How to Stay Calm in a Busy World with Michael Acton Smith #2
Dr. Chatterjee speaks with Michael Acton-Smith, co-founder and co-CEO of Calm, about his journey to creating the meditation app. They discuss the profound benefits of meditation for mental fitness, sleep, and overall well-being in a busy world.
Deep Dive Analysis
16 Topic Outline
Michael Acton-Smith's Journey to Calm.com
Personal Stress and Discovery of Meditation
Reframing Meditation: Mental Fitness and Attention
Starting Meditation Practice: Gradual Approach
Profound Impact of Calm App on Users
Simple Lifestyle Changes for Health
Meditation for Mindful Responses, Not Reactions
Calm App's Initiative for Children and Teachers
Addressing Screen Time and Digital Overload
Strategies for Mindful Device Use
Anchoring Meditation into Daily Routines
The Daily Calm Feature Explained
Origin and Benefits of Calm's Sleep Stories
The Power of Gratitude for Well-being
Michael's Personal Health Pillar Challenges
Top Tips for Mindful Living
5 Key Concepts
Meditation as Mental Fitness
Meditation is akin to going to the gym, but for the mind, where the practice strengthens the attention muscle. It's not about clearing the mind, but acknowledging thoughts as they arise and gently returning focus to a constant like one's breath, repeatedly.
Response vs. Reaction
Through meditation, individuals gain the ability to make conscious choices (responses) rather than instinctive, autopilot reactions. This provides a crucial fraction of a second longer to think and choose, moving away from amygdala-driven immediate reactions.
Anchoring Healthy Habits
This principle involves linking a desired new healthy habit, such as meditation, to an existing, instinctive daily activity like brushing teeth or showering. This makes it easier to establish a routine and integrate the new habit into one's lifestyle.
Sleep Stories
A feature within the Calm app consisting of soothing tales designed to be listened to at night to help quiet a busy mind and aid in falling asleep. They combine breathing exercises, music, sound effects, and very slow narration to promote relaxation.
Screen-Free Sabbath
A practice of intentionally taking a break from screens for a significant period, such as a full day, half-day, or even just an hour. This allows the mind to rest, engage in daydreaming, and disengage from the constant bombardment of digital information.
8 Questions Answered
Meditation is a practice of stillness and mental fitness, where you strengthen your attention muscle by acknowledging thoughts and gently returning focus to a constant like your breath, rather than trying to clear your mind completely.
Start slowly, even with just a few seconds of conscious breathing, and gradually lengthen the time. It's like training for a marathon; you wouldn't start by running 20 miles.
Yes, many Calm app users report improved sleep, with some even weaning off sleeping pills. The app also developed 'sleep stories' specifically designed to help calm the mind and aid in falling asleep.
Meditation increases awareness, allowing you to make conscious choices (responses) instead of instinctive reactions. This can help you check impulsive behaviors, like unhealthy eating or excessive social media use.
No, technology is a tool, and its impact depends on how it's used. Meditation apps can help people learn mindfulness and become masters of their devices rather than slaves to them, allowing for conscious use.
Calm offers free access to teachers to bring meditation into classrooms, even for just a minute a day. It's seen as a valuable skill for children to learn resilience, compassion, kindness, and better sleep.
Try not starting your day by checking social media or emails until you've left the house, and practice being present (e.g., not using your phone while walking). Consider a 'screen-free Sabbath' starting with short periods and gradually increasing.
Gratitude helps to consciously break the brain's natural tendency to focus on the negative, improving mood and the mood of those around you by shifting focus to positive aspects of life.
17 Actionable Insights
1. Do Not Start Day with Phone
Avoid checking social media and emails first thing in the morning, even before getting out of bed, to prevent a bombardment of dopamine-driven distractions and start the day in a much lighter way.
2. Establish Daily Meditation Routine
Commit to a consistent daily meditation practice, ideally in the morning, by anchoring it to an existing habit like brushing teeth or showering, to make it much easier to groove into a healthy habit.
3. Reframe Meditation as Mental Fitness
View meditation as a form of mental fitness, similar to going to the gym, to strengthen your attention muscle rather than trying to clear your mind, which helps overcome common misconceptions.
4. Control Your Environment for Habits
Actively control your home environment by making sure negative cues that trigger unhealthy habits are not present, and conversely, by putting healthy cues into your environment to help establish desired habits.
