This is an interview with Simple Habit’s, Ian Young. Simple Habit is a new, free meditation app that offers that through its five-minute meditation sessions designed to provide a brief respite at any point in your demanding schedule. Calling itself “a daily vacation for your mind,” Simple Habit is goal- and situation-based meditation for busy people.
THE PEARLS
[1:29] Meditation has really helped people in numerous ways. There is some truth behind practices that have been done for thousands of years.
[3:05] Just give yourself a self-hug so that you would feel better about how the whole day will progress.
[3:28] Taking a minute to re-center, and be fully present for the next meeting has been a great productivity booster for me.
[4:35] We’re creating a marketplace of experts, to be able to offer the broadest and most diverse catalog of content that can help with people and their problems.
[5:25] The matching of the expert who has a deep specialty with the user that’s going through a particular problem, we believe, is the best way to help people.
[6:30] We try and cover the broadest array of life challenges that a person may have, There are so many issues a person could use meditation for.
[8:50] You can type in anything, and our search bar will return results for meditations that we think will be helpful.
[9:08] We have 2,000+ meditations.
THE INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION
M. Clifton, MD: Hello everyone, and welcome back to another really great edition of introducing people who do amazing things around sleep and relaxation.
Today, I’m talking to Ian Young, who works with Simple Habit Meditation, an app available on your mobile phone.
Ian, I would love to hear more about the reasons you are so interested in meditation? Later on, I would like to talk about what makes your particular application so valuable.
Ian Young: I’ve historically been a skeptic around meditation, because I associated it with more of spiritual practices. I’m personally an Atheist, so meditation seemed “woo-woo” to me.
I studied the science behind the mind body connection, and I was exposed to certain teachers who really had the similar belief system around me. They communicated the benefits of meditation in a way that I could understand. I bought into it, I tried it. Meditation has really helped people in numerous ways.
M. Clifton, MD: Did you actually started meditating yourself, and found lots of benefit of meditating?
Ian Young: I think for the first 35 years of my life, and coming from an Asian family just seeing the spiritual side of it, I was just like that’s “woo-woo” and mumbo jumbo.
There is some truth behind practices that have been done for thousands of years.
M. Clifton, MD: Sure. My dad actually used to call it coasting. He didn’t meditate, he wasn’t a hippy, but he would lay in bed in the morning and call it coasting. He would just rest a hand on his chest, and give himself an opportunity to think about whatever needed to be thought about, and organize his day. It was a very nice, slow moving time he allowed himself before the day started to catch up.
Ian Young: Is morning a good time to meditate?
Yeah. The morning meditation is typically when meditation should be done. I think that’s historically how you set your intentions for the day, and set your focus on what you want to do during the day. Just give yourself a self-hug so that you would feel better about how the whole day will progress.
We’ve actually found that there are other great times to meditate. Meditation is also helpful is during the work day. After lunch, you’re feeling a little groggy – it’s a great time to reset, to refocus, before the afternoon work and meetings.
I used to go into back to back meetings and my previous meeting would still be on my mind. I wouldn’t be fully present and paying attention. Taking a minute to re-center, and be fully present for the next meeting has been a great productivity booster for me.
M. Clifton, MD: There are a lot of meditation apps. How your app does set itself apart from other products? There’s a lot of meditation apps. Your app is so interesting and valuable for people who are looking into meditation.
Ian Young: All the other apps will say, “This is what I believe you should be doing to meditate. That’s how we’re going to help you solve your problems.”
We’re a little different in that we don’t claim to know what is best for you individually, because we believe that every individual is unique, and has their different lived experiences, have their different preferences and their beliefs. What I say to one person may resonate with that person, but may turn off someone else entirely. We’re creating a marketplace of experts, to be able to offer the broadest and most diverse catalog of content that can help with people and their problems.
Earlier we were talking about your experience, giving your patients meditations for before a surgical procedure. That’s something that I think that you, because you’re uniquely qualified working with your patients so well, you really deeply understand the context that they’re going to be in, and their emotional state, and how you can best help them with meditation for before a surgical procedure. That would be much more powerful for someone that is going through that, than a meditation created by someone else, who has a different specialty or could only give a broad, general advice.
The matching of the expert who has a deep specialty with the user that’s going through a particular problem, we believe, is the best way to help people.
M. Clifton, MD: It’s such a great idea; so innovative. You can’t really, truly use the same meditation every day. I find so many people have a quote that they live by, or a mantra they follow. I was just at my cousin’s house this weekend, and she has a mantra that doesn’t resonate with me at all.
It’s something that she says to herself frequently, a very important concept to her. I imagine the things that motivate me; the things that drive me are going to be different than her. Your app’s concept is great.
Ian Young: Yeah. That’s what we’re trying to do.
M. Clifton, MD: What kind of topics do you cover with your meditation app?
Ian Young: We try and cover the broadest array of life challenges that a person may have. We think about it in terms of relationship issues that someone may have, health issues, professional issues, and then general life problems, like not being able to sleep, and dealing with anxiety. There are so many issues a person could use meditation for.
M. Clifton, MD: Sleep and anxiety are huge for the CBD audience.
Ian Young: Yeah. What is causing you anxiety? Is there something in your personal and/or professional life that’s causing you anxiety? We’ll have specific experts talking to you through each one of those.
Another example is our meditation experts who focus on marriage counseling. That’s their profession. They’ll have meditations for that particular context, if your marriage or life partner relationship is the source of your anxiety.
I can just go on and on, on every potential life problem permutation that you may struggle with.
M. Clifton, MD: Once you get on the app and start to answer the questions, how long does it take to dial into a meditation that suits you?
Ian Young: We have a short onboarding that usually takes about 5 to 10 minutes. Some questions assist you to get a sense of what you would like help with, and what topics you would like to focus on. Then, we’ll drop you into a home screen with some suggestions.
We have a search bar, so that you can search specifically for what you’re going through. One example that I think it could be considered a niche, but it clearly simplifies what we’re trying to do, is if you type in IVF, we have meditations for what to do before an IVF appointment, if you’re going through fertility issues. You can type in anything, and our search bar will return results for meditations that we think will be helpful.
M. Clifton, MD: Wow, that’s really amazing. Do you have information around other medical issues? That’s obviously of interest to me.
Ian Young: We have 2,000+ meditations.
We’re constantly listening to our users. We have a content request feature, where we’ll listen to our users, the problems that they’re going through, and then we’ll go out and source content and experts that can help solve those problems.
M. Clifton, MD: That’s truly remarkable, and totally unusual.
It’s been so great talking to you. How do people find you? How do people find this app?
Ian Young: Yeah, we have an iOS or Android app called Simple Habit. We’re available in both app stores, just download the app. It’s free to use. We have hundreds of meditations available for free, and then a subscription for the entire library.
M. Clifton, MD: Thank you again, Ian, so much, for connecting with me today.
Ian Young: Glad to.
DR. MARY CLIFTON
Dr. Mary Clifton is an Internal Medicine doctor with 20 years of experience in both the hospital and private practice and is a recognized expert in CBD, Cannabis, and Medical Marijuana.
She is a published researcher, national speaker on women’s health and osteoporosis, and author of four books, and two new soon-to-be-released books on CBD and Cannabis – what you need to know, how to use them and a COOKBOOK to support ease of use.
PS: My Sleep Series has 9 Videos. I’ll be posting one video and it’s transcription per week.
I you need to view all 9 videos in the Sleep Series today, please click here: https://cbdandcannabisinfo.com/sleep-series/
