Meditate in front of your computer with Calm

http://calm.com/

by ebahnx • 12 years ago

269 172 12 years ago

calm.com

buckbova• 12 years ago

I like the images. Seems like something you'd see on those wall screens of the future.

Is there a business model for this, possibly subscription based in the future?

They have job postings:

http://www.calm.com/jobs

"We're a small start-up with a big mission: to reduce stress and increase calm in an increasingly stressed-out world. We're just starting out, and we're looking for talented and driven folks to join us.

On offer is a competitive salary, meaningful equity, great benefits, holiday when you need it and the chance to make a real difference in people's lives. We're based in San Francisco's SOMA district and all roles are based here in our office."

ebahnx• 12 years ago

I tried the 2-minute session, and it really felt great. Also had the same concern about long-term business model though.

natural2192• 12 years ago

Wow, I love the irony.

thatthatis• 12 years ago

Perhaps I'm having a dumb day. Where's the irony?

bduerst3• 12 years ago

Is it weird that the visuals are the part that has me most excited about this site?

This would be awesome on chromecast.

dirkk0• 12 years ago

That was my first impression, too.

akman• 12 years ago

iOS app has subscription-based guided meditations

peterwwillis• 12 years ago

I was told recently that some study showed the brains of humans lighting up much more when reading using a video screen than with paper, and that essentially digital displays are a stimulant of sorts. Anyone see a study like this before? If it's real, wouldn't it be better to meditate in front of a non-digital interface?

avenger123• 12 years ago

baby steps, baby steps..

mbrubeck• 12 years ago

In the guided sessions (as in most other meditative practices I've seen), you're instructed to close your eyes. The imagery is just there to set the stage before and after the meditation; the guidance is audio-only.

unicornporn2• 12 years ago

I'd really like to hear more about this. If anybody knows where to find it, please reply.

unicornporn2• 12 years ago

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074756320... ?

sergiotapia2• 12 years ago

You close your eyes during meditation.

aik• 12 years ago

That's awesome. Just yesterday I did a web search and Hacker news search for this exact thing, and now boom, you've delivered!

Great UI, awesome background activity, relaxing music, timers -- exactly what I was looking for. Well executed!

On the practical front: How are you a company? What's your mission? Purpose? Business model?

0xdeadbeefbabe• 12 years ago

Hmmm interesting, so what are you searching for today?

jeremydavid• 12 years ago

It certainly looks a lot better than the Million Dollar Homepage :)

RankingMember3• 12 years ago

I like this, as I do anything that fights the flood of stress and insanity that is a lot of (at least my) daily life. Business-wise, I could see this being a gateway drug for selling meditation accessories, but it'd be hard to sell the sessions themselves. Advertising would be a no go, as putting it anywhere you'd make money on it would negatively impact the product itself.

RankingMember3• 12 years ago

Actually, integrate this with some kind of consumer-grade portable EEG to monitor progress and I'll be the first person to give you my money.

rd1082• 12 years ago

we're launching this with www.brainbot.me -- ping me rohan@brainbot.me for details!

RankingMember3• 12 years ago

I'm quite happy to see that wheels are already in motion on something like this. Pinging you.

dialsquare1886• 12 years ago

This is already available. http://www.heartmathstore.com/category/emwave-desktop/emwave...

rd1082• 12 years ago

this uses heart rate, not brain activity

KingMob9• 12 years ago

Former neuroscientist and current meditator here (even went to the Mind and Life Summer Research Institute to combine the two once). While it's nice to want objective measures of meditative progress, there are two caveats:

a) Once you start meditating, you will probably notice subjective improvements that will be of more importance than things like vertex electrode amplitude.

b) This is still early days for brain science. Our tools (EEG and fMRI) are way cruder than the populace at large believes, so take their results with a grain of salt.

amouat• 12 years ago

Must have some money behind them to snag that domain name!

mckee1• 12 years ago

Yeah I was just thinking that. It must have cost a crazy amount.

kewalter• 12 years ago

In an interview last year with the creator, Alex Tew, Jason Calacanis guessed $50-75k and it sounded like that was a little low.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYTJXiyyytQ#t=227

scotthtaylor• 12 years ago

From the founder of http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/

_xhok• 12 years ago

The video jumps between loops. It's sufficiently distracting while I'm meditating that it makes me not want to use it.

gxespino4• 12 years ago

Did you close your eyes?

webwanderings2• 12 years ago

Agree, noticed the same. The clouds are very quickly repeating. Hoping they'd innovate here further.

kolemcrae• 12 years ago

They have an iphone app, they might simply charge for that... Id love to get this on Android..

