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Comment by kaiwen1 | Hacker News Reader

Sam Harris recently released a meditation app for iPhone and Android. As the reviews attest, it is outstanding, the best thing I've seen for getting started on your own.

https://wakingup.com/

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I have to disagree. I tried it for a couple of weeks but have unsubscribed. The problem is that Harris talks way too much during guided meditations. A good guided meditation normally has a judicious mix of instructions and silence, but Harris keeps rambling on, making it difficult to concentrate on the instructions. He has an old guided meditation available on YouTube; that one is much better.

Insight Timer is a much better app IMO. In terms of better guided instructions, I would recommend Peter Russell, Michael Taft, Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg.

I found that on the other hand that frequent commentary allowed me to focus better and get back on track when I got distracted by a thought.

I second this. Sam Harris’s books and videos on YouTube are great but in his wakingup app he talks way too much.

Talking is good when you are starting out as your mind probably wanders very quickly. Once you have some experience it gets in the road.

It's worth nothing that he talks more on the earlier meditations, less on the later ones as students gain more experience.

Also, my approach is to use the app sometimes, but not all the time. I don't think it's necessary to be guided every time, even as a novice. Learn something, then practice on your own.

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