Mindfulness at the Computer

Mindfulness at the Computer is a mindfulness application for people spending many hours in front of the computer.

The application helps you remember to be mindful of your breathing and body while sitting at the computer, and helps you concentrate on your inhaling and exhaling when you need a breathing pause.

Features:

• Receive notifications to remember to be mindful of breathing
• Interactive graphics to help you follow the in- and out-breath
• Breathe with text help ("Breathing in I know I am breathing in") and write your own texts

Screenshots

Installation

1. Download the latest version from sourceforge
2. Extract the files and place the directory where you want the application
3. Find the file mindfulness-at-the-computer.exe (mindfulness-at-the-computer on Linux-based systems) and open the file

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a moment-by-moment awareness and understanding what is going on inside and outside ourselves. Mindfulness is a core human capability, one which helps to be fully present in the moment, aware of our surroundings, of what we are doing, as well as to help us not become overwhelmed by the many things that can be going on around us, and in our lives.

Being mindful means being aware of the present moment in an open and accepting way.

Mindfulness is an important part of the Buddhist tradition but can be practiced by anyone.

Have a look at these links for more information:

• The Art of Mindful Living (article, 1 minute read)
• Mindfulness Animated in 3 minutes

Why is mindfulness important?

It's all too easy to lose ourselves, get preoccupied with work and not be fully aware of the present moment; mindfulness can help us to better enjoy the world around us, organise our thoughts and become more aware of the present moment. One of the best things about it, is that anyone can benefit from mindfulness, it draws on universal human qualities.

When we spend many hours in front of our computer screen, focused on solving problems, we may forget that we also have a body. Unnoticed we build up a lot of tension in our body because of bad posture or stress.

With mindfulness, we can become aware of our breathing and our body. This gives us the possibility to notice if there is tension, and then relax our muscles or take a break. Mindfulness can also help when we are dealing with negative emotions. When we become aware of them, we can stop, go back to our breathing and relax.

What makes Mindfulness at the computer different from other breathing applications?

Many breathing apps ask the user to follow a pre-defined pattern. Mindfulness of breathing means accepting the breathing as it is, without trying to change it.

Our breath is the bridge connecting our body and our mind. Returning to our breathing, and following it all the way through from the beginning to the end with awareness, brings body and mind back together, and reminds us of the miracle of the present moment. Awareness of our in-breath and our out-breath calms us down and brings peace back to our body.

Thich Nhat Hanh, in his book How to Connect

What is free software?

Mindfulness at the Computer is free/libre software, licensed under the GPLv3. Free software respects the user's freedom: The freedom to share, copy, modify and improve the software.

This TED talk by Richard Stallman explains free software and puts it into a wider (societal) perspective: Free Software, Free Society

You can find the source code on Codeberg

Testimonials

I have used Mindfulness at computer app, and I love it. It helps me be more aware and calm.

Sharaf

There are many brilliant aspects to the app, but one of my favourite is how unintrusive it is - this is a particularly impressive feat for an app whose specific purpose is to intrude (or supportively interrupt, to put it a bit better). I find you’ve achieved an excellent balance between calling attention and being discrete.

Aminah

You have created a really awesome app, especially for programmers like us stuck on our screens all day! I've already recommended it to a bunch of my friends who are also consumed by their computers all day.

William, codingforimpact.org

Humane Tech

Our project is part of the list delightful humane design

Contact

You can ask questions, give feedback, leave testimonials, suggest new features, or just talk in the matrix chat

You can report bugs in the codeberg issue tracker

Credits

This project has been created by Tord Dellsén, with contributors. You can find a full list of credits inside the application by going to "Help" -> "About"