Also a full screen option would be nice.

noir_lord• 12 years ago

This is exceptionally well executed.

The ogg and mp4 files are lovely as well :).

taybin• 12 years ago

Very nice. Although I feel I already enter a meditative state when I'm in front of the glowing screen anyways.

joosters• 12 years ago

Meditate on our webpage while reading thousands of words of 'Terms of Use' and 'Privacy' pages. Calming!

smokinjoe• 12 years ago

While it probably wouldn't be a trivial feature, I would love this to be integrated with Chromecast in some way.

plg• 12 years ago

the voice sounds like Catherine Keener

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001416/?ref_=tt_cl_t6

TheyCalledHimBo2• 12 years ago

My knee-jerk reaction to this was at first laughter, followed by a deep sense of loathing as I dug deeper into whatever this site is supposed to be. This is fucking appalling. In some respects I might, -might- be able to get behind the idea of "meditation" as "SaaS" but for the most part I find this borderline insulting.

oldstrangers• 12 years ago

I think you might have some stress in your life.

JeremyMorgan• 12 years ago

You didn't try it, did you?

gxespino4• 12 years ago

I think you of all people could benefit the most from something like this.

angersock2• 12 years ago

What do you have against Serenity-as-a-Service?

theknown992• 12 years ago

For me, it'd be like "virtual-parent.com! No need to be a parent to your kids, just point them at this website and we'll be their parent for you".

If you want less stress, or to calm down, the last thing you should be doing is staring at a computer screen. Go outdoors. Exercise. Meet real people.

vitd• 12 years ago

Yeah, I concur. My wife tried it out and wanted to do more, but it was all "in-app purchase this" and "in-app purchase that," and "you'll be tracked on our website," etc. All she wanted was to download a single app and use it. She didn't want all the crap that goes along with it because other people keeping lots of info about her stresses her out!

benched2• 12 years ago

Unusually well done, especially the guided sessions.

alexobenauer• 12 years ago

Switching between the scenes is terribly slow; a thumbnail based selection would be a smoother experience.

volaski• 12 years ago

Apparently, they raised $415K investment http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/26/relaxation-resource-calm-co... I wonder how they will pay it all off

sehr• 12 years ago

does anyone else feel this is a bit.. ridiculous?

Permit• 12 years ago

We should keep in mind that we don't have access to all the available information the investors had. Previous successes by the founders, a kick-ass business model or solid traction could all be valid reasons for such an investment.

Our valuation of the company is based on partial information, and is likely less accurate than that of the investors.

guiomie• 12 years ago

I do.

iguana• 12 years ago

If the app is useful, a premium version could be made, as well as a company branded version for an entire company, etc. HR is tough to sell to, but that doesn't mean impossible. It could be a nice corporate perk.

andrewcooke• 12 years ago

what kind of meditation needs (or is helped) by this?

i kind-of do mindful meditation (i'm no expert) and this would be just one more piece of sensory data to acknowledge and then largely ignore.

if you're doing "concentrative meditation" (i'm using terms from wikipedia) then i would have thought this would be distracting.

is this more like new age tv?

nabla9• 12 years ago

This is more like using suggestion to enable relaxation.

thucydides2• 12 years ago

Good question. The site's 10 minute guided meditation right now does not sound like the forms of Zen meditation I'm familiar with, and it doesn't sound like mindfulness meditation. What is it? And is it evidence-based?

I practice Zen-style breath-counting meditation (susokukan) now. No doubt many different kinds of meditation are beneficial, but I suspect they have different effect sizes. Probably some do nothing for you at all.

The most unexpected consequence of breath-counting is how dispassionately I see my random intrusive thoughts during meditation, whether it's anger at someone, a happy memory, or a worry about some future task. It sounds crazy to non-meditators, but it's actually hard for me to not to laugh during meditation sessions at how ephemeral and "unreal" these thoughts are... and how quickly all emotions, sensations, thoughts move in and depart like blips on the screen of mind.

