I cant relax.

Its not just me. Everyone is having a tough time relaxing, sleeping, and getting any sort of emotional relief from this endless pandemic. COVID-19, youve kicked the worlds butt.

Thats where meditation comes in. Mindfulness, chanting, being in the moment whatever you call it, the meditative state is supposed to bring some solace to the situation.

The literature, what there is of it, would tend to agree. A 2016 meta-analysis found that mindfulness-based meditation worked very well in combating stress among college students. A mindfulness app, then, primed to poke and prod the reluctant practitioner into daily practice, might be a good plan. But what are the best meditation apps in 2021?

I decided to try out two different (and newer) apps, one free and one with a paywall. I also investigated a free app thats supposed to control bedtime doom scrolling (guilty). Keep in mind, you have to use these apps for them to work.

[EDITORS NOTE: The writer was given free access to the apps mentioned in the Best Meditation Apps for 2021 article but that did not influence her opinions. Other apps she reviewed did not make the list.]

Waking Up is a relatively new app that grew out of meditation expert Sam Harriss writings and practices. Harris is quite famous, indeed almost a guru, and has celebrity followers aplenty. The app itself is designed as a subscription; if you opt for the free version, you wont have access to much. And Waking Up has loads to offer, from everyday prompts with Harriss 30-second observations and advice, to a 28-day introductory course.

Theres also a ton of theoretical information here. In fact, it might be overkill for many. In most households, carving out five minutes locked in the bathroom for a fast meditation might be all thats possible; an hour-long lecture is a laughable luxury (and also competes with, say, an hour of Netflix). Guess what wins?

According to Scott Hannan, Head of Growth, Marketing and Partnerships for Waking Up, the informative approach still works even for busy people.

If one is willing to invest 10 minutes every other day in a mindfulness practice, wouldnt they want to get everything possible from that time? We understand that not everyone is looking for that more in-depth understanding of how their minds work. For those who are, or realize they are during the introductory experience, the payoff of combining some theory with the same amount of practice time they would spend in another app can be profound, Hannan tells Parentology.

One thing Harris makes clear in the introduction to the app: You shouldnt meditate just because it changes the brain. His point is that lots of things, from what you had for breakfast to the CBD gummy you chewed last night, change the brain. Instead, Hannan suggests measuring it through eventual outcomes.

Meditation can be paradoxical in the sense that our minds are already free, but we have to work to understand that. By connecting this work to outcomes, we can reach more people. For example, helping people understand that with each practice, lesson, or guest conversation, they can accrue knowledge. They would find an antidote to distraction. They would be able to end their identification with every thought that flew into their head. They would be able to truly experience paying attention to what matters in the moment, be that their family, their friendships, their work everything that they have already decided is worth their time but havent understood how to actually be there to reap the rewards of the investment, Hannan says.

So, if you desire lots of educational opportunities, a ton of metaphysics, and a daily five to ten minute automatic meditation session waiting for you on the app, Waking Up is for you. Just keep in mind that youll have to pay for it, and its about $100 per year.

Its one thing to have a free mind. Its quite another to have a free mindfulness app that actually gives you choices. The very new Healthy Minds app is that very rare bird.

Healthy Minds Marketing VP Jocelyn Harmon explains that, since the company is a non-profit, (connected to The Center for Healthy Minds at University of Wisconsin) its able to offer more for an (optional) donation. It is a very busy space with a lot of exceptional offerings. We believe we offer something a little different that has the ability to democratize emotional well-being, Harmon says to Parentology.

The app combines an appreciation for the science (again, such as it is), with utility. Its based around four pillars the center deemed necessary for a healthy mind: awareness, connection, insight and purpose. Its modules are very easy to follow and blessedly brief. One six-minute mini-lecture on mindful awareness, for example, is then teamed with a 5-20 minute (your choice) meditation session. Its arranged in a checklist fashion, which gave me a satisfying sense of accomplishing something, even if the goal was to actually transform into nothingness.

Its also not as insistent in tone. Sure, the thing would like you to meditate every day, but its polite about it. And the instructors voices are soothing and friendly. Theres also a large selection of specific meditations, like dealing with holidays, getting to sleep, and even micro meditations that last for only a minute or two. All this variety is useful for the novice and veteran alike; again, the fact that its free is a bit staggering.

