meditate

A unique app that tells a haunting story

Strange Rain is pretty hard to describe without actually playing with it, but we'll give it a shot. The primary function of the app is to give you a break from your hectic life by displaying a mesmerizing scene of rain falling from the sky. The iPhone screen acts as a skylight, so you're looking straight up as rain drops fall and hit the screen. You can slightly affect the raindrops as they fall by touching the screen and moving your iPhone, and tinkly music from a haunting melody plays amid soothing storm sounds, every time you touch … Read more

The 404 658: Where we're getting very sleepy (podcast)

If you haven't heard the news from yesterday's Apple music conference, here's a quick recap: All but the iPod Classic feature new designs. The iPod shuffle gets its buttons back, the sixth-generation iPod Nano loses the iconic click wheel but now has a touch screen, and the new iPod Touch receives a super sharp display, a front-facing camera for making video calls, and HD video recording, and a ton of new internal features.

Apple days at the CNET office can be physical and mentally draining, so now's the perfect time to welcome professional Paul Ramsay back into the studio! The three of us are obviously ingrained in tech, but we're learning from Wilson's e-mail addiction that it's necessary to take a healthy break from the computer, work, Facebook, iPhone, or whatever gadget is commanding your life. Paul also practices hypnotherapy and offers us the following tips to save our sanity:

Breathing is the most important thing to help alleviate stress, so next time you're feeling overwhelmed, do the five-five-five: Breathe in for five seconds, hold it for five, and breathe out for five. Adopting this short but meaningful breathing exercise can help as a mini-vacation from the demands of the workday. Once you leave the office and finally arrive home, create a ritual that you can put into practice right away to help you unwind. This could be a bath, a project around the house you've been putting off, or making progress in a light book. Performing this daily ritual adjusts the barriers of your day, aids in battling insomnia, and lets you fall asleep easier at night.

In the second half of the show, Paul actually puts Wilson under and guides him through a meditation process that leaves him visibly relaxed- so much that even the thought of checking mobile e-mail makes him throw his iPhone on the ground!

Obviously Wilson needs to continue the process at home, so Paul hooks him up with a helpful self-hypnosis CD that you can check out on Paul's Web store- there's also plenty of other products to help you quit smoking, stop nailbiting, lose weight, and more!

Episode 658 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Meditation ebook

Meditation Techniques Guide provides a basic set of instructions and information for studying or practicing the art of meditation. Written for the novice, these easy-to-follow directions will help anyone interested in these simple and relaxing practices.

The program's interface is simple to navigate since it's in the form of a 60-page e-book in PDF format. The text is written in a plain, understandable language, though there were a few typographical errors. We love that the book's introductory chapters address skeptics of meditation. The book's arguments were sound and convincing and acted as a great segue into … Read more

Yoga trainer

MB Learn Yoga offers a simple way to learn about the positions and belief system of yoga. Anyone interested in beginning to practice yoga will enjoy this helpful and easy tutorial.

The program's interface is instantly likable, thanks to clear direction and simple navigation. Work through a menu of different yoga positions and practices with a few simple clicks. The text is clearly articulated and the drawings are helpful, so much so that most people can skip the Help file. The program consists of seven categories (Information on Yoga, Yoga Asanas by Name, Yoga Asanas by Body Part, Yoga … Read more

Enso Clock says 'om'

The Enso Clock by Salubrion may well be the most unalarming alarm clock you'll ever find.

Geared for practitioners of yoga and meditation, it draws its name from the Japanese word for circle, a shape that commonly symbolizes enlightenment, elegance, and the universe.

Rather than counting time with minute and second hands, the $99 digital clock features a circle that slowly and unobtrusively draws itself along the perimeter of the display to mark the passing time.

The Enso Clock allows users to set sequential timers that run one after the other to compose an overall session. Instead of rousing … Read more

Conceptual AV yoga mat does everything it can to stop you from meditating

Of all the places to escape the noise of this madcap, technology-fueled world, yoga class is pretty high up there on the list. Maybe not for long.

Designer Hui-Zong Chen has created a concept for an AV yoga mat, complete with an scrolling "electronic paper" surface that streams video. The tube the mat/screen scrolls out of would also house speakers, an MP3 player, and a memory-card reader.

Think of this mat as an added challenge. After all, you know you're fully enlightened if you can meditate while simultaneously watching Deliverance, blasting Rage Against the Machine, and … Read more