After breath-counting for half an hour, I feel a much deeper, more substantial calm than if I'd done something like listening to relaxing noises in the same time. It's a calm of mind that bleeds into the rest of the day, because meditation gives practice at seeing the shape-shifting nature of thoughts and human identity.

Does the kind of meditation practiced on this site have similar effects?

dbtc2• 12 years ago

breath-counting meditation sounds really interesting, where did you learn about it? Any recommended resources?

KingMob9• 12 years ago

I agree with you in several ways, but to be charitable, just look at the site as a place to go to get some guided meditations for newbies.

I think over time, people turn away from guided meditations as distracting (I know I do), but something like this could be helpful to the right person.

lindig• 12 years ago

This is similar to http://www.getsomeheadspace.com which is based on a subscription model and a mobile app. The app is free and provides 10 sessions of 10 minutes each. If you like calm.com, try www.getsomeheadspace.com for a very good alternative.

chazu• 12 years ago

I subscribe to headspace, have been for about two months now. I find it extremely helpful. There are a wealth of different programs with different areas of focus, and about a years worth of content with daily use. I highly recommend it.

zz1• 12 years ago

Also a Headspace subscriber. If you're interested, subscribe and then, instead of using their site/app, you can download the whole program via a torrent (5 GB).

snake_plissken• 12 years ago

I love the music.

Also for what it's worth, the voice made me feel like I was in Michael Bay's The Island. Somehow was that strangely meditative.

imranq• 12 years ago

this is pretty calming

Shorel• 12 years ago

Do you plan to add binaural beats?

It seems to me they fit perfectly with your vision.

enraged_camel• 12 years ago

On the iPhone, calm.com takes you directly to the App Store page without even prompting. You can try going to the deeloper's website from there, BUT that takes you to their Facebook page. From there it links back to calm.com.

Worst. Experience. Ever. And I haven't even downloaded the app yet!

bduerst3• 12 years ago

Lucky. On Android it just says the app isn't ready yet.

My guess is they want to herd users to the mobile app right away, rather than manage both the app and optimized website for mobile.

lelandbatey• 12 years ago

What's annoying for me was that I was redirected to the "sign up for when the app is released" page, but if I fake the user agent I get a very nice, very usable calm.com that works out of the box with my phone.

Why, why must you force me towards your app? At max, serve the web page first, then suggest the app to me.

webwanderings2• 12 years ago

The fact that I was immediately thinking about the cost (and so do many others here) corrupts the experience right away. But anyways, very nice find for today. Hope it stays as is in the distant future.

gxespino4• 12 years ago

Yeah but entrepreneurs have a shitty experience with anything that isn't their own startup. We think and judge too much.

It's ok, I doubt we're their target market.

gxespino4• 12 years ago

Two minute session was perfect. What a great way to break off, clear your mind, and re focus for the second half of the day.

sergiotapia2• 12 years ago

"Now focus on your body. This is you, alive and present."

Wow - this punched me very hard. I have a mild case of depersonalization and those words really affected me. I'll use this daily.

jimmaswell2• 12 years ago

I've read about meditation, and a consensus I'd seen was that you're not doing it right if you need an external aid. You're supposed to learn to do it on your own entirely.

tehwalrus• 12 years ago

Worrying about whether you're doing it right or wrong is much more of a failure than using an unfocussed screen and gentle music/sounds.

If you're good, you should be able to successfully meditate whatever is going on around you. I can (just about) do it on the tube (subway) during my commute.

jimmaswell2• 12 years ago

Right, you're supposed to be able to do it whatever's going on, so it's bad to use anything as a crutch.

KingMob9• 12 years ago

Well, that's not strictly true.

If by "aid" you mean the video, well, the Pali Canon (the oldest known buddhist meditation writings) talk about kasinas, which are visual meditation objects, though they're not especially popular these days.

And of the "Three Jewels" that support buddhist practice, one is the sangha, which can be translated as community, so it's not always true that meditation should be a solitary practice either..

