Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Medito: Your Free Meditation & Mindfulness Multitool

(Scroll to bottom of article to see image source credits.)

Medito is an incredible free app that is packed with good stuff! It's essentially a meditation tutor, an always on-call (and completely confidential!) personal therapist, a sleep aid, a work life coach, a collection of relaxing ambient soundscapes and a handy meditation/mindfulness reference library. And all this is delivered to you as short audio segments with your choice of narrator voices. 

Think of this app as one of those handy folding multitools. Sometimes you need a screwdriver, sometimes you need a knife and sometimes you need a nail file or a bottle opener. And some of those fold-up tools (for me, it's the leather punch!) you may never use. But it's empowering to have all that capability assembled into one device. 

That's pretty much how this app works. If you have zero experience or knowledge of meditation, Meditio provides short, practical bits of background info, followed by choose-your-own-length guided practice sessions to get you started. Or if you've been meditating for years, like me, you'll find all sorts of useful variations that you can explore, as well as collections of soundscapes and other resources to help you grow your practice. What's more, there are other unique tools to help you cope with emergency, high-stress situations at work or in your personal life. No wonder it was named one of Google Play's Best of 2020 award winners!  

The Medito Foundation


So who's behind this app and what's their vision? This is from their website:  "Medito Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to improving mental wellbeing, including helping people to cope better with depression, stress, anxiety and any other negative states of mind... [Our] Scientific Advisory Board provides input on Medito content, to help us produce mindfulness and mental health resources that are in line with the latest scientific thinking."  

Inventory of Medito App Resources


Below is my quick inventory of what I've found in the app. It's loaded!! (And, according to the developers, more good stuff is on the way!)

A Meditation Tutor
  • 5 short audio summaries introduce the novice to meditation and mindfulness.
  • 10 brief audios help you learn to sit comfortably.
  • 10 short audios (Mindfulness, Vipassana, Science of meditation, etc.) comprise the Beginner course.
  • 10 short audios (Consciousness, Anxiety, Stress, Open awareness, etc.) comprise the Intermediate course.

A Personal Therapist & Work Life Coach
  • The "Pandemic" pack includes 8 brief sessions to help you cope with Coronavirus.
  • The "Emergency" pack has 5 short sessions to help you deal with anger, fear, panic, etc.
  • The "Stress & Anxiety" pack has 10 brief sessions to help you manage stress and anxiety by remaining in the present moment.
  • The "Empowerment" pack can help activists confront racism and avoid burnout.
  • The "Work Life" pack has 10 topics to help you lead a happier, healthier work life (examples: Managing conflict, Productivity, Confidence, Creativity,  Work-life balance, etc.).
  • The "Gratitude" and "Loving Kindness" packs provide 10 guided meditations to cultivate gratitude & compassion.

A Sleep and Relaxation Aid
  • The "Sleep" collection provides 5 meditations to help you get to sleep, as well as 5 soothing ambient nature sounds and 14 relaxing tones and soundscapes.
  • The "Body Scan" collection has 8 meditations to help you relax, release tension and develop mindful awareness of mental and physical feelings.

Other Tools to Support Your Meditation Practice
  • "Daily Meditation" includes 4 voice-guided meditation session timers with 4 optional background sounds.
  • "Meditation Timer" includes simple timers, including a starting bell and an ending bell for sessions ranging in length from 3 minutes to one hour.  8 optional ambient soundscapes may mixed into each of these sessions.
  • The "Sounds" collection includes 22 different ambient soundscapes ranging in length from 5 to 60 minutes.
  • The "Mantra" pack provides 5 audios to help you develop your own word or phrase or sound to use as the focul point of your meditation
  • The "Walking Meditation" pack includes a 12 minute "Walking Inside" and a 15 minute "Walking Outside" guided meditation. 
  • In the "Collections" there are compilations of unique exercises and background info from experts, philosophers and collaborators (including 4 guided sessions in Spanish)
  • The "Teachers" pack (10 guided meditations) is designed to help educators introduce mindfulness into their classrooms and engage students in mindfulness practices.

So Go Get It!


The best way to realize the power of Medito's collections is to experience them firsthand. As you can see from the list above, the Medito app has enormous potential to improve your life! And, since it's free -- (Thank you, Medito Foundation!) -- you have nothing to lose by downloading and exploring it's powerful, concise and easy-to-use tools. And once you're hooked, be sure to share it with a friend. If using Medito were to go viral, I'm convinced the world would be a much better place!

Medito App at Google Play Store


Medito App at the Apple App Store

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Image sources/credits: 
Buddha image above from Etsy --- Gerber Truss Multi-Tool image from REI Coop --- Opening screenshot image from Medito: Free Meditation, Sleep & Mindfulness app at Google Play Store
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