run one after the other to compose an overall session. Instead of rousing you with a grating clang, it offers the sorts of soothing sounds you'd hear in a Zendo, such as wooden blocks or a Tingsha bell.
The little clock measures 3.8 inches in diameter and four-fifths of an inch thick and includes 2 AAA batteries, making it a well-suited travel device, as well. Thanks to Dvice for alerting us to this gadget--very quietly of course.
(Credit:
Yanko Design)
Of all the places to escape the noise of this madcap, technology-fueled world, yoga class is pretty high up there on the list. Maybe not for long.
Designer Hui-Zong Chen has created a concept for an AV yoga mat, complete with an scrolling "electronic paper" surface that streams video. The tube the mat/screen scrolls out of would also house speakers, an MP3 player, and a memory-card reader.
Think of this mat as an added challenge. After all, you know you're fully enlightened if you can meditate while simultaneously watching Deliverance, blasting Rage Against the Machine, and tuning out all the complaining people around you.
[Via Geekologie and Yanko Design.]
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