Business

Need to relieve the stress of device time? There is an app for that

Finding emotional peace and happiness on a smartphone is an impossible endeavor. However, digital health has been one of the tech sector’s success stories. Stressed workers may have once been assigned a visit to the sea to clear their nerves. Now we get member discounts on meditation apps.

Growing demand has encouraged mindfulness startups to go beyond silent contemplation. Virtual reality company Tripp uses swirling images and sounds to mimic the feel of a psychedelic ride. Open, which is backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, charges $20 per month for the act of breathing in or breathing in and out. Revery, created this year, believes it can help people with stomachaches using online gaming techniques.

Anxiety and uncertain fuel load. During the first month of the pandemic, the average number of hours spent on mental health and fitness apps increased by 30%, according to PitchBook data. More than 100 million people now have the Mindfulness app on their phones. The emergence of a new variant and the grueling acceptance of a third year during a global pandemic will encourage investors to return to healthcare companies even more.

For most newcomers, making money means replicating the commercial models of established apps like Headspace and Calm. The company’s interest in the mental health of its employees is one of the main drivers behind the boom in healthcare app investment. Headspace, co-founded by a former Buddhist monk, has done deals with more than 600 companies, including Starbucks and Google. This summer, it announced plans to merge with mental health service Ginger at a reported $3 billion valuation. Calm, the first mental health app to become a unicorn with a valuation of more than $1 billion, has partnerships with American Airlines, M&S and Uber.

I’ve downloaded and deleted numerous meditation apps over the past two years, seduced by the magical effects they promise but lacked the discipline to see results. Using my phone always gives it the temptation to scroll through social media or check email. This is not conducive to mindfulness, which evolved from Buddhist practices that aim to bring about momentary awareness.

Silicon Valley’s longstanding interest in meditation and mindfulness can be traced back to its proximity to a culture that mirrors the West Coast. Its translation into paid apps seems like a lucrative solution to the problems the field itself has created.

Health as a consumer sector seems to be particularly attractive to city office workers. Perhaps it is seen as a cure for the nervous breakdown caused by living so close to millions of other people and so attached to our phones. In San Francisco, for example, it is easy to be lured into an expensive welfare state. Listen to the $12.99 per month Headspace meditation on your morning commute, pay $15 for a Sweetgreens kale salad at lunch, and take the $38 SoulCycle spin class after work.

Headspace is based in LA, a sprawling urban hub where consuming self-care services is an art form. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop healthcare empire has its own headquarters nearby. Locals, if they’re interested, can pay for fasting classes, juice from the moon, and bee sting therapy. The costly and self-interested nature of this commercialized self-care – both offline and online – makes it easy for critics to choose. US journalist Fredrik deBoer wrote last year that the self-care industry is as focused on improving the lives of every individual as Ayn Rand has washed over yoga memes.

Long before meditation apps were downloaded millions of times, San Francisco State University professor Ronald Purser warned of what he calls the shadow of a mindfulness revolution. “McMinduality“As he puts it, it is too personal to focus on and discourages people from considering deeper transformations in the world around them.

The same dynamic holds true today. Instead of asking why stress was rampant in pre-pandemic workplaces, the aim was for individuals to calm down by opening an app. It’s no coincidence that mindfulness startups, lauded for their ability to reduce stress and improve focus, benefit employers. But online meditation isn’t a cure-all for all situations where better paying or careful management would be more helpful.

Nor is it the answer to the screen-heavy world the pandemic has forced on us. Over the past two years, many of us have spent more time online than ever before. We are glued to computers and phones for work, study, entertainment and social life. With luck, 2022 will be better. If not, there are better ways to deal with it than downloading another app.

elaine.moore@ft.com

Source link

news7h

News7h: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button
Immediate Peak