Calm...
Hi everyone
If any of you saw our Instagram post on Friday you'll know that it was International Calm Day on the 5th April, promoted by the mindfulness app Calm. We have both been using the Calm app for 3 years and, without it, SMASH London wouldn't be what it is today!
Why did we start using the app? Both of us had been practising mindfulness for a couple of years and searched for an app that would allow us to record our sessions and make content easier to find. We both tried different apps but found that Calm really connected with us. We loved the 7 and 21 day programmes and the music selection but, mostly, the inspiring Daily Calm. The Daily Calm is a 10 minute meditation that changes every day. Each one has a focus that the narrator, Tamara Levitt, talks about in the last 2 minutes - after 8 minutes of focusing on your breath and body. It's incredible how 2 minutes of attention on something can change your day! So many times we have messaged each other to say "how much we loved today's Daily Calm", what we learnt from it and how we are going to use the helpful tips to improve our day and mental well-being. The Daily Calm has also been instrumental in helping us create the mindfulness content we have used in classes and Discovery - inspiring us to research the questions and points raised in the meditation. With consent from Calm we have been able to use our favourite Daily Calm sessions in SMASH classes - after all, it makes sense to use the material that is inspiring us, to try and inspire you ️
It's Calm that introduced us to Jon Kabat-Zinn (a leading mindfulness professor) and that is how we created our class 21/7 - based on his 7 pillars of mindfulness. It's Calm that has helped us choose our approach on how best to promote mindfulness. It's Calm that has empowered us to be kind to ourselves and trust our hearts and minds when it came to taking ourselves out of our comfort zones. The Calm app may be a little square on our phones, but it's a huge part of our heart and an important foundation to SMASH
Mindfulness is more than just meditation, but meditation is a great place to start. It will encourage you to discover ways of how you can be more mindful in every area of your life. It will focus your mind and it will help ease any stress or anxiety you may be feeling. It will make you feel strong and it will help balance you, connecting your body and mind. It will make you feel calm.
So, if you aren't meditating yet, why not try it for 5 minutes today? Go on to YouTube and find a short meditation video or just sit in silence for a few minutes, focusing on your breath. Or, download an amazing mindfulness app. We know a good one if you want a recommendation...
Have an awesome weekend guys, may you have moments of calm amongst the busyness that weekends can bring
Sam and Ash
P.S. This isn't a sponsored post! We don't make money from recommending Calm - we just love it!
