If you’ve ever been vocal about feeling stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed, then odds are someone has told you that meditation will solve all your problems. For people who have never meditated regularly before, this suggestion can sometimes (understandably) elicit an eye roll. On paper, it can seem like a woo-woo solution to a very real problem. But there’s a reason it has been used for centuries as a wellness tool, and there’s also a reason why so many people rave about it.
Today, with dozens of easy-to-use apps and programs available that guide users through meditation programs, the tools you need to get started are incredibly accessible, even if you feel like your mind may never calm down enough to try. What makes these apps even more appealing to people (yes, meditation skeptics, too) is that they offer something for everyone. Find a woman’s voice more soothing? No problem. Prefer an Australian or British accent? There are options for those, too. Want Matthew McConaughey to soothe you to sleep? You’ve got it.
Yunha Kim is the founder & CEO of Simple Habit, an app that primarily offers quick, five-minute meditation programs for people who lead busy, on-the-go lives (though it offers longer programs, as well). Kim says that when it comes to choosing the narrators for SimpleHabit’s programs, they focus on finding people with specialized credentials and a “soothing, pleasant voice.” They also aim to provide variety to the app’s users.
“We have more than 4.5 million users around the world who have a variety of tastes and preferences,” Kim says. “Our goal is to provide a variety of accents and voices that meet our users’ needs. That’s why we have experts with Irish accents, Australian accents, Japanese accents, and more.”
According to NYC-based psychiatrist Zlatin Ivanov, preferring different accents (or a speaker of a certain gender) probably comes down to nothing more than personal preference. No matter which narrator people prefer, though, Ivanov says it is tone of voice that has the largest impact on people.
“With meditation, the tone of voice helps the individual to relax more easily,” Ivanov says. “Saying one thing with a different tone of voice could create different effects in our brain.”
So if you prefer, say, the English accent of Headspace co-founder Andy Puddicombe, it’s worth considering that it might not be because of his accent itself, but instead his overall tone of voice and how your brain reacts to it. Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk with extensive training in meditation, is the main narrator behind all of Headspace’s guided meditations in English, if you choose to listen to a man’s voice.
According to representatives from Headspace, the app offers the option to hear a woman’s voice as well, seeking to “open as many doors to meditation as possible.” They also tell Allure that Headspace is “primarily focused on giving our members a helpful guide with authentic expertise,” more so than specific voices or accents.
The feedback from all three experts confirms something about meditation that is easily forgotten or misunderstood. Meditation is something you learn over time, and like any other practice, it’s best to learn from trained professionals. Despite how it can sometimes appear, meditation is not just sitting still and closing your eyes — and it’s not something that just anyone can teach, either (no matter what accent they're speaking with). While being able to choose from a variety of narrators certainly can’t hurt, the reason why apps like Headspace and Simple Habit are so popular is that, as the experts pointed out, their meditation guides are led by seasoned, trained professionals.
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April 17, 2020 at 10:01PM
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The Calming Voices Behind Popular Meditation Apps - Allure
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