Humans, on average, have over six thousand thoughts every single day. 

We are always thinking, even when we aren’t aware of it. In fact, even in our sleep, our minds are remarkably active. The incredible importance of each thought we think is well summarized in a quote by Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or cannot, you are right.”

Our thoughts become our beliefs, and our beliefs translate, each time, into what we say and what we do. The root of all we create in our lives is a singular thought. Therefore, the quality of our thoughts and the focus with which we think are of paramount importance. 

Research has proven that regular meditation increases a person’s ability to focus and streamline thoughts. According to a study covered by the Journal of Positive Psychology in 2018, fifteen minutes of meditation on a daily basis led to a considerable increase in the well-being of participants and their ability to manage stress throughout the day. 

Despite knowing its value, it was during the pandemic that I came around to cultivating a consistent meditation practice. Even though I can now meditate with ease, it was surprisingly difficult to stay present with my thoughts when I first started. I can say with certainty that the process becomes effortless with time, but the greatest obstacle in getting there is to convince yourself to keep at it. 

This is where technology comes to the rescue. We often use technology to distract ourselves, but lo and behold, we can also use it to focus better. To make this journey as rewarding as it can be here is a curated list of five applications to help you meditate effectively: 

Calm

This application ranks first on this list for a good reason. Post a seven-day free trial, the annual membership for this app costs $70. Calm gives access to guided meditations, sleep stories, courses, daily wisdom, and music to calm your nerves. It keeps track of your progress, and it is an interactive application to keep your meditation practice enjoyable and exciting. 

Headspace

Headspace offers a two-week trial, post which the annual subscription cost is, again, $70. From breathing exercises to sleep meditations, this application is an extremely useful tool to help you clear your mind. If you are prone to anxiety or stress, this application will be a helpful resort.

Buddhify

If you are a beginner with meditation, this application will introduce the concept to you in a simple and easily doable way. Buddhify costs $5 and, therefore, is a feasible alternative. In addition to over 200 meditations, it also offers exercises that will help lower anxiety levels. 

Ten Percent Happier

This application is special because it has a feature that will allow you to connect with a personal meditation coach. Another great choice for beginners, Ten Percent Happier, is your pick if you are still new at this process and find it rather challenging and sometimes even isolating. The annual subscription cost for this app is $100.

Insight Timer

If you are someone who wants to learn before you dive headfirst into the practice of meditation, then this application will offer courses and mindfulness teachings to get you started. The app is in-built with a tracker and will help you stay on top of your progress. The annual subscription cost to avail of the features of this app is $60.

As with most things in life, challenges and rewards go hand in hand. Committing to a meditation practice might be the most life-changing decision ever. Or it won’t be. Either way, you will have to go through with it to find out, and these applications might make the going just a tad easier. Happy Meditating!

If, back at a time when the world came to a sudden standstill, you were infuriated by social media posts telling you to bake banana bread and stay positive, then let me tell you: you were not alone. The widespread suffering and pain around the globe were evident. Meanwhile, social media was overflowing with unsolicited advice and ways to make this ‘downtime’ productive.

There are countless books being written on the subject of positivity, even as we speak, and while positive thinking has proven psychological and physiological benefits, it is the pressure to remain consistently joyful that creates a significant issue. The term ‘Toxic Positivity’ has been around for a long time, but it took off during the pandemic when we became privy to the idea of putting a happy spin on a clearly harrowing time. 

Post the pandemic, psychologists have observed a surging wave of toxic positivity amid teenagers and active consumers of social media. Forceful negligence of negative emotions is taking a severe toll on their mental health, causing them to feel shame and guilt post a depressive episode or just a bad day. 

While everyone knows that Instagram is the crème de la crème of people’s lives, on some days, it is difficult not to be disparaged by someone’s rose-tinted version of their life. On those days, to make matters worse, unwanted opinions always make their way to our feeds.

“Be positive”

“Cheer up!”

“Get over it.”

“Move on”

These are just some of the phrases you’ll hear from a toxic positivity offender. A toxic positivity offender may be well-meaning, but by offering overly generic advice, they essentially invalidate the emotional intensity of what you are going through. We have all been receivers and givers of such advice at some point in our lives, and that’s okay, as long as we recognize that and choose to evolve into better versions of ourselves. 

In many ways, true optimism is a healthier, gentler way of living a positive life, and there are a few ways in which you can get started:

• Acceptance: Anger, jealousy, sadness, and grief are very real emotions. There is no escaping them. They are what make us human. Allow yourself to feel your feelings.

