By https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/mindfulness-practice-may-improve-childrens-mental-health-379813
A recent study highlighted in Neuroscience News showed mindfulness helps even young children with their mental health. Children who received instruction in mindfulness practice showed more emotional resilience, and fared better during the Covid19 crisis. However, it can be expensive for schools to implement this kind of training on a large scale. So a follow-up study looked at having children download and use an app for mindfulness on their phones, and also led to promising outcomes on measures of mental health.
This made me look into the variety of free mindfulness apps available. I tried the one from the US veterans administration (it was called Mindfulness Coach from the US Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and I found it on the google play store). Mindfulness has been shown to be beneficial in people with PTSD so it is not surprising the Veterans Administration developed such an app, but I was pleased they also made it available to the general public. It was great! The basic mindfulness instructions were excellent, and there was good background information. If you read all the background stuff you can “level up” to a more advanced level, much like in video games. This was fun to use and left me feeling relaxed. I highly recommend this app or a similar one. A few times a day, even for short periods, can cut down a great deal on the feeling of “hecticness”.
