Urban Meditation: Bringing Mindfulness into the City
The world of mindfulness meditation has been booming in recent years, with new studios opening up every month. The practice has long been associated with a range of health benefits, including improved memory, concentration, cognitive ability, a healthier connection with the body, better sleeping patterns, reduced stress and anxiety, and emotional regulation, to name just a few.
But if you're in an urban setting, it can be difficult to find the time for daily meditation. That's where mobile meditation apps come in.
Calm City: NYC's First Mobile Meditation Truck
As a creative director at Rockefeller Center and cancer survivor, Kristin Westbrook was constantly seeking a place to meditate on the go, and she eventually set out to create Calm City, a retrofitted 1979 RV that offers guided 10-minute sessions for $10.
MNDFL: New York's First Class-Based Mediation Studio
Just like the Y7 and Sky Ting yoga studios, MNDFL is designed to make meditation more accessible, offering 30- or 45-minute guided meditations led by 25 certified teachers. Classes are non-denominational, jargon-free and focus on common topics like stress management or coping with work-related issues.
In a recent study, researchers found that urban landscapes with high contemplative values were linked to increased frontal alpha and theta brainwave activity, suggesting that urban living is particularly characterized by over-stimulation leading to cognitive strain1,9. This may contribute to the relaxation effects of meditation practices.