• Emotional Outlets: Sometimes talking to someone you trust will help. Other times, allowing yourself to cry will do it. Check-in with yourself. Your body knows how it needs to release any pent-up negative energy. 

• Be realistic: No one is happy all the time. Don’t set unattainable goals for yourself. Give yourself the space to be okay with your emotions. 

The truth is that joyful days cannot exist without days that feel like you simply won’t get through. A healthy coping mechanism is never to brush those feelings under the carpet but, instead, the ability to feel everything that comes up and allow it, gently, to pass. 

Mumbai

“Samundar humesha special raha hain na Bombay ke liye? I guess I can see why. Iss sheher mein jahan har waqt sab kuchh badalta rehta hai, bas ek samundar hi hain jo nahi badalta. Humesha yahin rehta hain.” We can all hear Aisha from Wake Up Sid saying this as we unwind by Marine Drive and enjoy the sunshine. Even if your “Aisha moment” doesn’t materialize, a cup of chai can still put things right. 

At the Bandra Bandstand, you may chat with your loved ones while taking in the most beautiful scenery. You could also ascend the Kanheri caves for breathtaking views. A nocturnal drive on the Bandra Worli Sea Link is all that is necessary for the weather. You manage to find basic comforts in a world that seems to be moving swiftly all around you. The city also has a number of lakes where you can stroll around.

Kodaikanal

Are you someone who finds pleasure in Maggi and paneer pakora weather? There aren’t many things more serene than strolling through verdant forests while it rains and listening to birds you’ve never heard before, so for me, this is connected to a lot of memories of camping with my family and friends and trips to hill stations.

In Tamil Nadu, Kodaikanal is referred to as the “Princess of Hill Stations.” Due to the weather, July to September is the best period to visit Kodi. Through the airports in Madurai or Coimbatore, where buses and vehicles are readily available to provide connectivity, it is conveniently reachable. Kodai Lake, the jewel of the hill station, is an excellent location to search for waterfalls to hike to with ethereal beauty.

Coorg

Coorg is known for its breathtaking natural beauty and welcoming surroundings. The location has advantages for everyone, whether it’s a family vacation or a gathering of friends. The place is perfect for thrill-seekers as it offers adventure sports like river rafting. Book a guesthouse on a coffee plantation to wake up with a coffee breeze.

Xiaomi has enjoyed a significant market share in both the smartphone and smart television markets. Adhering to their penetrative marketing strategy, they popularised the smart television market with their absolute value for money approach. In 2022, Xiaomi is an established brand in Indian markets and time for them to improve its offerings in all the market segments. When it comes to televisions, OLEDs always have the top-tier approach. We test Xiaomi’s first-ever OLED Vision TV. At INR 85,000/- for the 55-inch 4K OLED Vision TV, it is also a newer approach in a budget premium viewing category competing against the top dogs of the television market.

OLED beauty

The OLED Vision is only 4.6mm at its thinnest panel size, which dominates the front panel area. It makes the television seem much more premium than its asking price but the bulk with LHS ports is neatly hidden behind the main panel. Its matte finish black on the circumference with a subtle Xiaomi branding upfront and an LED light with a power button below it keep the design clean. There are three HDMI 2.1 ports with ARC, two USB Type-A ports mashed into one socket, an ethernet port, an AV composite port, an optical port and a 3.5mm audio jack. Basics and new-gen console done right! The display is OLED, looks amazing with good picture software support. The remote supports Google Assistant speech to command button right below the power button. 

The remote buttons have been updated, and now this television gets 14 controls with a volume rocker. These also include popular OTT applications Netflix, amazon prime video, Disney+ Hotstar and a dedicated apps button to access all the apps quickly.

OLED + Picture Software Goodness

The 55-inch display is the first 4K OLED technology used in a Xiaomi smart TV. A new vivid picture engine 2 powered by a new age A73 quad-core processor, 3GB RAM, and 32GB ROM, make the display brighter and more vibrant. The internal memory too is ample for occasional downloads and extra apps. The overall feel, bezel-less design, and OLED picture quality with a vibrant engine allowing IMAX enhanced HDR content make the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV a worthy competitor in a nascent OLED TV market. The TV comes loaded with Android TV 11 based on Android 11 and thus supports all modern apps available on Google Play Store for Android TV. 