First of all, give yourself some compassion because this is a very challenging time for everyone. Supporting your own well-being is an incredible gift to give yourself, but dont make it another stressor. We always recommend starting small, with manageable goals to help form a habit. For example, can you listen to an active meditation every weekday morning while taking a shower? Make it 5 minutes. Thats all five minutes a day, Harmon said.

Its just too easy to start scrolling through social media and news while in bed. And even though I have those dubious blue light-blocking glasses, I still get all rattled. The result is crummy sleep, leading to crabby days.

Scrollaby is a bedtime scrolling app. Its not precisely meditation, although it offers some sessions. As I scrolled, I found white noise, peaceful images, meditation sections, sleepy stories, and other calming offerings. And each time I launched it, there were new things to lull me to sleep.

Scrollaby is soothing (the psychedelic occasional visuals aside; try it and youll see what I mean), peaceful, and sort of boring. Not bad boring, just more like sleep looks pretty good next to it. I mean, when choices are sounds from Toms Pond (all hail Tom and his merry band of frogs), a sleepy history story with a female narrator who already sounds halfway to dreamland, or a forgiveness meditation, it gets soporific pretty quickly.

If you find something you like, its easy to save it to favorites. There are no messages or reminders, no demands on your time. And, best of all, Scrollaby is free.

There are plenty of other, older meditation apps out there: Calm, 10% Happier, Headspace, Insight Timer, etc. All of them will probably garner good results if you use them on a regular basis. Some are free, some arent. All in all, the Healthy Minds app seems like the best value. Its completely free and offers plenty of sessions and decent advice. And, if youre not forced to do it (its not your job, for instance), odds are itll help you get through these challenging times.

So, peace out and namaste. Now, whats on Netflix?

Waking Up Healthy Minds Innovations Scrollaby Science Direct

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Taking the Edge Off Best Meditation Apps for 2021 - Parentology

I only made it to number 16 when counting down from 18 before my focus faded and a dream state settled in.

I caught myself and tried again: 18, 17, 16 ... and off my mind meandered once more. Not to grocery lists or work assignments, but to the type of strange and colorful story threads the mind can only conjure on the edge of sleep.

Could it be working?

I wasn't undergoing anesthesia or hypnosis, but rather a practice called "yoga nidra," a refreshingly accessible alternative to meditation also known as yogic sleep. Philadelphia-based yoga instructor Jake Panasevich told me it's like "verbal acupuncture," and yoga teacher Autumn Adams wrote her husband has dubbed it "advanced napping."

Read more: A sleep expert explains why you're having such vivid dreams during the coronavirus pandemic

Whatever you call it, the practice is linked with loads of mental and physical benefits, and may be especially appealing during the pandemic, as it's a fail-proof way to destress, improve sleep, and ease pain without leaving home.

"It's the easiest thing in the world," yoga nidra teacher Hilary Jackendoff told me, "and it does all of things you hope meditation will provide you with," even, as I someone who neither does yoga nor meditates experienced, on the first try.

Yoga nidra simply involves lying down (or in yoga terms, in shavasana) and letting an instructor live, online, or via a recording guide you through mental exercises designed to move you "from a state of thinking and doing to a state of being and feeling," Panasevich said.

In my case, the exercises, led virtually by Jackendoff who graciously gave me a complementary 45-minute session, included paying attention to the sounds around me (especially those between the car horns and radiator clanking), a body scan, the countdown, and perhaps other techniques that escaped my conscious recollection.

Unlike many forms of meditation, which encourage you to attune your focus to your belly rising and falling, for instance, or to the soles of your feet connecting with the earth yoga nidra invites you to lose focus and sink into deep mental, physical, and emotional relaxation.

"In deep sleep, there's no awareness. We don't know how much money we have or who our partner is," Jackendoff told me. "In yoga nidra, we're moving to that deep state of sleep, and that's a very freeing experience."

It's also freeing to know you can't really do it wrong. You can do it for five minutes or an hour, daily or whenever you need a reset.If you remain mindful and don't fall into the zone between sleeping and waking, "there are tons of benefits to be gained," Jackendoff said. If the opposite happens and you fall asleep, that's a good thing as well.

These days, "we are fundamentally exhausted and if people are tired, they need to sleep," said Jackendoff, adding that when she offered in-person yoga nidra classes, it wasn't uncommon for people to snore.

