One of the most persistent challenges you may face in having an effective meditation practice is trying to keep your mind in a focused perspective and yet prevent it from entertaining distracting thoughts at the same time. For those who are new to meditation, more than half of the session may be spent just trying to hold the mind down. Those who wish add precision to their meditative rituals and make them less frustrating could benefit from a device that acts as a personal meditation assistant.

Muse tracks your brain wave activity through seven calibrated sensors along the headband and presents it as relevant biofeedback so you do not have to spend too much time fine tuning yourself. You can monitor the subtle changes in your brain’s calm and active states and guide yourself into a more fulfilling experience through visual and audio weather display cues you can see through the Calm app.

After a ten-minute tutorial and a few moments of calibration, you can just put on the headband, start the app and be guided further into relaxation and tranquility. The Calm app features different interface data which helps you progress session after session, enabling you to achieve a new kind of peace within yourself.

The Muse Headband can be charged via two micro-USB ports on either side. A fully charged unit can last up to five hours, which can translate to two weeks of twenty minute sessions each.

Product Features:

  • Acts as a personal meditative assistant.
  • Seven calibrated sensors collect brainwave data
  • Determines whether mind is calm or active through visual and audio weather display cues.
  • Interface data on the app reveals how well the session went and how to improve.
  • Micro-USB charging ports on either side
  • Up to five hours of continuous battery life.

Plus Points:

  1. Gentle and comfortable on the skin: Even professional headphone developers neglect the finer points of ergonomic design, but the team behind Muse assures a comfortable and snug fit that would never disrupt the meditative experience.
  2. ‘Points’ for good practice: The app tracks your progress and rewards you with points to unlock more features in the product, assuring proper guidance in the right direction through positive reinforcement.
  3. Customizable session lengths: As you gain more experience in using the headband, you can go the extra mile and push your meditative sessions much longer, leading to advanced feelings of tranquility.
  4. Accessibility Modes for the visually impaired: a lack of eyesight should not stop one from being able to meditate, and the Muse team agrees. The audible cues translate accurately into brain wave state, allowing those with special needs to get the most out of the device.

Things To Consider:

  1. Highly sensitive: Yawning or jerky movements may register as activity, as the signals tend to get noisy for a few seconds.
  2. Is an aid, not a replacement: The device is meant to guide you to a proper meditative practice, but not to actualize the entire meditative process. In the end, your mind should still be effectively guided by your own willpower.

Product Summary:

As a personal meditative assistant, the Muse Brain-Sensing Headband is a crucial tool in your meditative practice as it saves time and energy better spent within calmer meditative states instead of the struggle to get there. Its accuracy, ease of use and feedback mechanisms will definitely ensure a deeper and more fulfilling meditative experience. A calm or active mental state is presented visually on the app as varying weather patterns, encouraging you to keep your mind in a neural state. With seven different sensor paths to gather your particular brainwave patterns from, new insights that you would never have come across are presented in a simple manner that anyone can easily understand with no need for an advanced understanding of brain wave patterns. Micro-USB charging ports on either side are easily accessible, and the battery can hold up to five hours of power, so a two-week trip to an area with no assured access to electricity would not be a hindrance to your meditative practice.