I think guided meditations like this may be useful for beginners, though that being said, I think no stimuli may be better in the long-run than even soothing stimuli.

crazygringo• 12 years ago

Very cool, and well-executed.

Not to mean to nitpick, but am I the only one who thought it felt jarring to hear an outdoor babbling brook, while looking at the surface of the water from... below? Both the videos and audio are spectacular on their own, but I'm not sure they always match up quite well enough. :)

santosha• 12 years ago

Ha, that bugged me a little too. I love being underwater so much because of the sensory deprivation :-)

OhHeyItsE• 12 years ago

that is a remarkably novel use of such a valuable domain name.

futurist• 12 years ago

Then there is Vow of Now: http://vowofnow.com

Different approach to the same problem.

leke• 12 years ago

I meditated while my computer crashed trying to load their webpage.

ThinkBeat2• 12 years ago

If you need to look at your computer to meditate you are doing it wrong.

And if you are writings apps to encourage people to need to look at a computer with an internet connections t connect to your site you are not helping.

Never though I would hear myself has a luddite

ThinkBeat2• 12 years ago

How about.

Close your eyes. Find the peace within. Learn something you will be grateful for for the rest of your life.

It takes practice and some discipline, like anything worth doing, but the rewards to your health, your mind and those around you gives it back 100fold at least.

And you will have something you can do anywhere, at anytime.

No computer, no internet, no website needed.

Just apply within.

ndnichols• 12 years ago

I don't know what this is doing for music, but I hear nothing from the website and it disables all audio on my Mac. (10.8.5)

zenbowman2• 12 years ago

This picture sums up my thoughts perfectly:

http://anticache.img0.joyreactor.com/pics/post/comics-before...

Anyone who has looked into causes of stress cannot avoid the fact that a lack of PHYSICAL activity, a lack of PHYSICAL presence, and a lack of PHYSICAL stimulation is a major, if not the major factor.

Trying to get the average person today to meditate on a computer screen is like trying to get your average desk jockey to do an iron cross - it will not happen without years of PHYSICAL preparation.

This violates the golden rule:

"Computers to make people happy, not people to make computers happy" - GJS

csmeder• 12 years ago

It saddens me such a cynical response made it to the top. I will use this app. Some days I walk to a local park to meditate. Some days I go to the meditation class we have at work. However, some days I plan to use this app, even if for just the 2 minute meditation. In my experience, in regards to stress prevention even 2 minutes of meditation is better than none.

mikeg8• 12 years ago

This response isn't that cynical, it's pretty accurate. I've been using Calm for about 6 months now and while it's been very nice and beneficial for my use cases, I truly believe meditation is a solely physical experience that will ONLY be hindered by the introduction of technology.

tucosan• 12 years ago

How is this cynical?

It is rather cyinical to offer such a service.

Meditation like most things in life takes deliberate practise, effort and can be dull, hard and boring at times.

This is not meditation but distraction. If you want to medidate, first, don't do it alone. Do it with other people. Go to your next zen dojo, or Yoga school or whatever is available in your area. And then sit together with the people in the dojo.

andrewfelix• 12 years ago

I think it's good to have a range of comments, cynical and positive. This one raised good points and is articulated well. Personally I think the app is great, but I agree on a lot of what the OP said.

zenbowman2• 12 years ago

I see that comment as a voicing of my anger at seeing the direction in which we are heading. I'm not cynical about technology, I'm upset about our becoming slaves to it and losing our humanity to it instead of using it for connection and rediscovering and enhancing ourselves.

BTW I feel very similarly about many other meditation services offered, even in the outside (non-tech) world. Far too many gurus who purport to serve up enlightenment on a plate for a few bucks. True teachers are few and far between.

igorgue2• 12 years ago

cynical is the name of the game here.

eevilspock• 12 years ago

"zen" bowman vs "cs" meder. coincidence?

Dewie• 12 years ago

I've used a computer program in order to aid me in meditating. That was a program dealing with sound, not with anything visual.

You're right that computers for computers sake is missing the point. But so is dismissing computers because they're computers, or because they're used in unconventional ways.