Often, though, people don't go to the either extreme and rather "slide between different states of awareness," she said.

That was true for me. At the start, my mind was quite awake, wondering for instance how I'd write about my yoga nidra experience if I couldn't remember it. Since in fact I don't recall it all, I may have fallen asleep at some point. But I do know the body scan drew me into that semi-conscious sweet spot, and left me feeling zen hours after the session closed.

Research has linked yoga nidra with reduced stress and anxiety, with one study, for instance, showing its anxiety-reduction benefits among college professors were superior to those of seated meditation.

Another showed it improved heart rate variability, essentially teaching the body to turn off the fight-or-flight stress response and settle into the "rest and digest" response of the parasympathetic nervous system.

Read more: 12 ways to cope with coronavirus anxiety, according to psychologists

The list goes on: It seems to help improve sleep by prepping your brain to fall into it, make up for lost sleep by maximizing time in the brain's most restorative state, prompt creativity and deeper self-discovery, heal trauma, reduce chronic pain, and may even help control blood sugar in people with diabetes.

But for Panasevich, who's largely substituted his meditation practice with yoga nidra during the pandemic, one of the biggest perks is simply the chance to lie down and be told what to do.

"Our whole culture is based on focus and getting more done, and 'you're not doing enough,'" he said. "For me, it's permission to deliberately disengage."

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Written by Cindy Nelson, Utah State University Extension associate professor

January 30, 2021

Young woman meditating in lounge chair at home

It can be a challenge to make the time to rest our minds, relax and find peace. But it is definitely worth the effort.

According to a study reported at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint Johns University (csbsju.edu/chp/counseling/self-care/relax-meditate), chronic stress may be linked to many physical illnesses and can negatively affect our mental health. The study showed that:

* 43% of adults experienced adverse health effects from stress.

* 75-90% of visits to a physicians office are for stress-related conditions and complaints.

* Stress has been linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide. Developing the ability to relax is essential to effectively mitigating the impacts of stress and anxiety.

How can we learn to relax and enjoy lifes simple moments with all our duties and responsibilities? Meditation may be the answer. Consider this information.

Meditation has been used for years as a way to increase calmness and help with physical relaxation. Meditation is a combination of the mind and body working together to calm the mind and help us find peace. According to the National Center of Complementary and Integrative Health, there are numerous types of meditation, but most have four common elements:

There are numerous benefits to meditation. It calms, restores, reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, frees our mind from worries, helps us focus on happiness, creates a more stable mood and increases our feelings of control over lifes situations. It also decreases muscle tension, helps with weight loss, enhances energy levels, improves memory, promotes greater tolerance, gives deeper spirituality, slows the aging process and helps us put things into perspective.

Learning to relax through meditation is a skill that takes time and practice. There are many online resources and apps available. Take time to explore different methods and find what works best. Dedicate 10 minutes each day for meditation, and learn ways to relax and reflect on the positive things in life.

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Ask an Expert Relax and de-stress with meditation - Cache Valley Daily

Grappling with the coronavirus pandemic on top of life's everyday stressors hasn't been easy for anyone even for model and activist Hunter McGrady, who has been a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model since 2017, has more than 700,000 followers on Instagram, and is the founder of the inclusive QVC clothing line All Worthy, which offers sizes ranging from XXS-5X, (0-36). McGrady has been a fierce advocate for body acceptance and body diversity in media and fashion, and her line proves that style and comfort shouldn't have a size limit.

As for how she has been taking care of her mental health during the pandemic, McGrady has found solace in meditation. She uses the Breethe meditation and sleep app every morning, and told POPSUGAR via email that it has been helping to keep her "sane" and "feeling great." She added, "My favorite one is the gratitude meditation because it really puts so much in perspective!"

In addition to meditating, she's been relieving stress with podcasts and hour-long walks. She also likes moving her body during virtual workouts with her trainer Megan Roup, either from her Instagram Live or her app The Sculpt Society. McGrady said Roup preaches that even if you can only get up and move five minutes a day, that is successful. "I think that's an excellent approach," McGrady said. "It really makes working out enjoyable whether you're doing 5 minutes or 50 minutes."

