I am a husband, writer, and teacher exploring what it means to cultivate mental silence.

Experimenting with my BPM’s...

I'm trying some things out on this windy, rainy, mental health day...I am currently in the midst of a very stressful year at work. I am experiencing high levels of anxiety prior to leaving for work and while I am at work. This stress and anxiety has caused me to think about how to use technology in an effort to reduce the levels of each of these emotions. That said...I decided that starting tomorrow I will use calming music to start my morning...during my morning walk...after my shower...after breakfast...prior to my mini-meditation/pause...and on my way to school. I'm using my Amazon Music app for this. After typing in Zen into the search bar...I found an endless number of recommendations. I plan on starting with the following playlist that I have created...Inner Peace/Full CircleInner Peace/Aging GracefullyAmbient Music for TherapyI'm also using the Shortcut app and Drafts app to monitor my heart rate. I will check in just before I leave for work and when I arrive. The Shortcut app (a new feature of ios 12) takes me to a Draft (basically a note) that I can record my BPM (Beats per minute). I will record the BPM along with a form of tagging...something like...71-before work72-arriving at workAs I mentioned above...I'm trying this because of the anxious, stressful year that I am currently having at school. I'm going to try this for a week and report back here what is happening. My thinking...over time...listening to calming music...along with my silent shower and silent breakfast...should equal a lower BPM to begin my day.

One week into my experiment...

Can you measure how calm you are?