I am a recovering “Grumpy” person. I’ve admitted it. I do my best to stay positive and upbeat, but I do struggle with it. Something that’s really helped me get and stay centred is a daily meditation practice. I will admit, when it was first suggested to me, I was a little dubious. What I knew about meditation (which was admittedly very little in retrospect) was that people sat around and tried to think of nothing. Of course, when you think about thinking about nothing, you end up thinking about something, which is not what you’re supposed to do… right? To be clear, if you’re confused by reading that sentence, it’s the correct feeling. Suffice it to say that I had no idea how good meditation is for you, but I did need help getting started. THAT is where the Calm app came in. Honestly, it wasn’t the first meditation app I tried, but it was the one I decided to stick with.
1) A daily routine
As I started to use Calm, I started meditating, and I found it helped a little. Then I realized that I was not using it every day, and that was my first mistake. One of the meditations that Calm offers is actually called “The Daily Calm,” which is a simple 10-ish minute guided meditation that allows you to find your centre. If you’re anything like me, being able to find your centre before you face the world is mission critical, so I usually do my meditation first thing in the morning. This gives me a mental layer of protection that helps me face the day. There are certainly days when (for one reason or another) I can’t get it done first thing, and I genuinely notice that I’m more irritable and have a harder time dealing with everyday life. So I do everything I can to set myself up with the Calm app first thing.
2) More than just meditation
The meditations are great, but there are also other things that help me out that the Calm app provides. They have music which is (ahem) calming and can have a helpful effect on your life. I often find myself listening to some of the lo-fi continuous lists from Calm when I’m reading at the end of the day. The other thing that I like using Calm for is their sleep stories. I like listening to the sleep stories because I have always slept better with some sort of background noise. The sleep stories are a great way to get deep sleep at the end of the day.
3) Reliable
I have, admittedly, a real need for guidance on the best ways to achieve mindfulness in my life. I’ve been working on this for years, but I’m still trying to improve. It’s great that the Calm app is a super easy way to make sure that I get my practice in. Yes, I do get emails reminding me to meditate, but I actually do like the reminder. There are times (however infrequent) when I simply don’t have time to do my morning meditation, so having Calm remind me—either through emails or notifications on my phone—is actually quite helpful for me. With the reminders, I know that no matter how busy my life gets, I will still have the ability to find the time to find my centre.
I recognise that from the outside, a tech blogger talking mindfulness and “being centred” may seem a bit off brand, but in reality it’s actually totally in sync with my overall message. We spend so much time in the digital world that it only makes sense for us to utilize digital tools in order to maintain our everyday lives. To be clear, I’m talking about the benefits of this app because it’s the one that I have found success with. I know there are several on the market that could work for you, so I would encourage you to try one of them and see how that works for your mindfulness journey. I am a big proponent of having routines and developing good habits, and Calm is a great app to get started with.
How do you stay Calm?
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