She's also a partner with Mirror, the smart mirror that streams thousands of workout classes from trainers and lets you check your form. "Today, I could only do a 15 min workout and for that I am proud," she wrote in an Instagram caption on Dec. 27. She also noted in the caption that while she started 2020 as an advanced fitness person, she finds herself back at beginner, which, she said, is "perfectly ok" and that "it is always ok to begin again."

Still, with all the pressure people face to not gain weight during the pandemic, it can be easy for that negative self-talk to creep in. "Affirmations are everything!" she said. "I'm finding a lot of negative self-talk regarding our bodies and weight gain from quarantine, but you really have to give yourself some grace and be kind to yourself. Your body is getting you through this and keeping you healthy and that is what you have to appreciate and focus on."

As the title of McGrady's clothing line reminds us, we are all worthy and now, more than ever, it's important to remind ourselves of this.

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Hunter McGrady on How She's Taking Care of Her Mental Health During the Pandemic - POPSUGAR

Courtesy of Netflix (YouTube)

This weekend's Netflix release,The Dig, is ostensibly a retelling of the excavation of Sutton Hoo. But much like the Anglo-Saxon burial ship discovered there, the film quickly revealsitself to be a vessel for the past, with all its strange, sweet, sadreminders of the fragility of life, and the ways it lingers on.

The Dig, directed by Simon Stone, written byMoira Buffini, and shot by Mike Eley, stars all the heavy-hitting British actorsyou could hope for: top-billed Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James, Johnny Flynn, Ken Stott, Ben Chaplain. For all their collective star power, however, there are no Oscar-hopeful speeches, no dramatic transformations. (You may read about Ralph Fiennes's acting as suchit is instead subtle and honest.)Each actor isbeautifully, graciously, carefullyin service of the story and atmosphere. Every element of the film is, in fact.

From the script to the cinematography, The Digis a gentle, hazy meditation on death and how we live with it. Director Simon Stonesaid, "I loved the challenge of how to make this an unconventional period thriller, to ask, what's going to happen?" and what will they discover? and is the war coming? and at the same time to make it an elegiac, poetic, longing film, tinged in sadness."

To achieve that, Buffini's script, bolstered by Stone's bold direction, confidently ignores the typical beats of manyin its genre, those well-meaningbased-on-a-true-story stories. The classic story arc is in there somewhere, with itsstops and sputterswrenches thrown in the gears of the excavation and the lives of our characters. ButThe Dig, with its almost montage-like pacing and its consistent and unusual use of vaguelyextratemporal voiceover, moves past them with grace. Scenes shift and bleed into one another like the morning Suffolk mist, "trying," as Johnny Flynn's character says, "to fix things as they go past." And while on occasion I would have liked to sit in a scene, it is mostly for the best thatThe Digshifts and flowsas it does. Even as I was watching, this film already felt like a memorylandscapes and faces out a car window somewhere in our collective past.

The Digis a memento morian objet d'artthatpoints with patiencetowards The End. It is a true story that has all the hallmarks of deliberate, calculatedfiction:a young widowdiscovers an Anglo-Saxon burial ship just as she isgrappling with the advent of WWII, her husband's passing, her ownfailing health,what comes after death, and who and what shewill leave behind? Really? Truth, it turns out, is more pointed than fiction. But this adaptation, for all its imagined additions, faithfully and fittingly serves the themes of the true story.As Lily James' and Johnny Flynn's characters musein a thousand years, what will be left of them? Metal camera parts, perhaps a shard of a mug. Of Edith Pretty and Basil Brown: agentle, misty meditation oneternity.

Let us know if this is your type of genre, and if so, tell us in the comments what you think about The Dig after watching it.

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Review: 'The Dig' Is a Gentle, Hazy Meditation on the Fragility of Life and the Ways It Lingers On - ourcommunitynow.com

For many, coffee is the first step in their morning. Enjoying your cup of hot or iced caffeine can be a much welcomed moment of quiet before you jump into the rest of your day. Starbucks wants to make that part of your daily routine even more special by teaming up with Headspace to create a culture of mindfulness around enjoying your coffee.

Headspace is a company that focuses on offering guided meditations to its users on a subscription basis and Starbucks wants to give you exclusive access for free. Through this partnership, Starbucks will "offer customers a series of new meditations to transform their coffee routine into a mindful experience centered around the coffee ritual, along with a free 60-day Headspace Plus trial," according to the company's press release.

The guided meditations will turn your morning coffee or mid-day caffeine break into a moment that allows you to reflect on your day, feel gratitude, and refresh yourself for what's to come. The curated series of meditations will be narrated by Headspace's Director of Meditation, Eve Lewis, and will focus on acknowledging your senseslike smellwhen drinking your beverage or call on you to take a screen break during your work day to enjoy your drink.

To get this perk for yourself you'll have to be a Starbucks Rewards member and should download the mobile app on your phone. Your account will get a personalized code that will allow you to access Headspace, and you can find this information in the "Mindful Moments" cards part of the app. You can also visit Headspace's Starbucks landing page to learn more about the promotion.

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Starbucks Is Offering Rewards Members Free Meditations To Pair With Their Coffee Break - Delish

How I Use Exercise as a Form of Meditation

Meditation is one of the most recommended modalities for relieving stress and anxiety. If you imagine someone meditating, I can guess you picture this person alone in a dark, quiet room, sitting criss-cross applesauce with their hands on their knees and calming music in the background. That's how I always imagined them, anyway. Until I started talking to my therapist about how I could not sit still for two minutes, let alone be left with my thoughts for that long. I knew I needed some form of meditation in my life because my mind is constantly running 1,000 miles per minute with a wider range of thoughts than I assumed the brain could manage at once. This is when we discussed the idea of using my workouts as my meditation, and I had an "aha" moment.

As someone who grew up playing sports, ran marathons, and truly enjoys exercising (I know you hate me right now), my world has always revolved around some sort of exercise routine. I even got my master's in exercise physiology and currently work as a kinesiologist! Now, why does this even matter? Because I could never find time or the focus to sit in silence to meditate for 10 minutes, but you can bet that I have no issues fitting an hour-long workout into my day. I have suffered with anxiety and depression for almost 20 years, and during that time, I've tried every trick in the book to reduce my stress and anxiety, including meditation, and it just did. not. work. But, I was able to figure out how to use my exercise routine as my own personal form of meditation, and I'm going to tell you how to do the same.

If you've ever been in a regular exercise routine, you know the difference it can make in terms of your mood. But how can you incorporate meditation into your exercise sessions to get even greater mental health benefits? Here are some practices I've picked up along the way.

If you have or have had anxiety, you've probably heard of using your senses to ground yourself and relieve stress. Name five things you can see or four things you can feel, for example. You can do this with exercise, too! Whether you're walking, running, or swimming, try to focus on things that stimulate your senses. Feel the ground beneath your feet, listen to the children playing in the schoolyard as you walk past, smell the scent of fresh flowers blooming on your trail. Be present in the moment.

Why are you exercising? To lose weight? To improve your heart health? Now think of it in a different way. Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to improve your heart health? This can help you really dig deeper into your motivations (maybe you want to be able to run around with your kids without feeling out of breath), as well as any insecurities, concerns about your health, or other deep-rooted issues you may not realize you have.

Oftentimes, when I would try to meditate and really think about the causes of my anxiety and depression, I would end up getting angrier or more anxious because I couldn't physically get rid of my stress just by thinking about it. I could, however, run harder, lift heavier weights, and really push myself to the limits. This helped me feel like I was physically burning off the stress, and my mind instantly felt clearer to be able to better handle the situation that upset me in the first place.

Like many people, I've struggled with body-image issues for as long as I can remember. I have the tendency to pick out my failures instead of my successes, which in turn has led to more anxiety about who I am and who I wish I was. Using exercise as my meditation has allowed me to change my perspective from "look at the things you can't do" to "look at what you are capable of." Instead of comparing yourself to the person next to you, really look inward and think of exercise as an expression of how amazing you are and how much physical stress your body can handle. Exercise should make you feel powerful and be a reminder that you're capable of anything! Adjusting my thoughts during exercise has completely changed the way I look at my body.

Sitting in a dark room with low music and your hands on your knees is a wonderful form of meditation that is absolutely useful for those who find success in it. But for those of you who also can't sit still for more than a few minutes and are always looking for a new way to relieve your stress, try using your next workout as a meditation instead. It really has been a game changer for me.

