Calm

Hi! Your app is fantastic. I’ve used different meditation apps over the years. Calm addresses all of the issues I had with previous apps and puts everything (sounds, music, reading, and guidance) in one place, which is amazing — thank you! What would be great to add to the library of guided meditations is a version of the 7-days of Calming Anxiety specifically for people who are homebound. My elderly grandmother was very social, very active her entire life, and is now homebound. She needs to lower her anxiety, but I can’t share this program with her because phrases like “there’s nothing you need to do, nowhere you need to be, nothing to fix…” etc. are actually what is depressing her. It’s a more difficult problem to solve, I know, but if there’s a way to write a 7-day program for people who don’t need to slow down — slowing down is their problem — and also ensure that the reading is engaging, not too soothing; otherwise she’ll fall asleep, which she does because she’s depressed. This would help more than elderly people; many people struggling with recovery from operations and chronic illnesses have similar issues of immobility. I just don’t want to give her something labeled “for the elderly” or that references a life situation, because her’s isn’t going to change; it’s not temporary. I’d love for it to be called something like “7 Days of Calming Anxiety at Times of Immobility” or “Meditating When You Can’t Move.” Thank you for considering this!

I used to use Headspace for meditation (which is a fine app - especially if you’re just getting started) but Calm has helped me take things to a whole other level. The Headspace meditations were essentially all the same - there are maybe four variations but he cycles through those four and you get the same mix regardless of what series you’re working on (stress, anxiety, work performance, etc). I feel like the Calm meditations go much deeper and I’m noticing a huge difference in myself after switching over to Calm. Historically, I’m somewhat self critical and I have a higher than normal baseline for general anxiety (although I wouldn’t say that I have an anxiety disorder by any means). At times, these things make me impulsive or reactive in certain ways that I don’t like. I feel like I’m much more self aware after switching to Calm and I’m able to identify when I’m experiencing certain feelings and deal with them in a healthy way. Aside from that, I’m much more enthusiastic about my meditation practice and I’m meditating more often since I learn new skills every day rather than sitting through the same old boring meditation. Calm gives you a toolbox with multiple different tools that you can use in various situations. I love it and highly recommend it to anyone.

This app has had an incredible impact on my mental health and overall quality of life. It has changed my perspectives and state-of-mind in ways that have been beneficial to every aspect of my everyday life and well-being, in a countless number of ways. By committing to the habit and genuine effort to a mere 10 minutes of meditation a day, I have observed a significant change to the way my brain works and handles day-to-day tasks and situations. I have gained peace-of-mind, appreciation, more quality and meaningful time spent with my family, the ability to approach things in ways that are more practical and productive and less stressful.... And this is just to name a few ways meditation has been useful and life-changing. My 10yo son insists on using it before bed every night in order to help him unwind and get a better night’s sleep. I use it for tension relief and to soothe migraines, or to calm myself down when I’m angry or upset. The mind is so powerful and can truly enhance one’s quality of life and well-being in ways you could never imagine possible. By obtaining a better mindset and maintaining the ways in which your brain works and thinks, you can come to realize what sort of impact it can make on your overall health, happiness and life.

This App is my absolutely favorite to use when I’m going to sleep. I got it solely for the sleep stories and I’m absolutely obsessed. It’s like being a kid again and getting a beautiful story read to you by a soothing voice. While I use the app mainly for sleep stories I’ve used the meditation, background music, and breathing exercise options on the app as well. I used to use Headspace for a lot of my meditation sessions but with Calm having so many additional features I switched over fairly quickly. The only problem I have with this app is that I can’t set up a playlist/cue of the stories I want to fall asleep to. Sometimes I can’t fall asleep right away so I have to go through the process of unlocking my phone, setting up another story, and trying to settle down once again just to set up another story to be read. It quickly becomes irritating, especially on nights when I can’t fall asleep easily and have to go through the process of setting up an additional three stories and eventually giving up in the end. So if that can somehow be added then it’ll get my full 5 stars. But having nights where I’m on and off my phone throughout the night definitely makes me feel frustrated enough to keep it at 4 stars.

I recently re-downloaded this app and like the free features (when I downloaded it years ago one of my favorite features was “Scenes,” so as long as I have access to those for free, this app will stay on my phone). However, it’s a bit annoying that I now have a “Daily Calm Perception” notification on my screen that is locked and that I can’t remove. I don’t purchase app subscriptions, though I would be more than willing to support this app by individually buying content I was interested in as one-time purchases). If you don’t plan on allowing users to buy content separately, can you please at least give us the option to only view non-subscription content if we wish (with no content we can’t access clogging up the screen)? I read another review stating that some of the music was available to non-subscribers. It all appears locked for me. Can you clarify please? Also, are all 7 days for any of the meditations unlocked for free users? I just listened to the first day of “7 Days of Calming Anxiety” but I don’t think I can listen to the second one (or even repeat day one w/o subscribing, which is a bit ridiculous IMO). Please consider alternative payment models in the future. I’d love to support the app, just not with a subscription.