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Michael Sealey: YouTube or Spotify

Spotify has the added advantage of being able to set a sleep timer for 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 mins, 1 hour or until the end of the track.

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Sleep Hypnosis Calm Your Mind 4 HOURS Long Play - Sleep Talk Down, Sleep Meditation

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Oak (available on Android/iOS)- has lovely breathing exercises and sleep meditations too and best of all - it's free!!!!

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**2018 New Apps We Love** - Apple
**Oak will guide you to more mindful, relaxed living** - AppAdvice

Oak helps you decompress by transforming your meditation practice from an experiment into a habit. We support you from your first session to your 500th, with mindful, loving-kindness, and sleep meditations as well as unguided sessions and breathing exercises. Individualize your meditations by duration, and customize with silence or calming background sounds. Oak tracks your progress and encourages you to continue building a healthy meditation practice.

WHAT'S INCLUDED:

Meditation
- Guided mindful and loving-kindness meditations with male and female instructors
- Choose a guided session duration ranging from 5 to 30 minutes in length
- Choose unguided meditation sessions ranging from 5 minutes to 24 hours in length
- Sit in silence or choose soothing background tracks (bells, blocks, bowls, streams, and other gentle sounds) that encourage restfulness
- Courses: go deeper and learn to practice Mantra meditation with a 10-day course

Breathing
- Simple yogic breathing exercises that can easily be performed on-the-go
- Options include Box Breathing, Deep Calm, and Awake sessions
- Animated instruction removes the guesswork

Sleep
- Guided breathing exercises help relax your mind as you drift off to sleep
- Choose silence or gentle background sounds to play during and after your session

Meditation Timer
- For unguided meditation, set your custom mediation duration, background sounds (or silence), and interval chimes

Progress Tracking
- Oak tracks the number of minutes/hours you've meditated, mindful breaths you've taken, and the number of meditation/breathing sessions you've accomplished, as well as any consecutive streaks
- Discover new accomplishment badges the more you breathe and meditate with us
- The power of community: Monitor the number of Oak members mindfully breathing and meditating in real time
- Oak supports Apple HealthKit for tracking "mindful minutes" with the Health app (optional).

Thank you for taking care of yourself through meditation. Have questions or feedback? Reach out to us anytime at support@oakmeditation.com.

Version 2.5.2

Hi Oak crew,

Thank you for your ongoing support. This update contains several small bug fixes and performance improvements.

If you have any questions, you can reach us at support@oakmeditation.com .

Happy meditating!

Near perfect meditation app

I have tried numerous medication apps, but I wasn't happy with any of them. For the first time I can see I am truly enjoying a mediation app (and I will admit, the fact that there are no "pro" "premium" or subscriptions is partly why I enjoy it; I never liked the idea of profiting off of mediation, it seems ingenuine to me). The app is super clean with a beautiful design. However, from my initial experience, here are two things I would tweak:
1. The guiding voice is significantly louder than the background noise. I wish there was a way to control the balance between these two. I don't like the guiding voice to be too loud, but when I adjust the voice volume to my liking the background sound is almost inaudible.
2. For the breathing exercise, I wish there was an option for an audio guide as well. Just like while meditation, while breathing I prefer to not stare at my screen, but currently there is no way for me to follow the breathing exercises without having my eyes glued to the screen, I hope this will change.

Overall, this is an excellent mediation app, and I hope it remains clean and bloat free, with non of the "premium" features that are constantly being pushed with similar mediation apps. Thanks for making the world a better place.

Mind Blown Away

I absolutely love this app. There is no subscription that you have to buy to use it. There is an in app purchase but that's besides my point. I absolutely would recommend this app. Whenever I've had a stressful day I can always count on this awesome app to help. Waking up early? No problem! The sleeping section helps with that. Can't focus? The breathing section helps with that! Just want to be guided on meditation without having to tap your screen to make sure it's on? The meditation section helps with that! Here's a quick story: when I first found this app and saw that you could have rain playing for 55 minutes with you phone off, I had to recommend it to my mom. She loves sleep and falling asleep to rain. It was the best to her!

Another thing: Since it's Pride Month I'll share this. The meditation section REALLY helped me accept my sexuality and gender identification since I was struggling with that and coming to terms with who I was. I was a little ehh about it but doing the I think acceptance breathing meditation course, for a while really helped me come to terms.

Have I proven my point that this is a freakin amazing app yet? Still not convinced? Try it out, see how you like it.