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I Couldn't Stay Still and Focused, So I Started Meditating on the Move Here's How - POPSUGAR

By Emma Hanson, English Literature MA

The Croft Magazine // In the final webinar of Transcendental Meditation Societys 360 Degree Wellbeing series, Emma learned about the benefits of transcendental meditation from Gaetano Arena and James Miles.

Gaetano Arena is a PhD student at the University of Bristol who set up the 360 Wellbeing series. I asked him about the impact that it has had on his life:

I learnt transcendental meditation (TM) a couple of years ago when, at the end of my PhD in Aerospace Engineering, I was really struggling with my own mental health. It was very hard to concentrate and write my dissertation, and my mood and energy levels were always incredibly low. I thought that it was only stress and some personal issues that were causing this sudden drop in my motivation and enjoyment of life.

I felt some of the benefits of TM just days after I had tried my first meditation. I was feeling more and more energetic and happy each day, but the main benefit I noticed was that I became much more aware of my physiology and its connection to my mind. I could notice almost immediately the effect food and sleep had on my mood and energy level.

Likewise, I could feel how introducing yoga and a more regular workout routine had a massive impact on my mental health. Basically, the meditation practice removed deep layers of stress that prevented me from realising what was causing the issues with my own physiology and mental health.

TM is a very simple technique, best done twice a day for 20 minutes in the morning and evening. It is a meditation technique that uses a mantra to go beyond the thinking process and reach a fourth state of consciousness to transcend thoughts and in this way reach a state of peace and rest.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced this technique to the Western world in the 1950s and it has since been practised by celebrities such as Jerry Seinfeld and Hugh Jackman. Celebrities are fans of it, but what makes transcendental meditation is its simplicity.

So how do you actually do it? As I said before, TM is a type of mantra meditation. You simply close your eyes and chant a mantra. Mantras can be found by searching transcendental meditation mantras on YouTube, and you can find one that works for you. There is also a free app called 1 Giant Mind, which offers a guided introduction to TM meditation, and the option to do a 30-day challenge.

TM allows you to reset yourself. It makes us more efficient, stops us procrastinating (the dream!), and gives us the ability to focus more sharply by developing our full mental potential.

Patrice Gladwin, a transcendental meditation teacher, attested to the benefits of TM, commenting: I love teaching TM as it makes life so much more joyful and stronger than life without it.

Gaetano talked about why he felt the need to set up this wellbeing series and educate students about various aspects of wellbeing:

I was shocked when I read the studies and annual reports on the wellbeing and mental health of UoB students. Therefore, I submitted a proposal to the UoB Alumni Grant Award, asking to sponsor the university's TM Society for the organisation of wellbeing courses that I could exploit to spread the awareness of TM and several healthy habits among university students. The grant was eventually assigned, and, with the help of the TM national organisation, I have organised the 360 Wellbeing Webinar. I am really grateful to the UoB Alumni Group for the support.

At the start of the first session, James Miles talked about the importance of our wellbeing, summarising the importance of the techniques learnt over the course of this webinar series.

We all want more energy, we want to be creative, we want full use of our brain functioning, we want to be successful, happy, and reduce stress. Most of all we want to enjoy life. And we must remember that we can achieve this because our wellbeing is in our own hands.

Even if you missed the 360 Wellbeing webinar series, you can easily access information about the techniques discussed by reading my other articles on sleep hygiene, the benefits of yoga and how Ayurveda can support wellbeing. As James Miles concisely says, your wellbeing is in your own hands, and the benefits of these four practices have the potential to transform your university experience.

Featured image: Epigram / Robin Ireland

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Wellbeing webinar: improved brain function via meditation - Epigram

Kevin Hartsaysmeditation has provenhelpful for him, that it has worked to get him through some difficult moments in recent months.

Let's face it, 2020 was a bit of a bust for all of us.

Now that we've entered into a new year, funny-makerKevin Hart and his comedian pals want to suggest a refreshing way to stay connected to your mental and emotional spirit. Admitting that he is also facing a great deal of stress.

Of course, we've all heard of healing effects that meditation can have on our bodies, and on our lives, but we've never seen meditation that's quite like this.

With the help of fellow comedians Amanda Seales, and Hasan Minaj, Kevin Hart joins forces with Headspace to explore the funny, lighthearted ways that comedians try to wind down and clear their thoughts. This is definitely not your average meditation session, but you'll laugh so hard that you're likely to instantly feel better.

