Honestly Honest Review: CALM Meditation App

Many “Honest” reviews out there claim to be unbiased and 100% authentic, but then you scroll to the bottom to find out the reviewer was given the product for free in exchange for an “Honest” review. That’s why my reviews are Honestly Honest. I gave up my cold hard cash to try the product and I’m going to tell you about it!

Meditation is having a HUGE moment in the wellness world right now. We’ve likely all heard about it, seen celebrities talk about it, and been told that research says it’s really beneficial and can be life-changing.

But what does meditation actually look like? And how do the benefits translate to real life?

For me, it looks like:

• Taking 10 minutes out of my day to sit in a chair or lay in bed, get comfy, and follow a guided meditation

And the benefits translate to:

• Loving and accepting myself more
• Better sleep
• Handling stressful situations with more clearheadedness and less emotion (still improving on this one though I’ve noticed positive differences to far!)

Are you in or are you in?!

Now let’s talk about the Calm App in particular:

I started using this app around 6 months ago, and I have to admit, it took me a while to really ‘get into it’ and form a habit. I started out strong, tapered off a bit, and then came back to it. I suppose that’s not surprising 😉. Just don’t get discouraged if you feel like it’s not for you at first. Keep coming back and give it a solid 15 or 20 sessions — that’s when I really started to jive with the sessions and feel a difference.

The hallmark feature of the app is the Daily Calm, which is a 10-minute guided meditation with a theme or lesson of the day. Recent topics have included Humility, Authenticity, and Openness. They are narrated by a lady named Tamara who is shown as Head of Mindfulness for the company. She starts you out by getting comfortable and paying attention to your breathing, lets you get all zen and centered, and then finishes with a little nugget of advice to set your day off right. Some of her lessons seem kind of abstract and ‘out there’ to me but others really resonate. Overall I really enjoy and look forward to it. But if you’re brand new to mediation, getting all “zen and centered” right away can be VERY challenging.

Luckily the Calm App has a beginner’s course! It’s called How to Meditate and the caption is “A simple 30-day program for everyone”. The course is narrated by Jeff. Jeff is the best. So many beginner meditations out there sound like they’re narrated by Scarlett Johansson in the movie HER. Do you know what mean? There is mystical spa music playing in the background and the narration is so breathy and seductive I just can’t take it seriously 😂. But Jeff is just a regular guy with a regular voice. To me, this makes the meditation feel more accessible, like anyone can do it. You don’t have to be this karmic yoga spiritual being to do meditation. You just have to be a person and give it a try for ten minutes at a time.

In the course, Jeff walks you through the skills and concepts of concentration, equanimity, clarity, and friendliness. [And if you just thought to yourself ‘WTF is equanimity’, not to worry 😉] After completing the 30 sessions, I felt like I was getting the swing of the whole meditation thing and starting to see benefits, like handling frustrating situations better and calming my racing thoughts. If you give the Calm App a try, definitely start with this intro course.

Within the Mediation sphere of the app, there are different focuses (foci?) you can choose from, such as sleep, anxiety, stress, self-care, inner peace, emotions, relationships, and personal growth. And if you want to work on a certain topic, you can do a series (i.e. a week’s work of mediations centered around a theme, such as ‘7 Days of Managing Stress’). There’s even a ‘World Cup Penalty Series — meditation sessions designed to ease the anxiety of watching penalty shootouts’. Lol! There are some real emotionally invested sports fan out there. Safe to say they’ve got a meditation for everyone 😉.

The Calm App also has a section called Sleep Stories. These are traditional ‘bedtime stories’ narrated by famous figures such a Matthew McConaughey (had to look up how to spell that one) Nick Offerman, and the actor who played Bronn (Tyrion’s frenemy bodyguard/assassin) in Game of Thrones.

And if you’re into relaxing music, the Calm App’s got that too!

Another fun thing is that you can choose different nature sounds to be in the background of your meditation (think: rain, water, birds, crickets, etc).

Plus, if you are a big @KingJames fan, Lebron narrates a series about Mental Fitness. It’s mostly about him playing basketball, but still. It’s Lebron. I’m just playing – he’s actually got some really insightful things to say! Our mental game is JUST as important as our physical game. 👊

The nitty gritty: The app subscription is $60 per year (technically $59.99 but let’s just all agree that is $60) and there is a 7-day “try before you buy” trial. That said, I believe this link will get you a 30-day free trial to Calm Premium. Let me know if it does or doesn’t work!

Lastly, let’s talk about meditation in the context of COVID19 and the Black Lives Matter movement. These past few weeks/months have taught us that we all could use a little more patience, mindfulness, reflection, and healing in our daily lives. A meditation practices helps train us to:

• Sit with discomfort
• Face our mistakes with compassion
• Expand our awareness
• Process anger in a healthy way
• Summon courage to speak up
• Rest and care for ourselves

If there ever was a time to try mediation, it’s now. BONUS: In light of the global situation, Calm is offering 40% off a year of Calm Premium for new members. Plus, they have been very outspoken and supportive of BLM which I think is cool and makes me want to support them even more.

THE BOTTOM LINE

My verdict is: Yes! I would 100% recommend the Calm App if you’re looking to give meditation a try. The intro course is perfect for beginners and from there you can tailor guided sessions to your liking and specific needs. I plan to use this app for one full year and then re-evaluate if I want to continue it or try something different (of course I will report back at that time 🙂). I have also downloaded and tried the Insight Timer app, which is another good option, although I did not enjoy it as much as CALM.

If you give the CALM App a try, let me know!!

💚Katy