In the fast paced world we live in, distraction is everywhere: TV, advertisements, billboards, mobile phones, tablets, magazines, computers, the internet, cereal boxes... EVERYWHERE!
In my case, if I don't meditate first thing in the morning and leave it for later, that's it, it just doesn't happen.
"Ok, I'll just check my emails quickly... Oh wait, I need to reply to that email urgently... What's new on Facebook... Oh, look a funny video... I'm hungry now... I'll just send that email, then I promise I'll meditate... Wait, did I pay that bill... I just do this very quickly and then I will meditate 20 minutes..."
Does any of this sounds familiar? Somehow, I'm pretty convinced that I'm not the only one that struggles to practice meditation everyday, and maybe - even more importantly - to remind myself throughout the day, to slow down, take a minute and just be.
That got me thinking about ways to help myself and others to establish a regular meditation practice. How to make it fun, engaging and stay motivated? That's when I decided to found Meditacious. Meditacious is about researching new and exciting ways to use technology to support meditation practitioners.
Technology is everywhere, and it's definitively not going away. Things we use all the time, like our computer and smartphone, can become tools to encourage and motivate us to meditate, instead of just being a source of distraction.
Personally I think that finding a meditation technique that works for you, is not that difficult. What can be harder is to take (or find) the time everyday to sit and meditate for a moment. It's even more challenging not to forget your meditation as soon as you get up from the cushion.
Our world evolves at an unimaginable speed. We have become so impatient and demanding, that we even expect that after a few meditation sessions we will be as zen as the Dalai Lama, but the reality is far from there, even if positive changes happen after a few sessions, it takes weeks, before we start to really notice the benefits. The problem is patience is scarce in todays society, so when change doesn't happen immediately we tend to quit and move on to something else.
With all that in mind, I started working on Meditacious' first project: An iPhone app, that makes use of technology to keep people motivated and enthusiastic about their meditation practice. Having a smartphone always close to you, is great, but instead of just using it to check your emails, surf the web, play games, etc... Why not use it to remind you to take a minute to meditate, to connect with fellow practitioners, to track your progress, to challenge you to try something different everyday, to inspire you...
Meditacious has unique features to keep you engaged and motivated to help you really establish a regular meditation practice.
If you're still reading this, it's likely that, like me, you sometimes (or often) find it challenging to just sit down and meditate and might welcome an extra little push to get it done. What better way to get that little nudge you need that through the same gizmos we love and use all the time.