When most people think of meditation, they imagine nature sounds, as a waterfall hits the rocks and soothes the souls of its peaceful listeners. Birds chirp pleasantly, and the meditation technique helps clear your mind of stresses, anxiety, and to-do lists. Pure solitude and quiet focus is what most meditation entails.

Not in Kevin Hart's world, though.

His meditation involves sarcastic comedy that will have participants keeled over with laughter and feeling more at ease after hearing his hysterical stories about the weird thoughts that invade his mind.

Paired up with Headspace, and joined by his celebrity comedy-pals, Hart gives meditation a whole new twist, and it's one that you definitely won't want to miss!

RELATED:Fans Get Sneak Peek Of Kevin Hart's Podcast With Jerry Seinfeld

This may not be your conventional meditation method, but if you're hoping to forget about your troubles for a while and laugh a little in the face of adversity, it will definitely work for you. Hart hysterically outlines the thoughts that go through his head as he goes for a run and explores his meditation techniques, and they include the funniest, most obscure topics.

He thinks about whether dogs can talk, ponders how he'll deal with his son being taller than he is, and hiswildly funny thoughtsinclude the reminder for himself to change the air filter in his home. It appears that meditation isn't quite his forte.

Fans are all-in for this. They seem to love the idea of Hart partnering with Headspace, and have commented on his Instagram page to say that this is exactly what they "need right now."

NEXT:Fans Respond To Kevin Hart's Huge New Role In 'Borderlands', The Movie

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Kevin Hart And His Comedian Friends Want You To Meditate With Them - TheThings

Sky@UC members participate in a wellness activity.

With the world changing right before our eyes, attending college can be stressful for any average student. However, the former SKY@UC president, Vibhor Pandhare, has found joy and peace even during the global outbreak of COVID-19.

SKY is an organization which facilitates breathwork and meditation for calmer minds, Pandhare said. We get so much stress. So, how to get rid of that stress and how to be happy is the basic USB for SKY.

Pandhare is an international student from India. He received his bachelors degree from the Indian Institute of Technology and is currently obtaining his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.

When the organization launched a few years ago, Pandhare was there to witness SKY@UC blossom relatively quickly from the beginning and help the program grow.

According to Campus Link, SKY@UC is a student club open to all students, staff and faculty where they focus on mental wellness by practicing a special breathing technique called SKY, short for Sudarshan Kriya.

Although SKY is relatively new to UC, Pandhare practiced SKY meditation even when he was working on his undergraduate degree in India.When Pandhare attended college back home in India, he felt like the competitive energy of college was on a never-ending loop. This caused him to have unwanted stress and tension.

He didnt know how to manage all of the troubles that one might encounter when pursuing higher education. However, during that season of his life, he joined the SKY Happiness Retreat in India.

That changed my whole perspective, and it gave me so much power, he said. It gives me such proficient tools to manage my mind [and] manage my emotions.

As a result of pursuing SKY meditation, Pandhare changed his outcome in life from almost failing his first semester of college to now pursuing his Ph.D. in America.

Due to his life-changing experience, he is involved with SKY at UC and many campuses across the country, including Stanford, Michigan Institute of Technology and The Ohio State University.

As a whole, I just love the community, Pandhare said. Its such a positive and uplifting community with a sense of purpose and service.

The current president of SKY@UC, Ashwin Kumat, mechanical engineering graduate student from India, agrees. Kumats first experience with SKY@UC occurred during a meditation workshop in the fall semester of 2018.

My experience was so good that I naturally wanted to get involved with the club and started by volunteering and helping in different activities, Kumat said. Since then, hes enjoyed every minute of being a part of the SKY community.

My favorite part is the belongingness, he said. We are all together as a strong community of like-minded people who like to meditate, be together and support each other in everything.

According to Kumat, despite having meditation sessions online due to COVID-19, the organization has been able to succeed not only in its attendance but also in its mission.

Currently, SKY@UC is having its Happiness Festival, where students can relax while participating in various activities. Within the Happiness Festival, SKY is also hosting a Happiness Retreat from Feb. 5-7.

The Happiness Retreatwill include SKY breath meditation, breathwork techniques, mindful leadership and light yoga. For more information aboutSKY@UC, visit UCs Campus Link.

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Student org promotes peace and mindfulness through meditation - The News Record