Can you manually enter your Mindfulness session in the Fitbit app instead of using the Charge 4?

[Elizabethwk]

Can you manually enter your time in the mindful app?   I use calm and several other apps to do meditation and would like to enter the amount of time I log each day.  Right now I only see that  I have to use the mindful apps that come with my Charge 4.  Thanks!

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi there, @Elizabethwk. Welcome to the Community Forums. 

Please note that for the time being you can only start a mindfulness session in the Fitbit app in the following way:

1. From the Today tab, tap the Mindfulness tile. If you don’t see the tile, go to the Discover tab > Health & Fitness Stats > Mindfulness.
2. Tap to choose a session, then tap Play Audio to begin. Note: Premium subscribers can access additional guided meditations in the Fitbit app.
3. After you’re done, tap Log Reflection to record your reflection, or tap No Thanks to skip this step.
4. To see details about your session, including your heart rate during the session, tap the Mindfulness tile in the Fitbit app, then tap Your Journey.

To start, your goal is 5 days per week. To change your goal:

1. From the Today tab, tap the Mindfulness tile.
2. Tap the gear icon in the top right.
3. Choose the number of days that you want to practice mindfulness.
4. Tap the arrow in the top left, and tap Done.

For more information, see How do I track and manage stress with my Fitbit device?

Hope that helps. 

[ominousdrumbeat]

So you're saying that, no, there is no way to manually enter mindfulness sessions that you do outside of the Fitbit app? The Fitbit app only counts what you've done within the app? That's extremely disappointing.

[Sklansky]

I was just looking into this myself.  I meditate every day without the fitbit app and can't enter it unless I use their own mindfulness programs. It's so stupid.  "Be mindful to promote better health - but do it our way".  Absolutely terrible implementation aimed at getting you to use their programs rather than actually promoting mindfulness your own way.  Guess we know where Fitbit's priorities lie.

[tootiemoonie]

I concur that this is very disappointing.  I'm grateful for the sessions offered in the app, but I also use other sources of guided meditation and also participate in group meditation. I'd like to be able to keep track of what I do - isn't that the whole point of a tracker???  I very much hope that Fitbit will change this soon.

[Apostcardlife]

I agree with all the other Fitbit users here; thank you for asking this question. Ironically, my app (HelloMind) that I use writes mindfulness minutes to my Apple Health app, which is linked it Fitbit, so for it not to be showing up (which its not) implies a willfilul refusal of incorporating that data on Fitbit (now owned by Google's) part. So yeah, if they're trying to compete with Apple and Amazon tech, disappointing the participants of the ever-increasing mindfulness community isn't brilliant, in their apparent smaller goal of pushing out Calm, etc., from their own territory. (Plus, ew, monopolies are against the US's purported values.)

------------------

I guess I'll quickly add that at least if you have iPhone, you should still be able to track all the rest of your mindfulness via Apple's Health app. Sucks for it to be split off from the rest of the Fitbit data, but at least someone will let us track it all, including being able to add manually. 👍👏

[lcarbrey]

Add me to the list of people asking for a way to log this manually. I also do my own thing with my meditations. Besides, unless you're a premium member there aren't many to choose from. I think it's a lot more important to have people take care of their mental health than to get them to pay for premium and use the fitbit meditations. Encourage fitbit users to do something for a meditation and make it easy to log. 

[Yvettemg]

Thanks for that tip, great way around. Although shouldn't have to. 

[Yvettemg]

I would like to be able to add my mindfulness time manually.

Because I cannot, I'm considering other products and services that do offer that. Fitbit will lose clients, not gain Premium users.

Fitbit should focus on making their Premium better instead of narrowing options, it's just smart. What if Premium clients could add manually...what if there was another category of premium to add other programs...? Use it to get the information from your existing clientele to see where they are going to get what they want, and make your option better. Focus on excelling instead of attempting force/coercion. 

I have had Premium, it wasn't great. The options were still limited. Audio mediations are all about the sound match and individual. After many apps, many tries with various programs/premiums I found one voice that my nervous system works well with. 

Fitbit should respond to these and this comment(s).

