In honour of World Mental Health Day, FitMind Founder and Yale graduate Liam McClintock has created a new 30-day mental fitness app after using meditation to overcome his OCD and ADHD diagnoses.
Similar to CrossFit, the FitMind app starts with a foundational programme, which progresses in difficulty and intensity, walking users through over 25 meditation techniques.
Users can complete daily challenges to integrate their practice into everyday life and can ask questions in the app if they feel at all lost. Users can also connect with other meditators to discuss their practice and build a community.
After working in the high-stress world of venture capitalism, Liam quit his job to study meditation in Asia and became a certified instructor.
In 2018, he founded FitMind and began providing meditation workshops to Fortune 500 companies like Amazon, Uber, and WeWork, in addition to addiction centres, schools, government offices and other organisations.
He said: “In a world of instant gratification and distraction, we need to start training our minds in the same way as our physical bodies, to think positive thoughts and to achieve healthier lifestyles.
“Our team at FitMind has consulted with neuroscientists, psychologists and monks to create an app that takes users from beginner to advanced techniques, while explaining how each method rewires the brain for presence, focus and energy.”
While there are many apps on the market offering an introduction to meditation, FitMind argues that these apps don’t provide in-depth instructions or explain the science and psychology behind the techniques.
Liam believes that in an industry characterised by “McMindfulness” (which occurs when mindfulness is used for self-serving, ego-enhancing and capitalistic purposes), the FitMind app stands out as a secular and scientific meditation program that combines ancient techniques with western science.
He continued: “A Harvard study found that we spend 47% of our day lost in thought and 70% of those thoughts on average, are negative.
“We need a tool for training presence in our modern world of distraction. Meditation is that tool.
“Recent scientific research has demonstrated that meditation can create significant changes in the brain’s structure and function, which is why we believe that “mental fitness” is the next major health revolution.”
The FitMind app is currently available for iOS in the Apple App Store:https://fitmind.app.link/appstore