Perfect

I cannot recommend this app highly enough. It is a gorgeous and highly accessible app- it has a few different types of meditations, some guided breathing techniques, and some night techniques. All are completely free and without any ads whatsoever. Even the app in-depth courses on different meditation techniques are free. The things I really appreciate about this app are 1. How much flexibility there is in meditation settings- there are light and dark options for the screen, you can choose a background noise effect (but don't have to have one at all), can adjust speaker volume and background volume separately, and can adjust the length of meditation. It's so simple and effective. 2. I love the loving kindness meditation. I have tried other guided loving kindness meditation routines and a lot involve visualisation techniques that end up distracting me personally. This one is the best- it's so beautiful and peaceful and is so easy to follow. Truly a treasure and such an effective way to cultivate feelings of tenderness and compassion. I couldn't fault this app if I tried, it's my absolute favourite. Can't recommend it highly enough!

The developer, Big Sky Health, has not provided details about its privacy practices and handling of data to Apple. For more information, see the developer's privacy policy.

No Details Provided

The developer will be required to provide privacy details when they submit their next app update.

Information

Seller

Oak by Big Sky Health, Inc.

Compatibility

iPhone

Requires iOS 11.0 or later.

iPad

Requires iPadOS 11.0 or later.

iPod touch

Requires iOS 11.0 or later.

In-App Purchases

Course: Mantra Meditation

Family Sharing

With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.

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‎**2018 New Apps We Love** - Apple **Oak will guide you to more mindful, relaxed living** - AppAdvice Oak helps you decompress by transforming your meditation practice from an experiment into a habit. We support you from your first session to your 500th, with mindful, loving-kindness, and sleep medi...

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A little article explaining the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique.

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5-4-3-2-1 grounding: How to use this simple technique for coping with anxiety — Calm Blog

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Anxiety derailing your day? Get to know the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding method — a simple exercise for calming the mind that can alleviate anxiety in minutes.

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ACE grounding technique:

Acknowledging/Accepting how you are feeling.

Coming back into your body.

Engage fully with what you are doing.

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Mental Health apps reviewed and recommended by young people.

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With so many to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start, or which to trust.

What are the best mental health apps?

At Jigsaw, we are often asked which are the best apps for anxiety, or what ones we would recommend. Research and evidence are important parts of our work so we can really stand behind what we say.

To ensure we recommend safe apps to use, we embarked on a review project with funding from ESB Energy for Generations,. The aim was to identify apps that might be helpful to young people in managing their mental health.

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Mental health apps | Advice for young people | Jigsaw

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With so many to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start, or which to trust. At Jigsaw, we are often asked which are the best apps for anxiety, or what ones we would recommend. Research and evidence are important parts of our work so we can really stand behind what we say.

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Resource section on Jigsaw.ie for: Managing Exam Stress

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Sarah* contacted Jigsaw about four months before her Leaving Cert exams. She had been feeling anxious for a while, but in the last few weeks she'd had two panic attacks.
Her main worry was that she'd get a panic attack in an exam. "I have to get rid of this anxiety now", she told the clinician, "before my mocks".

Identifying triggers for stress

Sarah's clinician wanted to know more about the anxiety and panic attacks. When did they happen? Was there a trigger? They discovered Sarah's panic attacks happened just after Sarah's teachers mentioned study plans or expected study hours in class.

When her history teacher said, "you all should have covered this section in your revision plan already", Sarah felt her heart beating fast and chest getting tight. She rushed to the toilet because she felt she couldn't breathe. She barely remembers the rest of the day.

The Jigsaw clinician helped Sarah realise her panic attacks were connected to worries she was too far behind on study. She thought she'd never be able to catch up.

This connected to deeper worries of failing her exams, being unable to get into college or ever getting a job. That would lead her to be a "complete failure" in life. The clinician asked her to step back, look at the facts and be realistic about what could happen. They discussed strategies for managing exam stress.

Together they looked at Sarah's schedule. The clinician asked Sarah to draw out her weekly calendar. She coloured in the hours she spent studying as blue, with different colours for other activities. When she was finished, Sarah's waking hours were almost completely blue.

Read more about managing anxiety.

*Names have been changed

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Managing exam stress | Advice for Young People | Jigsaw

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Sarah* contacted Jigsaw about four months before her Leaving Cert exams. She had been feeling anxious for a while, but in the last few weeks she'd had two panic attacks. Her main worry was that she'd get a panic attack in an exam.

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Managing stress, sleep and wellbeing during exams - Article on jigsaw.ie

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Managing Stress, Sleep And Wellbeing During Exams

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Discover practical tips to manage your time and emotional wellbeing during your Junior Cert or Leaving Cert. Optimise your mental health and performance during exam season with these effective strategies.