The video experience is enhanced with picture modes – HDR standard, vivid, Movie and IMAX. But the main highlight is the vivid picture engine 2 that makes the contrasts, brightness and colours look spot on with Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+, HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) and 98.5% DCI-P3 colour gamut. The most significant thing apart from the stellar display with good viewing angles comes from 30W dual-speakers with Dolby Atmos and DTS-X software enhancements. 

The audio quality of the television is further improved with options like DTS-X bass enhancement, surround virtualizer and dialogue clarity. If that wasn’t enough, there is a DAC-4 dialogue enhancer with three levels of settings. Technicals aside, the television sounds above average in its segment and is enough to fill a small room easily. This is a really good visual and audio experience from Xiaomi.

A budget option in a crowded market

The 55-inch 4K OLED TV market is buzzing with good options from all brands. Xiaomi OLED Vision TV is an excellent addition to Xiaomi’s TV line-up aiming to get some of top-tier premium smart TV market share. Android 11, running on good processing hardware and ample internal storage for a smart TV over and above the brilliant audio-video experience make the Xiaomi OLED Vision TV a compelling option in the OLED television space. HDMI 2.1 support also enables newer consoles to display the best of AV experience for gaming albeit at 60Hz. Nonetheless, this Xiaomi television is a worthwhile indulgence if you are looking at a budget 55-inch 4K OLED experience.

Good – OLED with IMAX, HDR10+, Dolby Vision IQ, Android TV 11

Bad – Does not support all video file formats natively 

Ugly – Looks average

Specs

55-inch OLED Panel + IMAX enhanced + Doly Vision IQ 

Dual-band WiFi, BT 5.0

Android TV 11

Quad-core A73 SOC with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage

30W Speakers with Dolby Audio, DTS-X

Rating – 4.5/5

Price – ₹84,999

Whether it is in relationships, work, family, friends, or a big tub of ice cream, we are all, essentially, seeking joy. Ruskin bond famously compared happiness to an exclusive butterfly that must never be pursued but only savoured for the brief time that it touches you. If there is any universal truth to that, then why do some people seem significantly happier than others?

The subject of happiness has been researched for years, time and again, by geneticists and psychologists. Philip Brickman and Donald T. Campbell, two such brilliant psychologists, introduced the concept of the ‘hedonic treadmill’ to the world in 1971. The hedonic treadmill is the idea that humans return to a stable level of happiness despite any major or minor fluctuations in their external environment. 

More recently, Mark Manson, author of the book ‘The Subtle Art of not giving a F*ck’, re-introduced the idea by suggesting that happiness remains a seven, for almost everyone, on a scale of one through ten. Depending on life events, which may be positive or negative, the number will be higher or lower, respectively, but only for a brief time. 

If there is a happiness set point, who and what determines that? Contrary to Manson’s more generic theory, psychologists have discovered that each of us has a unique set point determined up to fifty percent by our genetic makeup. The other forty percent is attributed to an internal state of mind, and the remaining ten percent to external circumstances. This means that almost half of our capacity to feel and experience joy is pre-determined. 

In the same way that some of us are blessed with light eyes, freckles or naturally auburn hair, some of us are bestowed with a higher potential to lead happier, more emotionally satisfying lives. So, then, what about the rest of us? Are we doomed to lead less gratifying lives if we don’t win the gene lottery? 

The baseline level of our happiness is an amalgamation of genetics and a range of other things: the environment we grew up in, the environment we choose to live in, our personalities, the age and stage of our lives, our expectations, and desires, to name a few. 

What accounts for the other half is a spectrum of factors that are largely within our ability to influence. Our genetics predispose us to have certain characteristics, and while that is inevitable, it doesn’t take away from the power we possess to shift, mould, and re-direct our lives in any way we desire. 

So, you could be someone who is genetically prone to being more anxious and neurotic than others, but you could override that predicament by making different choices on a day-to-day basis. One way you can do this, for instance, is by reaching out to a therapist, a friend, or a family member you trust. Venting out thoughts and emotions is an effective way to lighten your being. Journaling, committing to spiritual practice, and cultivating a creative hobby are other ways to ease an anxious mind. 

A deeply fulfilling life is the result of giving back just as much and even more so than you receive. Volunteering for causes that you are passionate about, or finding work that sparks joy within you, is a wonderful way to enrich your life with meaning and profound experiences. Our genetics provide a blueprint, but they are not the outcome of our lives set in stone. In fact, genes respond and manifest in coherence with our individual actions and behaviours. So, please don’t underestimate the potency of free will, as you acknowledge the crucial role of genetics in shaping us as we are.