Maybe Im a little late to the hashtag-mindfulness movement, but I just recently started using a meditation app. There are plenty of articles touting the supposed benefits of meditation practices ranging from from charting new pathways in the brain to remaining in a zen-like state when having a conversation about politics and in recent years the market for mental wellness and meditation services has grown to more than $1 billion. But for me the impetus was convenience: my gym app started offering meditation practices for free, and for awhile they were shoved in my face every time I opened the app.

Whats surprised me more than my almost-immediate taking to this new feature in the app (which the gym has labeled Headstrong, not to be confused with the wildly popular Headspace), is how much I like wearing Apples wire-free AirPods while Im using it. I know, I know: fetishizing an Apple product while trying to achieve mental clarity, through a practice that at its roots is supposed to help quell earthly desires, is borderline ridiculous. Also, big caveat! AirPods dont fit everyone well, and ill-fitting headphones are just as irritating as having Donald Trumps tweets read aloud to you while trying to meditate (good luck with that).

But unlike my Verge colleague Sean OKane, the AirPods feel good in my ears, and when I wear them I can pretty much forget theyre there. I can sit up, or lie down, or lie down and then sit up, and theyre there, but I dont realize theyre there. Theres no neckband behind my head or cables snaking over my ears or tiny shark fins poking my ear cartilage; and theres no dangling wire tickling the side of my face and keeping me leashed to my smartphone. Im completely unencumbered for six or ten or fourteen minutes, or at the very least, able to convince myself Im unencumbered, since the whole thing is still powered by a smartphone.

Somehow, they stay in my ears

Since theyve come to market Ive worn the AirPods during a variety of activities, and in general Ive been impressed by their staying power. Ive walked, hiked, run, jumped rope, and lifted weights while wearing them. Somehow, they stay in my ears. The only time Ive been in danger of losing the tiny ear dongles was when I pulled a sweatshirt over my head and one got caught in its laundry-bound path.

But during almost every activity Im still very much aware of them, whether its because Im consciously listening to a music playlist, or because someone comments on them, or because Ive caught a glimpse of myself in a gym mirror and thought, Oh god, Ive become one of the AirPods people.

When Im sitting there attempting to use the meditation app, the AirPods become one less thing I have to remember to forget. I can still hear ambient noise from the outside world, but theres also a voice whispering directly into my ears, one that feels like its curling up along the edges of my brain. If youve ever used headphones to fall asleep, you know the sensation: theres the low hum of a TV, maybe, or the murmur of voices from another room or in the car, just enough to keep you aware of whats going on around you, but your attention is focused on the thing youve chosen to listen to.

Lots of people use meditation apps without AirPods. Lots of people meditate without the use of any kind of app or guide at all. You dont need AirPods to meditate. But for me theyve become the surprisingly perfect accessory.

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Apple's AirPods are the perfect accessory to meditation apps - The Verge