In late May of 2019 Oura the company that makes an excellent sleep tracking ring added a meditation feature to their iOS App. This new meditation feature is called “Moment” and it collects heart rate data while providing various add-ons to your daily meditation in the form of a timer, voice guided experience and background noises. Researchers and studies have shown that a mindfulness practice can have a positive effect on sleep. Being able to look back at each meditation and compare your initial stress level to the final resulting relaxation level can help develop the best routine for your meditation practice.
How It Works
The Oura ring tracks your blood volume pulse directly from the palmar arteries of the finger with infrared LED sensors. We deliberately designed Oura as a ring (rather than a watch) because the arterial pulse at the finger delivers a significantly more accurate reading than what can be collected from the wrist. From that data, Oura’s algorithms calculate your resting heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV).
How to Use Moment
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You need an Oura Ring and the iOS App installed
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Thing ring must be reachable by the App
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Turn off AirPlane Mode
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place the ring on the charger for a few second with the Oura App open on your iOS device
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Select the ‘+’ sign in Oura Apps bottom right corner to begin a meditation
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Moment Options
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session length
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soundscape
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additional apps for guided meditation
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Oak
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Waking Up
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Calm
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Headspace
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Be still
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Increasing the HRV value is the goal. Higher indicates a strong heart.
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At the end you can rate your session and review your heart rate charts.
Experiments
The HRV value can help answer the following questions to optimize meditation sessions:
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What time of day should I meditate?
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How long should I meditate?
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What type of meditation works best for me (guided, open collector, soundscape, emotional labeling, etc.)
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Which environment should I meditate in?
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What type of breathing exercise (pranayama) should I be doing?
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Does caffeine help my practice?
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Which part of my meditation has the strongest HRV?
Oura provides some guidance for getting started. This will help you focus your attention and let go of the distractions. Also of some importance is obtaining a full report of RHR and HRV data from the meditation sessions which requires a minimum of five minutes in duration. The goal with resting heart rate is to get it as close to your night time low which indicates how relaxed you are. This page also recommends ways to use the Moment feature for staying present, boosting recovery, mastering the power nap, preparing for bed and general relaxation.
