Moment Pebble

www.momentcompany.co
£67.99
 

I can’t write about the Moment Pebble without talking about its packaging. How a product is packaged can make a massive impact on your first experiences with it, and the Moment Company created a definite ‘wow’ feeling for me with this one. The box is substantial and satisfying to fold, and even more so to slide open – really sleek! Much like the Moment Pebble itself, it’s tactile and attractive, with the outer box a similar, matching stone colouring and design.

Described as a ‘tool for modern mindfulness’, the Moment Pebble promises to serve as a mental health aid. How, you ask? It’s just a pebble, you say? That was my first thought too. However, this isn’t just a pebble – it’s a “palm-sized wirelessly charged natural stone device”. Wirelessly charged pebble? I remember when pebbles didn’t need charging. Stay with me, it’s about to make sense.

Using a pebble to relieve stress is a time-old solution – there’s something about the smoothness, solidity and the way they fit your palm that make them reassuring when you squeeze them or even just hold onto them. The Moment Pebble has taken this concept and built upon it by adding a soft, gentle light that thrums from within the stone, encouraging you to slow down for 30 seconds at a time to breathe, meditate and relax. The slow pulse of light encourages you to slow your breathing, think about your heartrate, and block out the sense of hectic business in the world around you.

You could ask why people need a product to help them in taking short moments of quiet, and in a way, this does feel like a continuation of the reliance on technology that the Moment Company cites as a cause of modern stress. However, it can be helpful to have something physical to anchor you into what you are doing, giving you something to focus on so your resolution to take some quiet moments to yourself doesn’t get gobbled up by every-day busyness. Also, the pebble’s light pattern has been based on the Cardiac Coherence Breathing pattern – five seconds in, five seconds out on a four-breath cycle – which has been found to calm the body and bring the nervous system into balance by stimulating the vagus nerve. This can calm your heart rate, lower your blood pressure, and even improve your digestion and sleep!

As well as the pebble itself, for your £67.99, you receive an accompanying booklet and access to an online program Called Moment Method, which leads you through a series of guided meditation and mindfulness exercises.

Overall, this is a luxury item which reduces stress.  It could be argued that finding a pebble on the beach and sitting with it whilst you do some slow breathing you will achieve the same stress relief, but you must remember to slow the breathing and that’s what this pebble does so well. If you have the cash to spare and would benefit from something more structured to guide you through, then the Moment Pebble certainly does that.

4/5

Pros:
Calming to hold
Light guides you in calming breathing exercises
Supporting program and booklet

Cons:
Seems costly for what it is