Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Launch HN: Simple Habit (YC W17) – Spotify for Meditation

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 104 posts

Re: Launch HN: Simple Habit (YC W17) – Spotify for Meditation

#91

Post by ralmeida »

yunhakim wrote: post #20
OrBaruk wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about having them in my native language, it's about having them on my phone as an app instead of a website. At least the website seems to work well on mobile.

Awesome! Just curious, which country are you based in? We can look into enabling it. The only concern for enabling in non-English speaking countries is that often users give 1 stars for not having meditations translated in their languages, and that's challenging to do so quickly for a small startup, as you might understand :)

Not parent, but chiming in: I am in Brazil, and the Headspace app is available here, despite having only English content.

As of today, both the current version and all versions have a 5-star rating - the current one with 121 ratings, and 345 all-time ratings.

Re: Launch HN: Simple Habit (YC W17) – Spotify for Meditation

#93

Post by wrd »

yunhakim wrote: post #67
wrd wrote: post #27

Cool app! Thanks for sharing. I think this is great for an introduction to meditation and to help build a habit. One difficulty I have with apps like this is that they're not necessarily incentivized to produce good meditation habits. If a user builds a real meditation practice then they're likely not going to want to use an app like this -- they'll probably want to meditate in silence and for much longer than 5 minu…

This is a great question! It’s true that hardcore meditators often prefer to meditate for longer than five minutes, so we do have meditations up to 30 minutes in length to cater to that. What’s interesting, though, is that even experienced meditators can see the value of a quick meditation in the middle of their day, like during their lunch break or right before an important phone call. We like to think of meditation…

>>> What’s interesting, though, is that even experienced meditators can see the value of a quick meditation in the middle of their day, like during their lunch break or right before an important phone call.

Yeah! I think that's a great aim. Cultivating a mindset of constant mindfulness is key. As an "experienced meditator," though, I have trouble seeing the value in using this app to do that. IMO there's little need for technology beyond a simple notification to remind you to bring your awareness back to the present, not unlike a bell during meditation. But, I think this is a case where I'm just not in the target demographic since quick guided meditations aren't part of my practice. I'm sure there are folks out there who also qualify as "experienced meditators" and who would find a 5 minute guided meditation valuable.

On further reflection, another thing I might be reacting to is the language surrounding meditation vs. mindfulness. These two things are really just different flavors of the same thing, but to me "meditating" means something much more specific -- i.e., a formal sit. We can meditate at any time, but when I hear "meditate" I think of sitting in a particular way and focusing long enough to at least quiet my mind. Since this _always_ takes longer than 5 minutes, I find the idea of "5 minute meditation" difficult to understand. But, "take 5 minutes to bring awareness back to the present moment" makes lots of sense to me. I think it might be an issue of semantics, and if your positioning is confusing to me it might be confusing to others as well. Just a thought!

Re: Launch HN: Simple Habit (YC W17) – Spotify for Meditation

#96

Post by gburkhard »

FWIW, I think I am a good example of the intended audience for this app: I have never meditated/done mindfulness exercises until ~2 weeks ago, when I found out about Simple Habit from a post Yunha made to the YC class list. I have been stressed recently and have had trouble sleeping/etc, and when she sent the email it sounded like a great use of just 5 minutes of my time. On my first try, I felt noticeably calmer after the 5 minute meditation. I am one of those people who (at least feels) "super busy and doesn't have time to meditate", and if I have time I would prioritize sleeping over anything else. But for me, the 5 minute exercises really reduce any immediate stress I feel, so I am a big fan! While there are lots of people in the world who make meditation a big part of their lives, there are many more who wouldn't do it without an easy and short option, and this is easy and short.

Re: Launch HN: Simple Habit (YC W17) – Spotify for Meditation

#98

Post by kimjuhh89 »

App is shit. She is getting time here because of white knights who never get laid and because she went to stanford. Some partner commented that she is most hardworking. So,is everyone else slacker?

This is pure scam by rich people. Pay us to meditate. My ass. This app will fail.

Post reply on HN