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Microsoft To-Do App helps make clear and concise To-do lists

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Start as early as you can :)

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A study plan helps you:
✔ Cover all subjects without neglecting any topics.
✔ Use your time efficiently instead of wasting hours on ineffective revision.
✔ Track progress and stay motivated.
✔ Avoid last-minute cramming, which leads to stress and poor retention.

Now, let's dive into the best way to structure your revision!

1️⃣ Prioritize Subjects Based on Difficulty & Exam Weight

Not all subjects require the same amount of revision. Some are harder, while others carry more points.

✅ How to Prioritize Subjects:

Make a list of all your subjects.

Identify which ones you struggle with the most-these need more study time.

Check the exam weight for each subject (e.g., Maths and English are high-point subjects).

Allocate more time to subjects that have a greater impact on your final results.

💡 Example: If you're strong in Geography but struggle with Maths, spend more time on Maths while maintaining regular Geography revision.

2️⃣ Use the Pomodoro Technique for Focused Study Sessions

Sitting for hours staring at notes won't help. Instead, use the Pomodoro Technique, a science-backed method to improve focus and retention.

⏳ How It Works:
✔ Study for 25 minutes (fully focused).
✔ Take a 5-minute break.
✔ Repeat the cycle 4 times, then take a longer 15-30 minute break.

🔗 Why it works: Your brain processes information better in short, intense study bursts rather than long, draining sessions.

📌 Pro Tip: Use apps like Forest, Pomodone, or Focus Booster to track your study sessions.

3️⃣ Set Realistic Daily Goals

A good study plan should include small, manageable daily tasks that keep you progressing steadily.

🎯 Example of Daily Goals:
✅ Revise one poetry essay for English.
✅ Complete one past paper in Maths under exam conditions.
✅ Learn five new Irish oral phrases and practice pronunciation.
✅ Review one History chapter and create a summary mind map.

💡 Why This Works:
Instead of vague goals like "Study Chemistry," setting specific and achievable tasks keeps you focused and productive.

4️⃣ Plan Weekly Review Sessions

Revisiting topics regularly helps information stick. Instead of studying something once and forgetting it, schedule weekly review sessions for past material.

📌 Example Weekly Review Schedule:

🔗 Why it works: The more frequently you review material, the stronger your recall during exams.

5️⃣ Include Time for Rest & Hobbies

📌 Burnout is real! If you don't take care of yourself, your performance will suffer.

✅ Tips to Avoid Burnout:
✔ Take breaks-your brain needs downtime to absorb information.
✔ Exercise-even a short walk can improve concentration.
✔ Stay social-don't isolate yourself while studying.
✔ Get enough sleep -7-9 hours per night is essential for memory retention.

💡 Remember: A healthy balance between study and relaxation is key to long-term success!

📝 Final Steps: Putting Your Study Plan Into Action

Now that you know how to structure your revision, it's time to put it into practice!

📌 Checklist for a Successful Study Plan:
✅ Prioritize subjects based on difficulty & exam weight.
✅ Use the Pomodoro Technique for effective study sessions.
✅ Set clear, achievable daily goals.
✅ Schedule weekly review sessions to reinforce learning.
✅ Include rest, exercise, and hobbies to stay motivated.

🎯 Get Free Study Resources & Take Your Revision to the Next Level!

Want free Leaving Cert revision notes, past papers, and expert study tips? Join e-LeaveCert today and access exclusive study materials designed to help you succeed.

👉 Register now for free and start preparing smarter, not harder!

Final Thoughts

Creating a structured study plan for the Leaving Cert will keep you on track, reduce stress, and help you achieve your best possible results. Start organizing your study time today, and remember-you've got this! 🚀

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How to Create a Study Plan That Works for the Leaving Cert – eLeaveCert – Confidently Pass The Leaving Certificate!

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A study plan helps you:✔ Cover all subjects without neglecting any topics.✔ Use your time efficiently instead of wasting hours on ineffective revision.✔ Track progress and stay motivated.✔ Avoid last-minute cramming, which leads to stress and poor retention.

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Box Breathing YouTube clip

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Box breathing relaxation technique: how to calm feelings of stress or anxiety

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4-7-8 Breathing technique

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4 7 8 Breathing Exercise | 5 Minutes | Technique With Counter Timer | Paced Breathing Exercise | DBT

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4-7-8 - 10 minute breathing technique

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4-7-8 Calm Breathing Exercise | 10 Minutes of Deep Relaxation | Anxiety Relief | Pranayama Exercise

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Managing exam stress - Advice from Young People

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jigsaw - the national centre for youth mental health

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Listen to episodes and learn more about The Neart Youth Mental Health Podcast. The Neart Youth Mental Health podcast aims to help parents and guardians support the mental health and wellbeing of the young people in their lives.Brought to you by Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health and the Department of Education/National Educational Psychological Service.