Mindfulness over Instant Gratification

Listed as one of the hottest apps of 2018, we look at what’s behind the world wide trending app ‘Calm’

With over 40 million downloads and over 300,000 five-star reviews, Calm is the number one app for Sleep, Meditation and Relaxation. Calm is Apple’s ‘Best of 2018’ award winner and ‘App of the Year 2017,’ Google Play’s ‘Editor’s Choice for 2018,’ and the Center for Humane Technology’s ‘The World’s Happiest App.’ On February 9, Calm announced that it had raised 88 million dollars in investment, which took its valuation to one billion US dollars, thus making it the World’s First Mental Health Unicorn.

What is causing all the excitement about an app called Calm? Imagine listening to the soothing voice of Stephen Fry while he reads you a bedtime story for grown-ups, or maybe you prefer southern drawl of Matthew McConaughey or the sultry softness of Leona Lewis. Sleep Stories by Calm are soothing tales read by well-known voices to help people unwind and fall into a deep sleep each evening. Helping people sleep through story-telling is not its only service offered by Calm. It is one of four in fact.

Calm offers over 100 guided meditations to help people manage anxiety, lower stress and sleep better. Its collection includes offerings that are suitable for beginners, intermediates and advanced users. Calm Body is a new service that offers ten minute guided video lessons on mindful movement and gentle stretching designed to release tension in the body and recharge the mind. It also includes audio programs taught by world-renowned mindfulness experts. Calm also offers hundreds of hours of exclusive music tracks, including original compositions, nature sounds, white noise and much more, all of which are engineered to help listeners focus on work or study, relax or sleep.

The app is free to download, but a paid subscription to Calm Premium gives access to over 100 hours of premium content, including an ever-growing library of advanced meditations, soothing Sleep Stories, calming nature scenes, a breathing tool and Calm Masterclasses. The most popular feature on the app is a 10-minute meditation called ‘The Daily Calm,’ that explores a new mindful theme and inspiring concept each day.

Calm is also expanding offline in various ways that bring more peace, clarity and perspective into people’s busy lives. It has partnered with Penguin to publish a popular book; developed a natural sleep aid called Sleep Mist and has plans to create Calm clothing, home-ware, hotels and more. Recently Calm has partnered with XpresSpa at major U.S. airports to offer Calm users exclusive deals and gifts.

“Like everyone else, I’d heard about meditation and mindfulness, but like everyone else, I was too busy to try it. I was CEO of my company, Mind Candy, and had created the online world of Moshi Monsters. We had 80 million users and were expanding all the time. I had also joined my friend Alex Tew in creating a new venture – calm.com. Alex, who created the website Million Dollar Homepage in 2005, and had made a million dollars in a few months, had been into mindfulness and meditation since he was a teenager. I was interested, but more as a bystander,” said Michael Acton Smith, Calm’s co-founder.

Alex Tew and Michael Acton Smith, founders of the App ‘Calm’

“For a long time, I’d been put off by the hippy image. But as I started reading more, I came across this incredible wealth of science backing up the many claims. Not only were major multi-million-dollar sports teams in America using it, but there was an increasing body of evidence that this practice could actually rewire your brain.”

For those wondering what on earth is mindfulness; it is the psychological process of giving greater attention to one’s experiences occurring in the present moment. This process is developed through a combination of meditation and other techniques derived from Buddhist traditions. For example, everyone eats, but mindful eating requires one to pay complete attention to the act of eating by focusing on chewing properly while also being cognizant of every taste and texture.

Alex Tew and Michael Acton Smith, founders of the App ‘Calm’

With well over 1 million paying subscribers already, Calm’s top priorities in the near future, according to their website, will be to expand into more languages internationally, grow the in-house team which is currently at 50, and to create more content which means more Sleep Stories, meditations, music, and Calm Masterclasses.

“We started as a meditation app, but have grown far beyond that,” said Smith. “Our vision is to build one of the most valuable and meaningful brands of the 21st century. Health and wellness is a $4 trillion industry, and we believe there is a big opportunity to build the leading company in this fast-growing and important space.”