Lumenate: Explore & Relax 17+

This is the first app I’ve liked so much that I paid for it, and after less than a week of trialling it. I use it mainly to complement extended exhale breathing to quieten my mind before sleep, and generally this is a successful strategy for me. What it can’t do is keep me asleep when I’m profoundly stressed and that remains work in progress. The visuals are stunning, even achingly beautiful sometimes. I particularly like the ‘choose your own soundtrack’ mode where I can listen to binaural beats to augment the experience. I also occasionally use at work when I’m stressed, along with a Sensate, when I just need a break from all the noise in my head.

Areas that could use further development: 1) each session seems to be 5 minute blocks put together, meaning half way through a 10 minute session the strobe fades out and builds back again over a minute or so and is a bit distracting, the same thing every 5 minutes in a 20 minute session - I don’t see the point of this, and 2) some of the music ends particularly abruptly rather than fading out gently; this can be quite jarring.

I had been suffering severe depression for over six months, with all the usual add ons associated including low self esteem, lack of motivation, inability to focus on my work. On top of this my marriage suffered a mighty blow last week which threatened to tip me right over the edge.
THIS APP LITERALLY SAVED MY SANITY AND MY MARRIAGE
Sorry for the all caps! It’s a yell of joy. I had no expectations whatsoever and in fact only downloaded the app because I thought it was just something to do with the Lennon Mind Games remixes, having caught the end of the Sean Ono Lennon interview recently on 6Music. I had no idea what I was about to experience when I did my first session.
I think the effect of the sessions is accumulative. The visuals are getting more complex and more intense. The feeling of the literal lifting away of my hideous depression is palpable.
I have been in tradition therapy before, and honestly, this is way better for me, for a teeny fraction of the cost per yearly sub. A drop in the ocean. But even the free version is enough to keep me on the road to recovery and feeling like my normal self.

This app is amazing. Suffering with my own battles with Mental Health this app has been a lifeline. I use Lumenate every morning and it sets me up for a calm and relaxed mind to tackle the day. Whenever I feel my anxiety surging at a random point during the day I remember the flashing lights and it’s patterns from that morning and instantly I feel a wave of calm wash over me.
It’s important before you start though that you do a couple of breathing exercises. When you play the app it only guides you to a couple of breaths but in my opinion if you spend your own couple minutes breathing deeply and bringing a sense of calm and remembering something that made you happy recently or a determination to do something then when you go through the exercise on the app I feel that it helps imprint those on you and helps you become more focused.
Excellent app. Wish I knew about it sooner.