5. Combine Simple Lifestyle Changes
Recognize that simple lifestyle changes, such as getting more sleep or meditating, are not silver bullets in isolation, but their benefits compound significantly when combined across different areas of your life.
6. Practice Acknowledging Thoughts in Meditation
During meditation, when thoughts inevitably arise, acknowledge them and gently move them away, returning your focus to a constant like your breath, to strengthen your attention muscle through repeated practice.
7. Implement a Screen-Free Sabbath
Dedicate a period, starting with one or two hours and building up to half a day or a full day, to be completely screen-free, leaving your phone at home to allow your mind to rest, daydream, and feel like you’ve had a holiday.
8. Practice Gratitude Daily
Consciously think of things you are grateful for, such as friends, sunshine, or a warm bed, especially when struggling to sleep, to calm your mind and improve your mood by breaking negative thought cycles.
9. Use Sleep Stories for Better Rest
If you struggle to unwind at night, listen to sleep stories that combine breathing exercises, soothing music, sound effects, and slow narratives, as they are specifically designed to help switch off a whirring brain and aid sleep.
10. Teach Children Mindfulness Skills
Introduce children to meditation and mindfulness, even for just one minute at the start of the school day, to help them strengthen resilience, increase compassion, and improve sleep.
11. Walk Without Using Your Phone
Consciously choose to walk down the street or in public spaces without looking at your phone to be more present, avoid accidents, and give your mind a chance to rest and observe.
12. Commit to One Change for a Week
To start improving your health, pick just one lifestyle change and commit to practicing it consistently for one week to observe how you feel and understand its impact on your well-being.
13. Use Phone in Airplane Mode
When using a meditation app on your smartphone, switch it to airplane mode to prevent external bombardments from messages or notifications, ensuring an undisturbed and focused practice.
14. Persevere with New Habits
Understand that forming new, life-changing habits is not easy and requires perseverance, but the effort is worthwhile as these habits will positively impact every different area of your life.
15. Research Meditation Science
Explore the scientific backing and neuroscience behind meditation to overcome preconceptions that it is ‘woo woo’ or religious, realizing its real potential to rewire your brain.
16. Start Meditation Gradually
Begin your meditation practice slowly, even with just a few seconds of conscious breathing, and gradually increase the duration over time, similar to training for a marathon.
17. Use Calm App’s Daily Calm
Utilize the Daily Calm feature in the Calm app, which provides a unique 10-minute meditation every day around a different theme, making it easier and more engaging to maintain a meditation practice.
6 Key Quotes
Meditation is like going to the gym. You know, we lift weights to strengthen our muscles. And by meditating, we're strengthening the attention muscle in our mind.
Michael Acton-Smith
If every eight-year-old in the world was taught meditation, we could eliminate violence within a generation.
Dalai Lama (quoted by Michael Acton-Smith)
The decisions you make in life are responses instead of reactions.
Michael Acton-Smith
The device and the technology is not the problem. That's merely a tool. It's how we use it that matters.
Michael Acton-Smith
The average person checks their phone over 100 times a day. Now, I guarantee most of those times we'll be on autopilot.
Michael Acton-Smith
I talk about people making conscious changes to their lifestyle to make unconscious changes to their biology.
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee
4 Protocols
Starting a Meditation Practice
Michael Acton-Smith- Begin very gently with a few minutes of conscious breathing.
- Gradually lengthen the duration of your meditation sessions.
- Work up to a goal, such as 10 minutes every morning (as encouraged by the Calm app).
Mindful Morning Routine
Michael Acton-Smith- Never use your phone in bed.
- Do not check social media, WhatsApp, or emails until after you have left the house.
- Start the day in a lighter way, allowing for daydreaming and thinking without digital bombardment.
Anchoring Healthy Habits
Michael Acton-Smith- Identify a healthy habit you want to establish (e.g., meditation).
- Link this new habit to something you already do instinctively every day (e.g., brushing teeth, showering, or before your lunch break).
- Schedule the new habit to occur immediately after the established instinctive activity.
Family Gratitude Game
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee- Sit down together, ideally at dinner.
- Go around the table and answer three questions:
- What have you done today to make somebody else happy?
- What has somebody else done today to make you happy?
- What have you learned today?