Option to log a mindfulness session

[Pcarp5]

Hi Fitbit, I’m happy to see that you have a new mindfulness section in the app. I often do mindfulness sessions on my own and would like the feature to log a mindfulness session versus only using the mindfulness activities in the app to log one. Can this be added just like it is to all the other features? Thank you!

Moderator edit: subject for clarity 

[LiliyaFitbit · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community, @Pcarp5.

I appreciate your participation in the Forums and sharing your feedback about a new mindfulness section in the app and your suggestion to be able to log a mindfulness session which you do by your own. Our team is always working on improving our devices and user experiences, and your comments are always welcome. Feel free to post your idea in our Feature Suggestions board. That way other users can comment and vote on the idea to show their support. You can read the FAQ to better understand how that board works and do a search first, in case someone else has already suggested your idea, or something similar.

I'll be around if you have any questions. 

[Sislum]

I totally agree! 

if they can’t let us log our own meditation times, I wish they’d provide a session that is only music or sounds and WITHOUT a “leader” who talks through the whole session. 

[JFPF]

I totally agree, I’d also like to be able to do this and have those sessions counted to keep me on track. At the moment I log this as meditation which it hardly is. I’d like to continue using my current system

and log it separately to exercise. 

Thank you

[Christine_G]

I completely agree. I’d love to use the new meditation tracker, but I meditate with Headspace. I’d really appreciate the chance to log my meditation on the Fitbit app and see my weekly progress on the Fitbit dashboard. +1 for adding the “+” to log our own meditation sessions. 😄 Thank you!

[SunsetRunner]

Agreed. Someone earlier mentioned a work-around and it works for me. I use the Fitbit 5-minute guided meditation, but turn the sound all the way off. Then I either listen to a Calm daily guided meditation on my ipad (I do it through a headset with noise canceling) or do my own meditation practice. When I'm done I turn off the Fitbit and it allows me to log the time since I started which is always longer than the Fitbit guided meditation. It's a work around, but it works, and I get the benefit of seeing my heart rate charted and see how low my heart rate was by the end of the meditation.

[LiliyaFitbit]

Hi everyone, thank you for taking the time to share your comments and experiences.

I appreciate your time and feedback, thank you for sharing your workarounds. Please know that we provide feedback to our team based on the Community posts in order to improve your Fitbit experience. I also encourage you to participate in our Feature Suggestions board. Search for the idea first to see if one already exists so you can add your vote. The more votes an idea gets the more likely the developers will try to implement it.

Keep on visiting the forums! 

[nicnac0215]

I 100% agree with the suggestion. I would love to be able to log mindfulness without having to use the audio in the app. Hope this change is made soon because I do love the mindfulness feature 🙂

[AndrewBW]

Absolutely. I’ve spent the last 10 years meditating at a Buddhist monastery in the UK and don’t really need the guided sessions, useful though they are for other people. So we just need a ‘freestyle’ option to log an hours sitting or whatever. I’ve used some of the sessions but rather like the exercise coaching, they should be tailored to more of less experienced meditators/mindfulness practitioners. 🙏

[AndrewBW]

More OR less

[Mia_13]

I agree too.  I’d also like to log a mindfulness session separately from exercise. The option to keep physical and mental separate is much more useful tor me, otherwise it looks like I’m an exercise nut - which I am definitely not!

[Nds1235]

I would also like this option available, I tend to do my own unguided meditation. 

[spicylips]

2 and 5 minute timers are good for moments throughout the day, but it would be nice to also allow us to start a timer and turn it off when we’re done, giving us the ability to to be mindful at our own pace

[Ziggtron]

I agree but it would not let me like your request. Logging meditation times of my own would be great for those of us with an existing practice. The guided meds in the app are good for people with no previous experience but that will pretty much exclude anyone who puts enough time in to want to be able to track and log their practice.

[Mylindab]

I completely agree and would love to see this feature added. 

[xChrisx]

I share the concern. I am probably going to switch to Apple. This is a deal breaker for me. I’ll give them six months to fix this because I bought a new Sense not to long ago and enjoy it’s features but this seems anti-competitive to me and not helpful for my personal journey. 

[Cschneid101]

I completely agree with everyone that Fitbit should provide the functionality to log your own mindfulness session.
Perhaps this is obvious, but the workaround I am using is to choose one or more of the free videos in the Fitbit mindfulness section.  There are not very many free videos, but there are choices with the durations close to what I am looking for like 10 minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes.

I simply play one of the videos for whatever duration I’m looking for and then mute the sound. If I want to play something else in the background, preferably over the stereo I find that I can stream Spotify simultaneously while playing the local Fitbit video on mute (the Fitbit video needs to be in the foreground in order to progress the timer). It’s only seems to work with Spotify and not YouTube Music or other music apps I’ve tried (even though those other music apps do permit playing in the background like Spotify), but I didn’t troubleshoot that much since I primarily use Spotify anyway. 
I use the timer on my Fitbit watch to set the duration so I know when the session is over since I’m not actually listening to the video. 
It’s a bit of a hack, but gets the job done. But again, like everyone else said…please… Fitbit… add the functionality to log your own mindfulness session without having to play one of your videos.

[Fponick]

I completely agree with Pcarp5. For many of us, meditation is a daily opportunity to explore on our own. I’m in my sixth year of meditating. After you’ve meditated for a while, following somebody else’s plan for what you do with your mind is not a preference.
Fitbit’s offerings may be great for beginners, but there’s nothing I can see for independent, long-term meditators to track their efforts over time. It may be true that our numbers are small now—but they are growing. 

[Pmtvguy]

Ya da ya da

[Setapong]

What happening to Mindfulness now???
This morning I was ready for a mindful sessions for 31 minutes.  However, when I try to find my favorite session there are only "beginning your journey" (2-7 mins sessions).
Where are my favorite sessions???? What's happening???