Wearable Gadgets and Technology for Meditation

By Joy Bose and Siva Prasad Bose

Meditation is as old as mankind. It needs almost no props, save a cushion, some instructions and an intent to meditate. It gives a number of benefits ranging from increased happiness, stress relief, a better immune system, better concentration, enhanced quality of life and so on. Some might even say it gives insight into the nature of things as they really are.

We live in the technology age, where life is more fast paced than ever before and there exist a range of distractions. Many would say technology has made us more disconnected from nature and from the real world. However, technology can also be used as a tool for aiding meditation or enhancing the meditation and well-being experience, partly thanks to the variety of technologies such as EEG, tDCS, PEMF, binaural beats that can be leveraged in wearable devices.

In this book, we explore a variety of wearable gadgets and apps that can help in meditation and enhancing well-being and happiness. We also share the authors' experience in using some of these apps and gadgets.

It is hoped that learning about these will encourage the readers to try out some of them, and utilize them to improve their own meditation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joy Bose
• Release date: Jul 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223710707

Joy Bose

Joy Bose is a data scientist and software engineer by profession. He lives and works in Bangalore, India. He has practiced meditation in multiple traditions including mindfulness meditation and Vajrayana, and is keenly interested in applications of technology in the field of meditation.

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Contents

Dedication

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction to technology and mindfulness meditation

Chapter 2: Breath monitoring in Smartwatches and fitness bands

Chapter 3: Wearable gadget based on biofeedback: Unyte IOM2

Chapter 4: Wearable gadgets based on Electroencephalography (EEG)

Chapter 5: Meditation Smart Ring: Dhyana

Chapter 6: Wearables based on Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

Chapter 7: Wearable to stimulate mystical experience: Shiva helmet or God helmet

Chapter 8: Wearables to enhance lucid dreaming

Chapter 9: Meditation lamps

Chapter 10: Meditation apps

Chapter 11: Browser extensions, PC apps and games related to meditation

Chapter 12: Wearables and apps based on sounds emitted at certain frequencies

Chapter 13: Gratitude journals and apps to enhance happiness

Chapter 14: Meditation using Virtual Reality (VR) headset

Chapter 15: Flotation tanks and float therapy

Chapter 16: Lucia Light Therapy

Chapter 17: Conclusion

About the authors

Other Books by Siva Prasad Bose

Other Books by Siva Prasad Bose

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all those who are practicing or have practiced mindfulness meditation.

Preface

Meditation is as old as mankind. It needs almost no props, save a cushion, some instructions and an intent to meditate. It gives a number of benefits ranging from increased happiness, stress relief, a better immune system, better concentration, enhanced quality of life and so on. Some might even say it gives insight into the nature of things as they really are.

We live in the technology age, where life is more fast paced than ever before and there exist a range of distractions. Many would say technology has made us more disconnected from nature and from the real world. However, technology can also be used as a tool for aiding meditation or enhancing the meditation and well-being experience, partly thanks to the variety of technologies such as EEG, tDCS, PEMF, binaural beats that can be leveraged in wearable devices.

In this book, we explore a variety of wearable gadgets and apps that can help in meditation and enhancing well-being and happiness. We also share the authors’ experience in using some of these apps and gadgets.

It is hoped that learning about these will encourage the readers to try out some of them, and utilize them to improve their own meditation.

Chapter 1: Introduction to technology and mindfulness meditation

In this chapter, we discuss some issues related to mindfulness meditation and technology usage, and mention various ways in which to leverage technology to help with mindfulness, particularly in the area of stress reduction.

For many of us, our lives revolves around technology. For those who work full time in tech as software engineers or have online work that needs computers, technology is essential to their work in various ways. It could be sitting in front of a computer for hours on end or being glued to our mobile phones or TVs when off work. This can, however, affect us in some not so good ways. Perhaps the problems are even worse now, considering the widespread use of work from home or hybrid work due to the recent Covid pandemic.

In this chapter, we discuss a few ways in which technology can help us to cultivate mindfulness and meditation and thus become relaxed and free from stress.

1.1 Problems due to prolonged use of technology

Prolonged use of technology can lead to various problems. Some of the problems are as follows:

Physical health issues: If we are not mindful of our posture and movement, prolonged usage of tech could lead to physical health issues. Examples are carpel tunnel syndrome (due to a bad positioning of hands when typing on a computer), back pain, neck pain, poor eyesight, lack of sleep, etc. Also in the list are issues related to poor diet and lack of exercise as a secondary result of sitting without moving in front of a computer or using a mobile for a long time.

Mental health issues: This