TriVeggies

Like many of my fellow athletes (and fellow humans, for that matter), I struggle with mental health. I think the Type A-ness that helps me stick to and execute a training plan doesn’t help with this, and then there’s also … gestures around … the stress of the world at the moment. In fact, I’ve been feeling this particular stress on and off beginning with the dawn of the pandemic, and while I’ve largely worked through the trauma that the events of the covid-19 landscape brought about, I can safely say my stress and anxiety levels have not returned to baseline. And why would they? Rents are rising, the economy is strangely unsteady, there’s global unrest – oh, and then there’s just general life on top of that. It’s easy to see why we’re not exactly living in a panacea.

I’ve tried the Headspace app and its ilk before, but never with much regularity, and certainly never for more than a few days at a time. But after watching Sanjay Gupta’s recent special on “The Last Alzheimer’s Patient,” where he focused on several studies showing astounding results of, among other things, meditation and mindfulness, I decided to give Headspace another try – more seriously, this time.

I can’t say I’ve been 100% compliant with the program – I do still miss a day or two of meditation here and there. But I’ve been using it for nearly a month now consistently, and I can heartily endorse the app as a tool to reduce stress and anxiety as well as promote meditative practices.

Everyone’s journey is a bit different, but my general day-to-day Headspace routine is as follows:

• Begin the day with five deep breaths, guided by fun little cartoons

• Listen to a quick talk about all manner of topics, from how to cope with the political climate to how to set and maintain boundaries with loved ones (sometimes I listen to this, sometimes I don’t)

• Take part in a brief guided meditation, which usually lasts around 10-15 minutes

• Do an afternoon mindfulness workout of some sort (I often skip this, in all honesty!)

• Listen to a “wind down” audio for sleep – my favorites are the sound-based ones like the Scottish Loch (best enjoyed with earbuds!)

The app asks you to check in on both your stress and your anxiety every few weeks, and while my progress hasn’t been 100% linear so far, both my anxiety AND stress have lessened while using the app! Though sadly, even after all my progress, my anxiety is still listed as “High.” Sigh. We’ll keep working on it. 😉 

The Headspace app costs $12.99 a month or $69.99 a year; I’ve not taken the plunge for the annual subscription yet, but it is cheaper than monthly, so if I keep the faith through August I can easily see myself moving it in the near future.

I wish I had a discount code to share, but I don’t (can I have one, Headspace??) – that said, I still heartily recommend the app! Give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments!