Headspace - The Wake Up

How long does it take for you to pick up your phone after you wake up in the morning? A minute? Two? Does it even take that long before you're scrolling through the emails that accumulated overnight or the social media that's piled up?

Most of us are trapped in a cycle of addiction where we're in permanent FOMO and scrambling to catch up as soon as possible every day. Headspace has been trying to get its users to slow down and take just ten minutes each day to disengage, reflect, and be a little more mindful.

But reminders are dismissible, part of the background noise, so Headspace is doing something different. It's finding its users where they're spending their spare minutes.

Getting sucked into a never-ending spiral of viral videos is a mindless activity, something that we do when we're bored, tired, or simply overwhelmed. In a case of "hidden vegetables" Headspace has launched "The Wake Up" a new feature that combines short, informative videos with mindfulness practices.

Each day, there's new Wake Up content designed by Headspace to help its members start their day on a mindful note. The 3-5 minute videos are informative or thoughtful, focusing on five key elements of living more mindfully: meditation, sleeping, moving, eating and playing.

So far the videos all follow the same pattern, a short intro to get you hooked and then a breathing exercise that helps you focus. After that the video continues and things are wrapped up with an animation and a lesson that ties in to the session. It reminds me of the "Moral of the story" bits that would play at the ends of 80s cartoons (but without the lasers and giant robots...see if you can do something about that Headspace).

The content is varied. The first segment I saw was about glass blowing and, honestly, I don't remember the lesson. But it did get me to break the cycle of hitting my phone first thing in the morning and starting to scroll. The meditative guided breathing helped me ease into my day rather than the usual pre-coffee jumble that I force my brain into when I jump right into work.

Today's Wake Up was about decluttering and, while I feel a bit seen (my office is still recovering from the holiday rush), it got me thinking about how the act of decluttering has a mental effect as much as a physical one.

The videos are well done, engaging while not being preachy or heavy-handed. Really, my only wish with the new Wake Up feature is that I could set a time for the notification to pop up (right now the notification activates at the same time for everyone). If it was the first thing I saw on my lock screen when I got up early in the morning, it would be even more useful.

It's a great move for Headspace and something that I think will help them find a user base beyond those that might not have time or aren't interested in traditional meditation.

In addition to The Wake Up, Headspace has also introduced Move Mode. Its meant to help you strengthen your mind while you're strengthening your body and features 28-day courses that guide you through quick workouts, mindful cardio runs, and rest day meditations.

The first series is led by British Olympic diver Leon Taylor and was developed by high performance expert Brandon Marcello PhD in close partnership with Headspace co-founder Andy Puddicombe. US Olympic volleyball player Kim Glass is also part of Move Mode and while she doesn't have a workout series of her own yet, she's featured in several of the individual workouts. You'll also find the rest of Headspace's workout-focused meditations in the new Move category in the app.

I'm really enjoying how Headspace is growing and adapting. With the addition of last year's Sleep category, the Nike Run Club collaborations, and the new Wake Up and Move features, it's clear that Headspace wants to give us every opportunity to try and find the balance we need to be our best.

If you haven't yet, download the Headspace app and sign up for a free trial. You can also check out their website for more information.

Read more from the original source:

Headspace Is Using Your Viral Video Addiction To Get You To Meditate More - Forbes