I can at least say that using that program made it a lot easier to get into a more meditative state. And it was not supposed to be a perpetual training wheel, more like a temporary one, until you could get the same desired effect without any sound-aid.

doorhammer3• 12 years ago

"once he reaches his destination at the far shore, does the wise man pick up the ferryboat and carry it with him?"

- http://www.angelfire.com/indie/anna_jones1/ferryboat.html

(linking to an angelfire page on hn is probably my favorite thing of the day)

nyrulez• 12 years ago

Instead of theorizing, how about just using it and seeing if it actually helps ?

I have been a regular user every morning for the past 3-4 months. It is easy to follow and gives a great sense of calm - almost time expanding in a way. Helps productivity too.

tedks2• 12 years ago

Anyone who has looked into causes of stress cannot avoid the fact that a lack of PHYSICAL activity, a lack of PHYSICAL presence, and a lack of PHYSICAL stimulation is a major, if not the major factor.

Could you provide peer-reviewed research supporting this statement? Stress is a well-studied process and if what you say is true you should have no problem finding sources.

jonstewart• 12 years ago

Also, could you provide a scientific definition for "physical presence"?

quinnchr• 12 years ago

Let me help you out: http://bit.ly/N5TntW

userbinator• 12 years ago

Physical stimulation probably happens more often in front of the computer these days too...

enscr• 12 years ago

Lack of physical activity CAN contribute to stress besides numerous other factors. It's definitely not the major factor for everyone. However, as funny as that cartoon strip might be, there's nothing wrong in using a stress producer (aka your computer) to counter stress. I'm not advocating this as a substitute for physical activity. Just saying that in a busy day, this site seems like a nice aid to calm your mind.

ozh• 12 years ago

kind of disappointed the animated background is just a plain old mp4 movie :(

theknown992• 12 years ago

If you want less stress, turn off your computer and go out for a walk, do some exercise, be with friends/family.

Can't put into words how horrible this idea is.

morenoh149• 12 years ago

I met the creator at the launch fest this week. Standup guy!

androck1• 12 years ago

Would be great if it worked in IE instead of just "Loading..." indefinitely.

shmerl• 12 years ago

I like this one: http://mynoise.net/noiseMachines.php

primitivesuave• 12 years ago

Such an awesome website and startup mission.

Back in high school I took a free class put on by the Art of Living (www.artofliving.org) - it was the best thing I ever did. They taught us the Sudarshan Kriya, which is a 20 minute meditation and breathing exercise. For people who practice it regularly, it is literally a substitute for a morning cup of coffee.

The Sudarshan Kriya is just one of the many yogic exercises out there, and the yogic exercises are part of a huge ecosystem of meditative processes designed to enrich one's ability to live in the present. It would be amazing to see at least a small subset of these exercises incorporated into this.

It doesn't need to have nondescript names like "Sudarshan Kriya" - what yoga practitioners call Pranayama, Buddhists call Anapanasati, and regular people call "breathing exercises". The revelations about how to live in the moment are fairly universal, so it would be more about incorporating these fundamental ideas into an online meditative course.

If you're from Calm, just want to say that I absolutely love what you're doing - by far, the best startup idea I've seen in a while.

comice2• 12 years ago

Am looking forward to my meditations being monetized!

clem• 12 years ago

It's all about the inner eyeballs.

luke-stanley2• 12 years ago

I would be very interested to see a meditation based currency that might use webcam, brainwave readers, GSR, MRI visits, and duration logs to prove people people are meditating and that it is having an effect.

benched2• 12 years ago

I can't find a pause button, and I found that a little frustrating.

dbtc2• 12 years ago

Maybe it was added after your comment but I see one on the bottom right of the screen after starting one of the guided meditations or the timer.

gojomo• 12 years ago

Do I get the full benefit if I just run this in a background window?

holychiz• 12 years ago

great idea. however, the water stream in the video is moving too fast to be relaxing. any way to slow it down?

clef2• 12 years ago

There is no need to meditate if you are never distracted.

