Meditation has numerous, profound effects on one’s overall wellbeing and performance, including increasing happiness levels, reducing stress and anxiety, fighting insomnia, increasing mental clarity as well as energy levels and boosting productivity. Meditation paves the way for a healthy and happy lifestyle, which is why so many celebrities credit meditation to keeping them balanced and centered.
But what do we do during the COVID-19 pandemic? Because our daily lives have changed pretty dramatically, meditation app Breethe and their founder Lynne Goldberg wanted to address the common fears and concerns that are coming up so they created a TOTALLY FREE collection of meditations called “Inner Wellness During Coronavirus.” This collection has 13 meditations including: how to deal with panic attacks, overcoming Coronavirus anxiety, dealing with loneliness – as many of us are – financial anxiety and more.
During this pandemic, Breethe is now offering free resources to help consumers and healthcare workings manage anxiety. Goldberg commented, “People are suffering. Breethe’s mission is to help as many people as possible deal with these new challenges. The healthcare workers are taking care of us, so we want to take care of them. We’re all in this together.”
Breethe has since donated more than 23,000+ memberships to the healthcare workers at OhioHealth, a non-profit system of hospitals and healthcare providers located in Columbus, Ohio. System Vice President at OhioHealth, Kurt Olson, PhD., commented, “The app is amazing, it’s especially useful during this COVID-19 crisis. Everything is moving and shifting so fast right now, we all need the gift of getting centered.”
Well, wow! We chatted with Lynne to discuss the meditation app, how Breethe is helping change the way you focus on YOUR inner wellness and how to manage all of the anxiety and stress you may be currently feeling…
What is Breethe?
Lynne Goldberg (LG): Breethe helps people find inner wellness when coping with real-life challenges. Whether it’s dealing with the stress and anxiety of relationships, health, or work – Breethe teaches us how to pause, deal with discomfort, and feel more connected. Our culture has taught us to look outward for solutions but Breethe’s guided meditations, talks, and music help you find inner strength and peace.
What is your background?
LG: I learned to meditate 25 years ago, just when my life fell apart. My mom had been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, I had lost twin girls, my husband and I had divorced and I had lost my job. Meditation was the tool that helped me put my life back together. I took courses and studied around the world and became a teacher. I realized how much I wanted to share this special skill with as many people as possible and so we built the app.
What was the “need” for Breethe?
LG: Breethe is the only app that talks to people in real life situations in real life language. We [at Breethe] understand that people are busy and stressed and don’t have a ton of time but that they still need to feel better and sleep better and not lose it with their spouse or their kids. Being human is hard and we’re all doing the best that we can, Breethe helps us deal with our everyday issues and hopefully smile and feel better.
Why is COVID-19 causing such a panic?
LG: COVID-19 is scary. There is a fear of the unknown and a lot of uncertainty. Many of us don’t know if the people that we love will be physically safe and if we will have jobs. We like to believe that we have control in our live , and COVID-19 strips us of that illusion. With Breethe, we learn that although we can’t control our external environment we can control how we choose to respond.
What can people do to stay calm?
LG: When we breathe deeply we activate our parasympathetic system – or in plain English our rest and relax response which helps to deactivate our stress response. It tells your body, it’s ok, you’ve got this.
You started a free program for users to access Breethe and meditate through this hard time, can you explain this?
LG: The pressures of the pandemic are weighing on everyone — and our daily lives have changed dramatically. That’s why Breethe has launched a new collection of meditations dealing directly with the issues on people’s minds: Overcoming Coronavirus Anxiety, Self Care during the Coronavirus, My Family Drives Me Nuts, Fear of Illness, Financial Anxiety, and many more. All of these meditations are available for FREE to support people during this challenging time.
Everyone is turning to live content such as Instagram lives, are you finding more people engaging? What are people saying?
LG: Social media is a wonderful way for us to connect in real-time with our audience; we can easily and quickly offer support to those who may need it. There’s so much fear and uncertainty right now, and people are struggling. By offering them extra support and the ability to connect with our community, we’re hoping it helps people feel less alone and afraid.
Are people finding your content helpful?
LG: Our content is very specific and our free meditation collection, ‘Inner Wellness During Coronavirus,’ directly addresses what people are going through — so, we have received lots of appreciative feedback.
What are other techniques people need to remember in times of need?
LG: One of the techniques we teach on the app is how to stay present rather than get lost in the worry about the future. There is a ton of uncertainty right now and none of us can predict what will happen. We do know that right this moment there is a lot more that is right with us than is wrong and so we train ourselves not to get ahead of what’s happening right now. We call it not going faster than the speed of life.
What are your most popular meditations?
LG: People love our learn to meditate series or the dailies. They also love a meditation called Blanket of love as well as all of the sleep meditations.
What are 3 tips for women starting their own companies and are these tips you took when starting Breethe?
LG:
- Do something you love.
- Design the life you want and then figure out how to make it happen.
- Be true to yourself.
Yes, I am fortunate to have designed exactly the life I love, doing exactly what I love and I have stayed true to myself and what I value.
What is your favorite quote?
LG: I change favorite quotes often, but right now I’m loving Leonard Cohen’s quote “There is a crack in everything that’s how the light gets in.”
For more on Breethe, visit: breethe.com and follow along on their Instagram at @BreetheApp.
All photos: ℅ Breethe