Light My Fire

Do you prefer paper books or e-books? Personally, I love e-books. Not only do they save trees, but I can take my entire library with me. The only downside is you need battery power. If there's an outage, I'm doomed! I still read paper books, but 90 percent of my reading is done on my Kindle Fire. Not only is it an e-reader, but it works like a tablet. I have tons of apps and games on it. In fact, I almost didn't write my blog post this morning because I was so caught up in finding new relaxation and meditation apps.

Although I've been meditating for over 15 years, I still have trouble maintaining focus. A lot. It goes way beyond monkey mind. I probably have ADHD. I will be thinking of one thing, having a conversation, while my mind starts to wander to a completely different topic! How rude is that! Come on, mind! At least I hide it well. I think. Hey, chocolate!

Anyway, I've been finding some really great apps to help me, not only so I can meditate better, but just so I can concentrate on what I'm doing. Here are a few for the Kindle Fire, which will probably work for any Android device.

Relax - Listen to the soothing Scottish voice of Andrew Johnson as he talks you through relaxing each major muscle in your body. Just ahh... but it's more for winding down than getting energized.

Calm - This gorgeous app is great for meditating or relaxing. It contains several nature scenes with motion and sound. It also comes with guided meditations. You could just prop it on your desk at work to glance at throughout the day. It's almost like having a fish tank. Calm, thy name is true.

Binaural Beats Builder - These electronic sounds that you listen to through headphones are supposed to train your brain to be more focused. This app lets you create your own, but you have to know what you're doing. Since I don't, it comes with a few 10 minute sessions already installed. I listen to Hyperactivity to Focus while I work sometimes and it does seem to keep me focused. Listen to this at low volume or you'll get a headache.

Let me know if you have any favorite apps.

Do you prefer Kindle or Nook? I have both. Nook came first for me, but I fell in love with the Fire.

Have a fun day!