What can you do when your mind is racing at work or before sleep? A one-verse pause with Daily Dhamma

That is the exact moment we wrote the opening line of our App Store listing for: mind racing at work or before sleep. We built Daily Dhamma, listed on the App Store as Dhamma Quotes: Buddha Quotes, around a response that is deliberately small — one Buddha verse from the Dhammapada a day, a gentle "Are you present right now?" reminder during the day, and a place to save the verses that stay with you. This guide explains, in our own words as the makers, how that pause works in practice, what the app does and does not do, and what our measured App Store numbers say so far.

Why does a racing mind not settle for a long reading session?

When your thoughts are looping — replaying a meeting, rehearsing tomorrow, scrolling back through something you said — opening a whole book chapter rarely matches the moment. The chapter asks for study time you do not have at your desk or in bed, and finishing it becomes one more task. A single verse asks for something different: read a few lines, stop, and notice where your attention actually is.

That is why Daily Dhamma keeps the reading view focused. On our Daily Dhamma product page we describe it plainly: swipe through curated Dhammapada verses in a focused reading view, in light or dark mode, at your own pace. There is no feed to finish and no chapter to complete.

How does the one-verse pause work during a workday?

We use it as three small steps, not as a study plan.

1. Let the reminder arrive, do not chase it. Daily Dhamma sends morning verse notifications to start the day and Stay Present reminders during it. The App Store listing describes the reminder wording as "Are you present right now?" — a question, not an instruction. When it arrives at work, that question is the pause. 2. Read one verse, not the next ten. Open the verse the notification brought, or swipe to one curated verse in the reading view. Read it once, slowly. One verse in the listing itself is Verse 5: "Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world; through love alone they cease. This is an eternal law." 3. Bookmark what you want to return to. If a line stays with you, save it. Premium includes verse bookmarking, so your saved verses become a short personal collection you can revisit before a difficult conversation or at the end of the day, instead of a library you never reopen.

The point is not to win an argument with your own thoughts in thirty seconds. The point is to mark one clear pause — reminder, verse, breath, back to work — that you can actually repeat tomorrow.

How is the same pause different before sleep?

Before sleep, we change two things. First, use dark mode, which the product page and the listing both include for comfortable reading, so the reading view stays low-light. Second, do not treat the verse as something to analyse. Read one verse, bookmark it if it matters, and put the phone down. Reading further and further into the night turns a pause into another session.

If racing thoughts before sleep are frequent, severe, or affecting your health, an app is not the right level of help. Daily Dhamma is a reading and reminder app in the Health & Fitness category; it is not a treatment for anxiety or insomnia, and we do not present it as one. Talk to a clinician about persistent sleep or anxiety problems.

What is included in Daily Dhamma, and what is Premium?

Daily Dhamma is a free download with in-app purchases, for iPhone, and requires iOS 15.1 or later. On the US App Store, checked on 14 November 2026, the current version is 1.2.1, the size is 44.3 MB, the category is Health & Fitness, and the language is English. The App Store privacy section lists data linked to you as Purchases and Identifiers.

The core, as we list it, is:

• Carefully curated verses from the Dhammapada, in a distraction-free, swipe-through reading view, with light and dark mode
• Morning verse notifications to start the day
• Stay Present mindfulness reminders during the day — the listing gives the reminder pattern as 5, 7, or 10 times daily

Premium includes access to all curated verses in the app, verse bookmarking, and up to 10 mindfulness reminders a day. We do not list a fixed Premium price on the product page; as the page says, review the current purchase offer in the app, because the offer you see in your region is the one that applies.

You can read the full feature list on the Daily Dhamma product page and on the App Store listing.

What do our measured numbers say about Daily Dhamma so far?

We publish our numbers as measured, with the period and the source, even when they are small. The figures below are from App Store Connect, in the measurement file we keep for all our apps, measured on 13 November 2026 at 21:42 UTC.

In the 28 days from 16 October to 12 November 2026, the app recorded 1,009 impressions, 37 product page views, and 15 downloads. In the most recent 7 days of that window, 6 to 12 November 2026, it recorded 309 impressions, 4 product page views, and 3 downloads — 2 in the US and 1 in LK, all 3 from App Store search.

We read that honestly: search is bringing a small, steady number of people to exactly the kind of moment this guide is about, and the step from page view to download is still thin. A guide like this is part of our answer — being present, with a careful and specific explanation, when someone searches for help with a racing mind at work or before sleep. If that is your moment now, start with the free download and one verse tomorrow morning, not with a plan to read the whole book.

How is this different from a daily affirmation?

An affirmation repeats a line you tell yourself. A Dhammapada verse is a teaching you sit with. The two sit next to each other in our work: our Anicca affirmation app delivers a short daily affirmation, while Daily Dhamma delivers a curated verse and a presence reminder. If you want the broader starting guide to the book itself, read our companion piece, How do you start reading the Dhammapada? One verse a day, with a pause, and browse the rest of the series on the Daily Dhamma blog hub.

Common questions

Is Daily Dhamma free?

Yes. It is a free download with in-app purchases. Premium includes all curated verses, verse bookmarking, and up to 10 mindfulness reminders a day. Review the current purchase offer in the app for the price in your region.

What does a Stay Present reminder actually say?

The listing describes it as a gentle "Are you present right now?" notification. It is an invitation to stop and notice the moment, not a score, a streak, or a test you can fail.

How many reminders can I get in a day?

The App Store listing gives the Stay Present pattern as 5, 7, or 10 times daily, and Premium includes up to 10 mindfulness reminders a day, plus a morning verse notification.

Can I save verses to read again?

Yes, with Premium. Verse bookmarking is a Premium feature, and the bookmark control appears on the reading screen, as shown on the product page.

Which devices does Daily Dhamma support?

It is listed for iPhone and requires iOS 15.1 or later. Check the App Store listing for current compatibility, including iPod touch, Mac, and Apple Vision requirements listed there.

Where can I get Daily Dhamma?

On the App Store, and you can read more on the Daily Dhamma product page.