Sci fi meditation!

February 5, 2021 5:59 AM

I'm interested in trying one of those mysterious meditation biofeedback devices. However, they are pretty pricey and it's hard to get a handle on if/how any specific model actually works from the marketing language. If you have tried one, what was the experience like?

I'm particularly interested in:
- What features it has
- Are there any that give you a nudge with some kind of feedback during the meditation to help you change what you're doing? I'm less interested in just getting a report to review afterward
- Did it "work" for you in any life improving way?
- Does it need to interact with a specific, upgraded type of smartphone to function (my smartphone OS is quite out of date)?

posted by space snail to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)

I tried out the Muse headband (a few models back) a few years ago, I used it for a few months and then stopped. The main feature it had is that it would listen to the overall amount of neural activity and give you feedback on that via real time audio cues. In the smart phone app it came with, that meant it would change the tone of white noise in the background of a guided meditation. This theoretically helps you settle into a more relaxed place because you can learn to control the tone.

It was definitely doing something real when it worked, because half the time it failed to get a good connection on my forehead and clearly was not working. I wasn't doing the best job of following the maintenance directions so it was a bit sketchy. I also wanted more control over the output, there is a proper API to do more things with the output, that's probably improved since then.

I'm not sure I found the real time feedback very helpful because it basically confirmed what I already knew about when I was or not relaxed, and made it more likely to distract me when I knew I wasn't relaxed. If I would do it again, I would want to find something with more detailed feedback then just white noise, which at the time was much more expensive
posted by JZig at 7:47 AM on February 5, 2021

I got a muse S for Christmas and I love it!
You can buy and additional app $15 mind monitor that plots out the individual waves alpha theta beta delta etc. There’s also a FB user group for the muse that you might want to check out.

Basically you listen to a soundscape and it gets more noisy the less focused you are and less noisy the more focused. Birds chirp when you get a good flow going. So it’s a good feedback and helps if. You’re struggling with a lot of distraction.

I’m an intermediate meditator. It’s been helpful! It’s improved my equanimity (not get excited when birds chirp or frustrated when it’s noisy) and helped with getting a better sense of awareness control. I use the app for 10-15mins at the beginning of my meditation and I get in the zone much quicker. Then I turn it off so I can go deeper.

There’s also a more pricy app that you can get for targeted brain exercises that uses the muse. For anxiety and adhd etc., to help strengthen different areas of the brain. Also gives real-time feedback. People I know love it but I haven’t ourhh Cho asked it yet.

I don’t find the muse S sleep feature any better than my Fitbit.

Improved my life? Well meditation has really improved my life. I know someone who struggled to get a meditation groove going and the muse helped him with that. The muse specifically... I guess it depends on what you are wanting to get out of life. I’m a psychonaut so this is totally my gig but ymmv.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 11:20 AM on February 5, 2021

^^ Checked it out yet (typo)
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:35 PM on February 5, 2021