The Story

3 Minute Mindfulness started out small. Really small.

It was a challenge I set for myself – to see if I could make an app in just 6 hours.

I had been experimenting with breathing exercises and was amazed at how quickly they could change my state and calm me down.

So I decided to create a breathing app.

Given that I only had 6 hours to make it, the first version needed to be super simple and quick to make. It contained just one breathing exercise and it simply told you when to breathe in, and when to breathe out.

Here are a few screenshots of that first version:

From these very humble beginnings of a single breathing exercise, the app has been continually improving and growing into what it is today.

A few weeks after the launch I added two new breathing exercises – Square Breathing and 4-7-8 Breathing.

The next feature I made was the Mindfulness Log, which keeps track of all the time you spend being mindful in the app.

Then I added a few more breathing exercises – Yogic (1-4-2) Breathing and Pranayama (2-8-4-1) breathing.

At this point, the design of the app needed to change because I couldn’t fit all the breathing exercises on the screen! Here’s how the next design looked:

Then I added mindful notifications that pop up throughout the day to help keep you mindful and centred.

A few months later came the biggest change of all.

I added courses and meditations to the app. This was the 7 Days of Mindfulness and 7 meditations which included stress, anxiety, sleep, focus and more.

This new direction meant the app needed to be redesigned… Again!

From here I have redesigned the app, added new courses, meditations, breathing exercises and added new features to 3 Minute Mindfulness.

All with the goal of helping you use Mindfulness to better navigate your day and life.

 

The app has grown into what you download and use today. It’s crazy to look back and see how far the app has progressed from those first screenshots and initial 6 hours!

Want to check out the app? Download it here