Meditation Tracker within the Fitbit app

Meditation Tracker. Would nice to track sessions and see how much the heart rate slows down. Could also be part of the "challenges" section. 

 

Moderator Edit: Added Labels

149 Comments
Smudge65
Jogger

I would really welcome the functionality of being able to track my heart rate during/after meditation, as a key part of my daily regime. As a new user I can see from comments of others that this is at best possible by complicated workarounds and at worst can't be done because the Charge HR recognises the activity as sleep. Please could this be considered as a feature? Thanks.

Baltoscott
10K Racer

Hi @Smudge65 - I have not read anyone else's comments on the subject, but I think you could do this now.  Just press the button on your HR when you begin the activity. Press it again when you stop.  IF it registers as sleep you can edit it and change it to an activity.  But I think it will show up as a "workout" activity which you can then edit to change to your custom activity "Meditation."  You could start a second custom activity after that which you might call "After Meditation." 

 

This help article on manually adding an activity should get you started.

Smudge65
Jogger
Thanks very much @Baltoscott that's really helpful. Will give it a try!
Smudge65
Jogger
Happy to report that I now have a foolproof method for this. I make a written note of when I start meditating. I've added a custom activity of Meditating. Then when I finish, I make a note of the time (duration). Finally, I go on the Activities tab to log a new activity; start typing for the activity type Med... It fills in Meditating automatically. Then I put in the start time and duration. And it then logs the activity and shows heart rate. 🙂 I tried passing the switch to start and finish the activity but it thinks it's sleep and doesn't chart heart rate, so this approach isn't suitable.
Ramp
First Steps

I track my yoga (actual 5 Tibetan rites) now just by logging it. Annoying that I can't set it to automatically be the same number every day. 15 minutes as opposed to 30.

 

Also - couldn't you have a panel in the dashboard for meditation. Certainly a piece of health for many of us. 

JuanJoFitbit
Premium User
Fitbit Moderator
Fitbit Moderator

Hey there! That's a really nice suggestion for those who like to meditate and know the heart rate one person reaches at that peaceful time.

 

Thanks for participating my friend! Smiley Happy

elisehoo
First Steps

I would like to support the idea to include medidate tracker inside the dashboard. as we may see our sleep pattern improvement along with our medidate pratice 


@Ramp wrote:

I track my yoga (actual 5 Tibetan rites) now just by logging it. Annoying that I can't set it to automatically be the same number every day. 15 minutes as opposed to 30.

 

Also - couldn't you have a panel in the dashboard for meditation. Certainly a piece of health for many of us. 


 

hmcmcole
Base Runner

 We had the ability to track heart rate at particular trimes until FitBit removed that feature in August 2015.

Magee42
First Steps
I know Mindfulness or Meditation isn't a physical exercise but, as Dr's are reccommending this as part of a healthy lifestyle, could you consider allowing the Blaze track it. I am advised to exercise and meditate to help improve my sleep, currently the Blaze will either see this time as me being inactive or asleep. I would like to be able to select meditation just as I would Pilates, workout or walking. During meditation my heart rate should drop as I relax and I could then see if my sleep patterns improve on the days where I've combined exercise and meditation. For people suffering with sleep problems, ME, Fibromyalgia etc programmes like Breathworks suggest keeping an activity diary and the Blaze really helps with monitoring activity. The addition of meditation to the Blaze, the key element to the Breathworks program, and also the Mindfulness program developed by Oxford University, would be a really valuable feature to many of us.
Lou_R
Recovery Runner

I completely agree with Magee42. I would like to see "meditation" as a tracking option.  It could potentially have a 'start" button and an "end" button so the app could display the date, time, tracking-data and duration-curve, and then save them for future comparisons to previous/future meditation sessions.  Science is advancing on the benefits of meditation and the ability to track heart rate, see the data over the session time from start to end, save the individual sessions data for future comparison, etc. would be extremely valuable and helpful.  

I actually bought the Blaze thinking this was doable (even if there was not a specific category for "mediation" - which I obviously encourage).  i just setup my Blaze today and this was a disappointment - but I will cntinue to experiment with the settings and see if I may be able to manually start a tracking session.

Another popssible idea - an oxygen or breath tracker - could be a fingertip sensor (like hopsitals use) that transmits to the app - or possibly one that just directly plugs into the mobile phone. Either approach would need a category/display within the app - could be part of the "meditation" feature.

