Why I Still Use The Headspace App
“The kind of happiness that I’m talking about is the ability to feel comfortable no matter what emotion arises.”
― Andy Puddicombe
“You did what?” said my wife.
“I know, I know. But I have been using it for a while and I really like it.” From there I went into full toddler mode. “It’s the first app I ever bought. I promise I’ll use it. You can use it too!”
“Okay,” she ultimately said with a confused smile. “Enjoy it.”
This was how the conversation went when I told my wife that I just paid hundreds of dollars for lifetime access to an app that helps you sit down and do nothing every day—the Headspace app.
3 Benefits of the Headspace App
Beginning my meditation routine (or, more appropriately termed “practice”) was rough. I sat there basically twitching and just counting down until the timer went off. After many, many, many hours of listening to guided meditations, I started to make some breakthroughs. Then there were consistent patterns of complete control with even a handful of times of flow which just reinforced this new habit. I became a believer, to the point where I (usually) look forward to sitting down to meditate. I now have a daily meditation practice that lasts about 5-15 minutes a sitting, using the Headspace app.
When I first started this meditation ride in 2015 I trialed a bunch of the early apps on the market with Headspace being the one I gravitated to for the long haul. I still switch it up every once in a while and use other apps that challenge my breath holds, one that keeps a rhythm for cardiac coherence breathwork, and I dabbled with the Wim Hof app here and there but I always come back to Headspace.
These are the reasons I like Headspace over the others:
Andy. Andy Puddicombe is the voice behind Headspace. He was completing a sports science degree at 22 years old when a string of deaths rocked his world. His sister-in-law, an ex-girlfriend, and two friends all died within a short period of time. As a result, he shifted his life and traveled to the Himalayas to learn to be a monk. He traveled to various monasteries and learned how to meditate over a period of 10 years (and up to 16 hours a day of meditating). This experience and wisdom is evident when using Headspace. And, of course, I like his British accent and calming melodic voice.
Versatility. I like that the app is more than just a time with chimes. I set 2 reminders a day (some of the only notifications I have on my phone) to cue me to pause and take a deep breath. The streak counter is motivation for me to set time aside to do the meditations. There are also features like sleep sounds to play at night, playlists for focus, and even some yoga and other workouts on there.
Variety. New meditation courses and single meditations drop frequently. There are courses centered on everything from anger to grief to sports to happiness. There’s a section for “parents and kids” that guides meditations for various ages with the help of Sesame Street characters as well as short videos on mindful parenting. A variety of meditation techniques (body scan, noting, visualization, etc.) are used throughout the courses. This keeps it fresh so I’m not listening to the same words with the same technique every day.
This works for me but this is not a hard sell on using the Headspace app (and I promise I’m not getting paid for it either). Rather, it’s a look at how one tool helped me jumpstart a new habit to round me out a bit. Some people might practice meditation and mindfulness best on a fancy week-long silent retreat while others might prefer a bare-bones prison-style atmosphere. You might do best with other apps or videos or through one-on-one guidance with a teacher.
While meditation is not for everyone, I highly encourage everyone to try it. The benefits include lower stress, better sleep, improved mood, more energy and better resilience. The downside? It takes some time and effort. Start with 5 minutes a day for a week.
A Taste of Headspace
“Today’s Meditation”
Nowadays, I mostly use the “Today’s Meditation” feature. This is a new daily meditation consisting of bits of wisdom (another word) from Andy. He appears to give an off-the-cuff commentary on life and meditation in bite-sized chunks that follow with a guided meditation. Here is a list of my 4 favorite introductions that Andy voices to begin these daily meditations.
Note: I transcribed these myself and they disappear after a day so I apologize for any errors in a verbatim copy. Also, I’ve omitted certain parts for efficiency and readability.
Let’s get zen.
Unwinding the Mind
We rush around trying to create more space in our life only to fill our minds so full that even when we have nothing left to do the mind remains busy and full. So we see this play out again and again in our lives. Whether it's racing towards, perhaps, bedtime at the end of the day when we lie down on the bed to relax and we realize our mind is incredibly busy. Perhaps it's when we try to find some time to meditate in a day and we're doing lots of things to create that 10 minutes of space and then we sit down and we find the mind is very busy. Or it might be on a bigger scale, perhaps once or twice a year when you go on holiday and there is a sense of having to do so much beforehand to get everything ready that by the time you actually get there to relax the mind is still busy..... So I recommend starting on a smaller scale. Let's say it's your 10-minute daily meditation. Five minutes before, begin to slow down. Start to do things a bit more deliberately with a little more intention behind them and perhaps physically moving just a little bit slower. It doesn't mean you have to stop but you slow down and prepare the mind.
Attitude and Approach
While the technique of meditation is important, the true essence lies in our attitude and our approach. If we can continue to refine this then the technique will take care of itself. So this, for me, is the essence of meditation. The technique is a technique. You could write it down in only a few words and yet this technique could be a vehicle for understanding and cultivating awareness and compassion over an entire lifetime. The art is not so much in a technique, it's in the approach to the technique and how we refine our approach and our attitude day-to-day, week to week, and even year to year. So ensuring that when we turn up to meditate we try not to control anything, not trying to change anything. We're simply there to witness, to observe with an open mind, a curious mind, an interested mind. A mind that is not judging in nature, that is not critical in nature, but simply wanting to be present. And of course, every day we'll find different sets of challenges. Some days we'll find it easier to have some of those qualities than others. But over time it is simply about refining or familiarizing ourselves with that approach and with that attitude. When we do that the technique takes care of itself.
Impermanence
In everyday life, the mind might feel very solid as if everything is permanent or solid but when we sit to meditate we see that everything is flowing from one moment to the next. So if there's just one thing you can take away from your meditation it's in witnessing the coming and going of thoughts. We tend to notice thoughts coming but we rarely notice them going. In the same way in everyday life we often notice emotions as they appear and as they arise in us but very rarely do we acknowledge their passing away. And it's really important that we do because then we see that there is this constant flow. We are not a certain kind of person. We don't experience the same thought over and over again. It might feel like it's the same thought but it's a different thought each time it arises. The more we see this the more we tend to experience a sense of ease..... There's nothing to resist because it's in a constant state of flow.... So once we stop resisting and once we stop chasing after then we find ourselves able to rest–just present–no matter what arises in the mind.
To try the Headspace app for free for 14 days, click here:
