Sometimes it can be difficult to find time to meditate, or to reflect, or make some other conscious effort to embrace Zen. It feels like work. You’d rather just flick through Facebook for those fifteen minutes you have to free.

As it happens, you can do both.

Kill a few minutes on Facebook or Reddit or Twitter or whatever floats your online boat. And then maybe check out one or two of these.

https://www.donothingfor2minutes.com/ – Do Nothing For Two Minutes is a cool little website that reminds you just to take a break from all that. It times how long you can sit and relax. It has a picture of a peaceful beach that you can use to guide your relaxation. Using it often can help you with meditation, or it can just be a nice way to get some peace from the everyday rush.

https://freedomcards.tumblr.com/ – Freedom Cards has been compiled by some clever Tumblr user to remind people of the importance of freedom. It includes the definition of the word and idea of ‘freedom’ from over 650 people from all walks of life. Those people include everyday folk such as you or me, actors, historians, scientists, writers, all kinds of influential or unheard-of people. Because freedom matters to everyone.

https://mynoise.net/noiseMachines.php – MyNoise is great whether you want to block out your noisy housemates or noisy kids while you’re trying to work or need some relaxing background music for your meditation. Or if you just fancy a soundtrack for your day. It has a range of different noises for whatever mood you’re in, categorised so you can find them easily and adjustable to your own preferences. It even has a section dedicated purely to meditation.

https://scaleofuniverse.com/ – Scale of the Universe might seem like a typically nerdy site, but it’s actually a really great site for perspective. If you’ve ever felt small, it shows you all the billions of creatures and particles and bacteria that so much smaller. If you’ve ever felt like a personal problem takes up the whole world, it shows you how small anything one person can experience is compared to the world, the galaxy, the universe. It’s really useful if you ever need to acknowledge the grand scheme of things.

https://ourworldindata.org/ – Our World in Data might also seem kind of dorky and too much about numbers to be particularly Zen, but it’s great for when you need not just a reminder but evidence that humanity as a species is getting better. It shows statistics from around the world that show how the world is progressing and changing. You see people’s quality of life get quantatively better in terms of the education, employment and the amount of people getting increasing access to food, shelter and clean water. And that can be really reassuring.

https://www.airpano.com/ – AirPano brings the most wonderful places in the world to you. We all wish we had the time and money to go travelling to all the world’s most breath-taking manmade and natural places, but even if you can manage one or two there are still a lot you’re missing out. Instead, this site offers panoramic shots of the most incredible places on Earth.

https://complimentmachine.com/ – The Compliment Machine is kind of self-explanatory. It’s for when you need a little boost.

https://www.futureme.org/ – FutureMe is a handy site for if you ever feel uncertain about the future, about your ability to stick to the goals you set for yourself. It gives you the opportunity to write an email to yourself that will be delivered on the date of your choosing. You can address your future self, remind you what you really want, what’s really important to you.

Kirstie Summers,

Daily Zen.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook



Like this: Like Loading...