Day 5

I have never been gung-ho about smart phone apps. The innumerable apps on the smart phone seem like rocket science to my eyes and being a tech illiterati, I get the feeling of trudging the heinous mountains and battling the hilly slopes.  It came as a surprise when I found myself hooked the calm app on the iPhone. It is cherry on cake. Trust me, I clicked on it out of sheer curiosity and it opened a pot of gold for me.

A beautifully adorned world and soothing music to the sound of sea breeze, waterfall or tales of Lavender Valley to relax the senses, instill focus far away from life’s vagaries and taking the self on a nature trip or putting the body to sleep. Nowadays, I hit the sack early but there is dreadful number of times, mulling over issues that plague the wandering mind like a hurricane jostling the body in the wild stream.

Yesterday night, my eyes curled open and saw myself tossing on bed past one a.m in the morning. I was convinced that it was a do-or-die situation to put the hyper body to rest. I toggled with the app and randomly clicked on Sleep Stories to find myself listening to the session Blue Gold. It is a beautiful 24 minutes narration by Stephen Fry for 20 minutes meandering to the South of France, taking the lush route of Lavender field and the sleepy village of Florence. The story written by Phoebe Smith gently takes the mind into a sleep lullaby and breath in and out, you feel being swayed into a trance.  I didn’t sleep immediately after the story ended but rather took a long breath and in no time, the eyes closed to venture into the world of sleep.

You should try the calm app that help one gain focus, soothes the nerve and going into a relaxed mode. I am loving every moment of this treasure, the calm app and the perks of using an i-phone. The best thing about it is there are many inbuilt free stories and the Seven days session which is pure bliss and several guided paid meditation sessions.

It is magical to wake up in the morning with the belief that one don’t need to battle between waking up at night, staring at the clock or struggling to close the eyes. The sound of birds and silent waves sashaying inside the mind evokes a feeling of stillness that helps during the workout, a nap or yoga. Calm is a balm to the soul. Never in my wildest imagination, I would imagine being swayed by a phone app giving comfort and making a sea of change in life.

Quite a lazy Monday morning between listening to a song penned by a friend, Rashmi and Sung by Nawal Pathak, beautifully shot in the beautiful and sprawling FTII campus in Pune. The huge 80-year old Ailanthus trees, Gulmohar, peepal, and jamun is spotted easily as the video brought me back to those days, the huge stairs and green cover transporting the visitor in fantasy world spurning an intriguing tale beyond the earth’s reality. The song is the recreation of Lag Jaa gale in a beautiful manner and the composed voice of Nawal. It’s pure beauty. Do check the song on YouTube.

I am learning to take things at a slow pace since there is no point being an efficient multi-tasker or zombie and ending up doing zilch. It can be frustrating at the day’s end and better to flesh out efficient tasks.

Love

V