KingMob9• 12 years ago

Doesn't that assume meditation is just about achieving focus?

clef2• 12 years ago

Well, yes, and if you can focus and be totally present at all times whatever you are doing. There's many definitions for meditation. Some day it's simply being as still and as dead as a rock, some say it's about regrouping all the bits of you scattered all over the place...

comice2• 12 years ago

Imaging entering a state of meditative bliss, realizing we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves and then being interrupted with an advert for a PS4.

rabbitonrails2• 12 years ago

lol

wsc981• 12 years ago

"Today a young man on acid realised ..." - Bill Hicks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D0BeLz5blM

emocakes• 12 years ago

Probably the worst place to attempt to meditate. Try doing it in a room with no wifi, nothing distracting, a room that has nothing to do with work.

joeevans10003• 12 years ago

I think there is some merit in several minute breaks right where you are working.

joeevans10003• 12 years ago

cool!

to get rid of the annoying logo in the top left paste:

$('#logo').hide();

into the console of the dev tools (option-command-i on mac)

joeevans10003• 12 years ago

by the way, if this resonates with anyone for whom meditation is new and they want to learn more, a great book is

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki

that's a great book for anyone, new to meditation or not.

KingMob9• 12 years ago

I second this. Good book.

kimonos• 12 years ago

I tried it and I find it very helpful! Thanks!

ada1981• 12 years ago

Pretty sure this is being run by the guy (Alex) who created the "million dollar homepage" years ago by selling pixels for a $1.

joemccall86• 12 years ago

I hate to be "that guy," but this doesn't work for me in IE11.

sauronlord• 12 years ago

Stop with the annoying music, faux chanting, and instructions. Bleh.

I had high hopes.

chroman• 12 years ago

I love the music. Would love to hear about a Spotify playlist with this kind of relaxing music.

adamzerner• 12 years ago

My two cents: I've been trying (on and off) to meditate for a few years now, with very little success. I just did the 2-minute guided calm, and felt good! This app seems to do a good job with their guided exercises.

rabbitonrails2• 12 years ago

"Those practicing meditation for profit, power, prestige, position ... are not on the correct path." - basic Ch'an Buddhism - http://cgarriott.bol.ucla.edu/nmsm/Meditation_at_Nan_Hua.doc

intull• 12 years ago

I found my light-background-music-for-coding website! :)

bitops• 12 years ago

I think the whole website is lovely. I hope Calm does really well.

pbhjpbhj• 12 years ago

Seems no-one else was annoyed by the auto-play music and closed the tab before they viewed the page?

FF27, WinXP

bakhy• 12 years ago

i would not call this meditation. the form of meditation which is most studied and produces health effects is mindfulness meditation, and it does not involve neither music nor scenery. also cool is transcendental meditation. this is relaxing. not every form of relaxation is meditation.

although, i do not wish to belittle the effort of the authors. the site looks beautiful, and i'm sure it will help people alleviate day-to-day stress.

ZenoArrow• 12 years ago

I remember avoiding revising in an exam hall when I was 16, dreaming up an idea about 'Silence TV', which was a fictional channel for people to watch a blank screen to relax. At the time I thought I was being pretty silly, now it feels somewhat prescient.

porker• 12 years ago

What's a good source for video and sounds like they've used? I have been meaning to record some, but in the interests of laziness... where can I buy/find for free?

Thank you :)

RRRA• 12 years ago

Choppy water is hard to meditate to ;)

arturadib• 12 years ago

Oculus Rift. Please.

abitsios• 12 years ago

I'm not sure if you could actually meditate with the weight of the thing on your face, but it would be an interesting experience nonetheless.

thrillgore• 12 years ago

Give me mystery meat navigation that vanishes on page load
overly stimulating images

I like my approach to meditation -- with the laptop in sleep mode

luke-stanley2• 12 years ago

Calm.com's maximum, 20 minutes is quite a short meditation. It takes me about 35 mins for a chance at losing my self in space and getting out of my skull (when the brain really starts doing noticeably interesting stuff).

@zenbowman @tucosan I mostly meditate alone on my computer chair and it can work totally fine, I have many friends that do the same every day. I would get rid of the 2 mins, and add 30,40,60,120 mins. If needed, fold out on hover.

Sure our devices can be noisey, but just like when sleeping, people can stop the noises.

Physical exercise is a great idea, and goes well with meditation. Also there online communities for meditation and practice these days, which is a good way to build reinforcement as we're social creatures.

Meditate in front of your computer with Calm

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