Those of you that have used meditation or breathing apps before might be familiar with this situation: You’re supposed to follow a simple breathing pattern. Inhale for four seconds, hold, exhale for four seconds. Sounds easy, but it can actually be pretty hard.
Soon after starting the exercise your mind starts drifting and you forget about that deep breath. But while you’re distracted, the exercise in your app keeps going until you’ve added another day to your mindfulness streak.