Lou_R
Recovery Runner

 I completely agree with Magee42. I would like to see "meditation" as a tracking option.  It could potentially have a 'start" button and an "end" button so the app could display the date, time, tracking-data and duration-curve, and then save them for future comparisons to previous/future meditation sessions.  Science is advancing on the benefits of meditation and the ability to track heart rate, see the data over the session time from start to end, save the individual sessions data for future comparison, etc. would be extremely valuable and helpful.  

I actually bought the Blaze thinking this was doable (even if there was not a specific category for "mediation" - which I obviously encourage).  i just setup my Blaze today and this was a disappointment - but I will cntinue to experiment with the settings and see if I may be able to manually start a tracking session.

Another popssible idea - an oxygen or breath tracker - could be a fingertip sensor (like hopsitals use) that transmits to the app - or possibly one that just directly plugs into the mobile phone. Either approach would need a category/display within the app - could be part of the "meditation" feature.

Rroopa
First Steps

Could you not include meditation in the exercise component. Is there anyway of including it separately somewhere else. Perhaps have it as its own dashboard entity. It would also be awesome if the wrist band could track my mins of meditation. I know the wrist band only calculates exercise.

 

Moderator edit: Added Labels

SunsetRunner
Not applicable

+1 Smiley Happy

Lawine66
First Steps

For me it would be also good to see my meditation trackings. I have now always manually add my meditation sessions.

 

 

Shanp
First Steps
A meditation tracker or an app that works with Fitbit would be even more ideal. Like Sattva but includes a yoga component.
DrDaveAM
Premium User
First Steps

I would agree.  Our "Health U" program at work (a healthcare system) is really stressing (no pun intended) the idea of mindfulness into one's overall wellness and health.

 

Although using an app like HeadSpace is great, they subscribe to the "don't break the chain" method of tracking so if you miss day 364 of 365... no "1-year" badge even though you have made a significant change in your habits, lifestyle and overall health.

 

I like the "5 of 7" approach that FitBit uses for exercise that helps people stay on track and log great progress while accounting for the realities of life.

 

This would be a great optional addition to the items that can be tracked on the FitBit.

THpubs
Recovery Runner

I think it also should be added as a goal. Several minutes/hours of meditation per day as a goal? Actually, right now meditation is a very popular way to make your life better and healthier. According to some research, meditation can improve your health more than any exercise can!

Bryan07
Jogger

It would be helpful, mindful, and healthful to be able to track meditation sessions. Also having the ability to seye a timer in 1min or 5min intervals would help. 

 

Moderator Edit: Added Labels

droolpillow
Jogger

Also a meditator. Would like a way to track meditation without it falling under sleep. 

goldenkj
First Steps

Can you make the vibration for guiding breathing opitional? I find it very distracting and it takes away from my ability to focus on just my breathing.

goldenkj
First Steps

my ideal would have 'x of y days weekly meditation' on the dashboard

and when you drill down you'd see a duration bar chart colored by heart rate zone (like they have for exercize but emphasizing lower heart rates)

sueincinci
Recovery Runner

I would like a meditation mode so meditation does not show up as sleep and screw up my sleep stats.  (I'm not talking about the breathing/relaxation mode which to me is useless, I don't meditatate staring at my fitbit).  Simply be able to tell fitbit that I'm meditating instead of sleeping.

 

Also, I would like to view my complete sleep stats from my android app instead of having to log on to fitbit.com.  The app sleep pattern is difficult to read.  My Samsung Gear was easy to read at a glance with the times at the bottom and the sleep efficiency % right on the app.

 

 

fountainb
Jogger

I would love to see a meditation tracker or ability to add a tile about it on the dashboard. Even better would be connected app ability like Calm. Calm connects with Google Fit and meditation sessions are automatically attached to Google Fit dashboard. Now that I use Fitbit instead, I would love a separate tile or automatic connection

Minga2.0
Jogger

I am going to second what fountainb says. Calm is a great app, easy to use with free as well as premium options. I try to use it daily and highly recommend it. Fitbit+ calm = perfection 

gabiange
Jogger

I would suggest making a section for meditation only that we can schedule some sessions trough the entire day. I searched for an app that can sync with fitbit because of it and it turns out there is none. "Calm" would be a good pick if you want to make partnership with them.

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