Students With Anxiety or Sleep Disorders Should Check Out the Calm App

Like many people, I am the (not so proud) owner of a very noisy and needy brain. The amount of time I have spent laying in bed with my mind yammering away about either random or spirit-crushing topics is embarrassing.

Rather than sleeping, I often spend hours trying to get my anxiety to take a chill pill or contemplating setting my homework on fire—behaviour which sometimes crosses into Dr. Phil territory. I think we all have had that moment where you just get sick of being unrested and battling with your brain and realise that something has to be done.

My friend suggested something to me and I took it with a grain of salt: a “too-on-the-nose” app called Calm. The app guides you in meditation to help improve your sleep and self-worth while minimizing stress and anxiety. It even provides music, ambient noise, and stories to listen to while you’re trying to fall asleep.

If this all sounds easy to roll your eyes at, know that at first I did too, until I remembered two things.

1. I used to meditate all the time, and
2. I am close to losing it.

So I downloaded Calm and later subscribed to it. I’ve been using it daily for over a month and it has helped me an incredible amount, primarily with my sleep. The meditations don’t have to take up a ton of your time, ranging from as short as two minutes for instant stress relief to considerably longer if you choose, depending on whichever meditation you want to do and what you want to focus on.

I know a lot of people hear the word “meditation” and instantly assume that it’s going to be very hippy-dippy, but this app is not like that. The people guiding you through the meditations are easy to listen to, whereas some of the more grating instructors out there simply fuel the burning rage inside of you.

Some people feel silly when they first start dabbling in meditation. They think it’s only for people who need something trendy and faux-spiritual in their lives. But anyone can benefit from meditating, and if you’re a student, this app can be incredibly beneficial.

Calm can help lower your high stress levels or even help to cure your insomnia by allowing you to develop better sleeping patterns. Let’s be honest—if you are a student, you need to get your rest, so I strongly recommend giving this app a try. I did, and it gradually became a part of my daily routine because it took my crazy down a few notches.

And, folks, being in my final year of school, I’ve been buckets of crazy. I relate to the crazy cat lady on The Simpsons on a spiritual level. Let’s help you avoid that!

Do yourself a favour. Check this app out and let it help you calm yourself the fuck down.