When we talk about travel and wellness, it’s usually in the context of staying physically
healthy.
But what about the emotional and mental side of wellness.
We know that a lot of people view the experience of travel as therapeutic, but then happens
when you’re stuck at home or even feeling anxious during a trip.
Hey, how’s it going everyone?
It’s Ernest from Trip Astute.
In this video, we’re exploring the Calm app and how it can help you in both your travels
and daily life.
And we’ll show you how you can get a free year of Calm through your American Express
card.
I don’t often talk about my personal life on this channel, mostly because my life is
pretty ordinary.
I may be a “YouTuber”, but like most of you, I work a full-time job and very soon,
will be starting a family.
While I sometimes wish I had a life of jet-setting around the world and staying in luxury hotels
all the time, I also know that not everything you see online is real.
I know, it’s hard to believe that Instagram and YouTube aren’t always real, right?
Being a content creator has always been a huge time commitment for me, and I would be
lying if I didn’t admit that it’s taken its toll on my health.
The work to support this channel is usually done in the evening hours, and I’m often
sacrificing sleep in order to meet my own deadlines for the channel.
While I love creating content, it’s crazy how much time it takes to produce a video.
I think all content creators out there can relate when I say that it’s truly a lifestyle
and much more work than I ever imagined when I first started.
So it shouldn’t be surprising that I’ve started to suffer from insomnia.
Even when I’m exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open, my mind races with thoughts
and anxiety.
The anxiety is from work, this channel, and all the changes in my personal life.
I’ve tried to mitigate this through supplements, sleep aids, and new routines.
Though the thing that has probably helped me the most with managing my stress and anxiety,
which is what’s causing my insomnia, has been through meditation and breathing exercises.
So you can imagine my excitement when I received an email from American Express a few weeks
ago advertising a new partnership with Calm.
American Express is offering personal and corporate cardmembers a free year of premium
membership to Calm, which is worth $70.
And after the first year, cardmembers can get a second year at 50% off the normal price.
You can use the Calm app without a subscription, but it’s more a preview of what’s available
in the premium membership.
Since many of you in this community are American Express card holders, I’m hoping you can
take advantage of the promotion.
Though if you don’t have an American Express card, I think it’s still worth looking at
the app.
In case you didn’t receive the email, I’ll include a link in the video description to
the sign-up page at Calm.
Also, you don’t need to have a premium American Express card to qualify.
For example, right now, I have a Blue Everyday and Blue Business Plus card.
Both of these cards do not have an annual fee.
Oddly enough, the offer does not apply to business credit card members, even though
corporate cardholders are eligible.
For those of you that have never used Calm, I want to give you a quick review of the app,
and then tell you why you should definitely use it in your daily life.
And since we are a travel-focused channel, I want to explain how this could help make
you a better traveler as well.
Keep in mind that I am showing the app with the premium subscription.
So, let’s start with the app itself.
Calm is a wellness app that you can download to either a smartphone or tablet.
The goal of the app is to help you to find you sleep more, stress less, and live better.
This is accomplished through a variety of different programs within the app.
For example, the app has a daily calm meditation that is focused on a different topic every
day.
These are typically less than ten minutes, and a great way to start your day if you’re
looking for some focus or inspiration.
But there are even more meditations offered by the app.
If you click on the Meditate tab, you’ll see several meditations listed.
Though what I love about this approach is that they’ve created meditations with different
focus areas and experience levels.
If you’re a beginner, they even have a series where they teach your basics of meditating.
Some of these meditations are meant to be programs, where each session builds off the
previous session.
So instead of just having one long session to explain a topic, you’ll get 7, 21 or
even 30 days of short sessions that you can incorporate into your day, and ultimately
build a new and sustainable habit.
For someone like me who hasn’t spent a lot of time meditating in my life, and is constantly
struggling to find time for self-care, this approach works really well for me.
You’ll find that several of the meditations are narrated by guests, including one by LeBron
James.
I think it’s so interesting to get the perspective of how an athlete uses meditation to manage
their mental fitness while in the game and even in their personal life.
It’s a nice touch, especially for those of us who are new to the practice.
The app caters to all levels as well.
For example, if you’re someone who is experienced with meditating, you’ll find that they have
ones with less guidance.
