Friday "Appy" Hour: Daily Calm App

Children and teachers today are under great pressures due to unique academic, social and emotional challenges. Kids are experiencing greater pressures earlier in life, and feel more stress and anxiety than ever before. These demands have led many school districts to begin shifting their focuses onto incorporating mindfulness in the classrooms. This can be done through the addition of peaceful music, movement breaks, yoga, deep breathing, and so on. Given this movement in schools nationwide, it seemed fitting to dedicate a Friday Appy Hour to an app that supports mindfulness. 

This week we are taking a peek at Calm. At Calm, their mission is to make the world a happier and healthier place. The app, created 4 years ago, was initially created to provide mindfulness tools and resources for adults. However, in more recent months the focus has shifted towards the opportunity to bring mindfulness to teachers and children all over the world. 

Calm's goal is to, 

"Empower kids to thrive, not just survive."

As stated on Calm's website, "Numerous studies have shown the many benefits of teaching mindfulness to children. Through mindfulness education, kids can develop a lifelong capacity for greater self-awareness, concentration, patience, and resilience.

Meanwhile, educators face pressures of their own. Many teachers understand the benefits of mindfulness, but they face time and budget constraints, making it challenging to bring mindfulness education to the classroom.

That’s why we’re launching The Calm Schools Initiative. We are offering every teacher in the world free access to Calm, the mindfulness app that hundreds of thousands of people all over the world use everyday. Our aim is to empower teachers with mindfulness tools and resources they can use to help kids learn this new skill."

The Calm Schools Initiative allows for any teacher with a K-12 classroom,  to gain free access to the application's paid subscription service. Teachers can access the subscription on Android, iOS and the web. Through the subscription, teachers will have unlimited access to an expansive library of guided meditations and mindfulness exercises, including Calm Kids, which is a mindfulness and meditation program tailored for age groups from pre-K through high school.

Sound interesting? If so, you may be asking how to begin.

Teachers fill out a simple form (link here). Once you submit the form, the Calm Schools Initiative contacts you within a few days with your approval  and some resources and suggestions to get your started.

If you’re a parent or student, forward this page to your teacher and let them know how important mindfulness education is to you.

Either way, have fun discovering the power of meditation!