3 Ways to Use AI for Mindfulness

Welcome to the seventh installment of this 10-part series on harnessing the power of Large Language Models (LLMs). Let’s quickly recap the topics covered so far:

As we enter our seventh week, we’ll shift focus from the previous themes of physical fitness and instead learn about using AI for mindfulness. There’s an abundance of apps out there that offer subscriptions for mindfulness-related services, like guided meditation. Below are 5 of the most popular ones:

Some of these apps, like Headspace, offer AI-powered real-time suggestions for mindfulness. In this article, we’ll try to use LLMs to fulfil various mindfulness needs.

Guided Meditation with AI

Guided meditation has emerged as an effective tool to alleviate stress and improve mental clarity. By employing AI, it's possible to have a tailored meditation experience at your fingertips, aligning with your personal schedule.

This tool allows you to enter the number of minutes you have and generates a guided meditation accordingly.

https://lowtech.ai/rhiaan-jhaveri/your-personalized-guided-meditation

Here's an example output for a 5 minute meditation:

First Minute: Grounding

1. Begin by taking a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for a moment, and exhale through your mouth. Repeat this three times.

Second Minute: Body Awareness

1. Now, bring your attention to the top of your head. Imagine a wave of relaxation slowly descending from there, relaxing each part of your body as it goes down.

2. Let it move to your forehead, eyes, cheeks, mouth, and jaw. Allow them to soften.

3. Feel the wave moving down your neck, shoulders, arms, and hands. Notice as each area releases tension.

4. Let the wave continue down your torso, your chest, belly, lower back, and hips. Feel the comfort spreading.

Third Minute: Breath Awareness

1. Now, shift your focus to your breath. Notice the natural rhythm, the rise and fall of your chest, the sensation of air entering and leaving your nostrils.

2. Try to avoid manipulating your breath, simply observe it. Each inhalation brings energy, each exhalation release tension.

....

I have omitted the rest of the output, but the AI generated a minute-by-minute breakdown of the meditation with specific steps at each stage. This can help get an idea of how to get through a meditation.

Sleep easier with AI

Quality sleep is as vital as nutrition and exercise for our wellbeing. Mindfulness-based sleep stories can help users unwind, offering soothing narratives to lull them into a peaceful slumber. LLMs can spin sleep tales based on user preferences. Combining AI and text-to-speech software provides a creative way to allow you to listen to personalised sleep stories. These stories need not necessarily be used for sleep; they can be listened to even to relax.

Simply follow the steps below:

https://lowtech.ai/rhiaan-jhaveri/your-personalized-peaceful-bedtime-story

Here’s an excerpt from a story with the theme ‘rainforest’:

Deep within the heart of the rainforest, where the lush green canopy touches the sky and the melodious symphony of nature fills the air, there lies a hidden sanctuary known as Whispering Grove.

Within this tranquil haven reside a magical array of creatures, each living harmoniously with one another. The towering trees reach towards the heavens, embracing every drop of rain that falls from the gray clouds above.

As the rays of the sun begin to fade, soft whispers of a gentle rain begin to patter down upon the rainforest floor. It is a soothing sound, like a lullaby sung by nature herself, bidding every living creature to find solace in the gentle embrace of the night….

The animals of the rainforest feel the rhythm of the rain, and one by one, they retreat to their cozy hideaways. The exotic birds tuck their beaks beneath their wings, their vibrant feathers camouflaged amongst the leaves, as they drift into a peaceful slumber.

Enhancing Focus with AI

Maintaining focus and productivity amid the chaos of the modern workplace can be a challenge. Here, mindfulness exercises, and in particular the role of AI like ChatGPT, can offer innovative solutions to help ground individuals, boost concentration, and alleviate stress.

AI-Generated Mindful Breaks: To take a break from your work, use AI to generate a sequence that includes a short guided breathing exercise, a quick physical stretch, and a mindfulness affirmation to help recenter focus with a prompt like below

Create a 15-minute mindful break routine to help me refocus during my workday

Mindful Challenges for Brain Stimulation: To break monotony and stimulate creativity, AI can provide prompts for short, mindful challenges. Click here to receive a unique mental task to take the mind off work stress and stimulate creative thinking.

https://lowtech.ai/rhiaan-jhaveri/brain-teasers

That’s just a few ideas - to really get the most out of AI, make sure to think creatively to personalise it to your needs as much as possible.

Stay tuned for the next instalment of this series -  something exciting is coming up. Until then, remember to take a few moments for mindfulness, whether it's a quick guided meditation, a bedtime story, or a brief focus technique during your workday. The journey to wellness isn't just physical, it's mental too.

To read the other articles in the series, click here.