Calm even includes meditations for kids, which is a great way to introduce young ones to
the breathing and mindfulness.
So what if meditating before sleep isn’t your thing?
Or perhaps you’d rather take a different approach?
Calm has a whole section of short sleep stories to help you fall asleep.
Again, you’ll find many interesting narrators listed in the app.
I personally found the stories to be both interesting and effective at getting me to
sleep.
It’s a great activity to add your routine, especially if you find your mind racing before
bed.
I actually purchased an inexpensive bluetooth sleep mask just so I could listen to the story
and fall asleep comfortably without disturbing Fiona.
Since I am a big fan of audiobooks through the Libby app, I’m already accustomed to
listening to books and stories.
As cheesy as it sounds, it’s made me look forward to getting into bed so I can listen
to a story, which has helped me to establish a better sleep routine.
Calm also includes a music section with a variety of natural white noise and instrumental
music.
I find these to be useful for winding down and relaxing.
I’ve been using brain.fm music to help me during the day with focusing on work, so I’m
using Calm’s music selection to help me to unwind more effectively as well.
Brain.fm has relaxing music as well, but I find it to be a bit too aggressive at times.
For me, Calm’s selection is much more chill and relaxing.
Lastly, Calm has even more features in the app and are constantly adding new things.
For example, as of this video, the app has check-ins, which allow you to record how you’re
feeling.
There are masterclasses, which are in-depth audio series on all sorts of wellness topics
that affect our daily life.
Think of it as a podcast series led by an expert on the topic.
Calm Body offers meditations through stretching and movement.
For those of you that can’t stand the thought of being still for a meditation, this might
be for you.
Again, Calm wants to make meditation and mindfulness as accessible as possible.
Calm Body offers another way to approach your mental fitness.
I should mention that Calm does include walking meditations as well if you’d rather develop
your mindfulness while getting in your daily steps.
There is a breathing exercise that can help you relax immediately and even a section curated
for kids content.
Calm keeps adding new programs and features as well to the app.
One thing worth noting about Calm is that all their content is downloadable for offline
access.
This makes it a perfect companion for travel.
In fact, I plan to use it the next time we travel.
I’ve always struggled with sleeping on a plane, so anything that I can do make me more
comfortable and relaxed is interesting to me.
In fact, I even noticed that some airlines have been featuring Calm stories in their
entertainment systems.
Jetlag is also an issue when traveling.
While I’ve tried taking supplements like melatonin to help regulate my sleep cycle,
I think the app will be yet another tool that I can use to help me to fall asleep when I
need some help.
I think the sleep stories are really an effective way to slow down your mind and create an optimal
mental space to fall asleep.
So, you might be asking, why should I take the time to meditate?
Meditating is scientifically proven to improve your concentration and reduce stress in your
life.
It’s not a religious thing either.
A lot of people associate mediation with metaphysical practices and beliefs.
However, at its core, meditating is about managing your thoughts and breathing.
It gives you the space to manage the thoughts and distractions in your life.
And since we’re bombarded every day with more and more notifications and distractions,
it’s more important than ever to dedicate time toward developing your mental fitness.
Just like going to the gym to keep your body in shape, taking the time to meditate makes
you better prepared to handle all that life throws our way.
To me, this is why the Calm app is so valuable.
It’s like a mental gym membership that gives you all kinds of workouts to help make your
mind stronger.
It’s not just one type of exercise either.
It’s meant to give you a wide range of tools to help you live better.
And in the words of Louis Pasteur, “chance favors the prepared mind.”
I truly believe that having mental wellness gives you the ability to see and experience
new things, especially when traveling.
And whether it’s seeing or feeling compassion for others or just being able to conquer your
fears and insecurities, it makes us better people in the process.
Have you tried the Calm app?
If so, have you found it useful?
Let me know in the comment section below.
Again, if you’re an American Express personal cardmember, then there’s no reason not to
try it out and take advantage of this valuable app.
We hope you enjoyed the video and found it useful.
If so, please give us a thumbs up and consider sharing the video with others.
It may not seem like much, but it really helps us with growing our channel and community.
As always, we appreciate you checking out our channel and video.
I hope you all are staying safe during these challenging times.
Until next time, travel safe and travel smart.