Buddhify2

The "urban meditation" app buddhify has been refreshed recently. It is called buddhify2 , and is not merely an update to the first version, but a new app. After my initial annoyance at that, I decided that $2 was not that big a deal and bought the new app.

As with the previous version, it is not really for experienced meditators but, rather, for newcomers to the meditation scene who are looking for ways to introduced meditation, mindfulness, awareness, etc., into their daily routine. The basic premise is that the app provides short (6-8 minute) guided meditations in a variety of life contexts, and you pick one for wherever you find yourself ("working out", "walking in the city", "can't sleep", ...) There are around 50 or so guided meditations, but there is "room" for 96, and they promise to fill those spaces over the next 12-18 months with additional meditations.

The one context that caught my eye was "working online". Hmm, that sounds like it might be helpful to me. And I have to say, of the three meditations in that section, two really resonated. The first introduces a really clever constant awareness hack that I am really stoked about: mindfulness of blinking. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I am always trying to find some tools and tricks to keep my awareness going throughout my very busy day, while not interfering too much with my programming. Having a periodic mindfulness bell is ok, but you cannot have it going too often or it gets annoying/disruptive. But noticing blinking is that right balance of subtlety and frequency that (for the moment) is doing the trick for my. That is worth $2 right there.

The other "online" meditation that really resonated was essentially a metta thing, using your online social "circle" as the target. Whether it is your list of friends in your current social feed, or the people represented by your email inbox, or the people that are reading the same news/blog site you are reading right now, the guidance makes you think about the *people*, how they are like you, how they are different, what their dreams, desires, and challenges are. This struck a chord because it reminded me of an incident in a grocery store several years ago, when I first started becoming aware beyond my puny life. I remember looking at a grossly overweight person in shabby clothes, towards whom I would ordinarily have strong aversion and judgements to. At that moment, I realized that person woke up today, just like me, got dressed, had breakfast, and planned their day, just like me. And that person was now getting groceries for dinner later, just like me. They probably had family and friends, obviously had a past, dreamed, watched TV, and deserved respect and kindness, just like me.

So now, when I look at my Facebook feed, or your posts here, I try and look beyond just the mere words and imagine those people (you) typing them in, and send out a little metta their (your) way.