[lakakhan]

Yes, you can manually enter your mindfulness session in the Fitbit app instead of using the Charge 4. The Fitbit app allows you to manually log various activities, including mindfulness sessions. Here are the general steps to log a mindfulness session in the Fitbit app:

Check: technics hifi

1. Open the Fitbit app on your mobile device.
2. Tap on the "Today" tab at the bottom of the screen.
3. Scroll down to find the "Log" section and tap on the "+" button.
4. Select "Exercise" from the list of options.
5. Tap on the "Other" option.
6. Type in the name of your activity (e.g. "Mindfulness session") and select it from the list.
7. Set the duration of your session and the start time.
8. Tap on the "Save" button.

You can also do this in the website of Fitbit, the steps are similar.

Please note that this is a general instruction, it may differ depending on your device and the version of the Fitbit app you have. Additionally, manually entered mindfulness session will not give you the heart rate, calories burned, etc.

[tootiemoonie]

I believe I have the most recent version of the app, and when I scroll down, I am offered the opportunity "Log" food or water.  There is no general "Log" section, nor a "+" button with options.

[Marlenez]

It is indeed disappointing. I have personal mindful and meditation sessions. It is unacceptable to choose between a few on the app and hence forced to pay for premium. 

[Marlenez]

The priority is money driven and not health. So sad. 

[Mw9973]

I'm with the scores of people who found many other ways to track mindfulness.  Why is it so difficult to add this functionality? Clearly there's a demand for it.  I am a premium member. 

[KarissaP3]

I agree with all of the comments below. It would be a nice function to be able to log our own mindfulness minutes whether it be thru meditation or breathing exercises. 

[Ebrownback]

It seems like Fitbit should have fixed this issue about mindfulness minutes by now. We want to add mindfulness minutes in just like we add exercise minutes in, so the programming should be similar and easy to implement. Of course people who meditate are going to do it in a variety of ways, just like people who exercise are going to do the same, so we won’t want to use the Fitbit meditations. And obviously Fitbit is a for -profit company that doesn’t do things for free. So even if you charge for this feature, you should add it, and soon. It looks like people have been asking for this for the last three years. Hopefully it is well along on your featured list to update. 

[Ebay313]

My tracking activity and tracking mindfulness on the app are completely separate. 

I am also very annoyed at not being able to track mindfulness outside of the guided sessions offered by fitbit. There isn't even an option to begin a session in the app or on the watch without playing what fitbit lists. It's possible to meditate and practice mindfulness without following a guided session, but there is no way of tracking this. 

Very frustrating.

I'm also a premium member, I still don't want to be locked into following guided mindfulness sessions offered by fitbit.

[Whocarez]

Not really very helpful. Fitbit’s offerings in this area aren’t broad or indepth enough if you are really trying to improve your mental health. I am already a premium member and only having fitbit’s limited options for mindfulness “count” is rather frustrating. I would like to see them offer the option to link Calm or Headspace, please.

[fitbutts]

that's pathetic.

I meditate 10 minutes each day with a simple timer and I have almost zero interest in your free in-app audio meditations and less than zero interest in the paid ones!

I guess until you fix this, as far as fitbit is concerned, I'll just pretend I don't mediate at all.

that could potentially skew the data received by the All of Us Research Project, of which I am a part.

I got this Fitbit Charge 5 for free and so far I'm unable to use the contactless payment feature because you don't support Fidelity, one of the largest stock brokers on the planet, or the meditation feature, because the app doesn't have a timer or option for manual entry.

I'm also disappointed that the calorie tracker doesn't let me create a meal by scanning barcodes of the ingredients.  I have to either log each ingredient every time or sum them in my head and enter a custom food with calories, which is a hassle and also strips the macronutrient data.  

I've been wearing the fitbit for just over 24 hours now.  How many other non-functional features am I going to find?  I'm still happy with the device but only because I didn't pay for it.

😕

[Hdarst]

I also am VERY frustrated with the lack of DIRECT entry of meditation time.  I have my own Vipassana meditation practice that I've being doing periodically for over ten years - I want to enter my time with that practice.  I hate the Fitbit forced meditation apps.  I want to be able to use my own and keep track of the time with my Vipassana practice - not the other Fitbit "suggested"/forced meditation programs.  I will likely be leaving the Fitbit brand because of this issue.