In this article, we go through the unboxing of a smart ring called Dhyana. It is made in India and available on its own website as well as on Amazon.
How it works
Dhyana smart ring meditation tracker works by measuring the heart rate variability (HRV) when a person is meditating. This gives an indication of how deep is the meditation, how slow is the rate of breathing, how much the subject was mindful of the breath and so on.
The smart ring is fitted on one of the fingers and measures HRV in perhaps as similar way as the pulse rate. It then sends the data to the Dhyana app, freely downloadable from Google play store and apple app store. The app is paired to the ring using bluetooth. The user can then view the data, how well they were focused or mindful during the meditation session, from the app. The app contains a variety of guided meditations and also has features like reminder to start meditating at certain times of the day and for short time periods, like 5 or 10 minutes.
Ordering and unboxing
The first step is to order the smart ring, either from the Dhyana website or for amazon. There is a discount available, the price after discount comes to about Rs 5500 on Amazon India.
I felt the packaging was quite compact and beautiful. There is also a booklet with instructions.
When it arrives, unbox it and charge the ring using the given USB charger from the box.
The color will turn blue and stop flickering when it is fully charged.
There are three straps of different sizes to fit the ring on the finger. Best select the strap that fits you best.
Downloading and using the Dhyana app
The next step is to download the Dhyana app from Google play store and pair the device to the app on the phone using Bluetooth.
The screenshots below show the app to be downloaded from the play store. The same app contains instructions on how to pair the device and how to fit it on the finger. One needs to create a (free) login on the app.
Once the pairing is done, the app contains a selection of guided meditations, with a range of times starting from as low as 3 to 5 minutes.
Guided meditations using the Dhyana app
The meditations contain instructions to breathe deeply in and out and also to be mindful and conscious of the breathing. There are also other meditations such as body scan, compassion and meditation for stress relief.
While one is following the meditation instructions on the app, the Dhyana smart ring is measuring the heart rate and whether it is synchronized with the instructions, indicating that the subject is paying attention.
Finally, at the end of the meditation session, the app gives a report of the stages of the meditation, how much time it was and how much of that time the person was being mindful.
Over a period of time of using the app, the quality of the meditation should improve.
Conclusion
I found the app to be helpful in guiding beginners to meditation and also a nice and scientific objective way to keep track of how good the meditation session is going.
Overall, I felt this is a nice product that uses bio-feedback to track one’s meditation, and also is relatively cheap compared to other such wearable devices available in the market.
