About a month back for an internal wellness week, Stripe gave all of its employees a subscription to Headspace, a meditation app for iOS.
I’ve been trying and failing to develop a regular practice for well over a year now, and it’s Headspace that’s finally pushed me to success. I’m now at 29 days out of the last 32; by far the best run I’ve ever had.
Headspace’s secret is content and “light” gamification. There are thirty 10-minute introductory sessions that you’re taken through before starting on other material. They’re are mostly the same, and purposely repetitive to help drive the key points home, but there’s just enough progression to keep it interesting. It also tells you how many days in a row you’ve meditated; a tiny prod to help maintain your streak.
Apps that have a purely positive effect on life are few and far between, but Headspace seems to be one of them. At $12.95 a month, it isn’t cheap, but if it helps me maintain a 90%+ daily meditation rate for the next year, it might just be worth it.
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