Kimberly L. Wright

In the aftermath of being laid off, I have meditated every day using Down Dog’s meditation option, guided meditation with breathing – as well as Plum Village.

I cannot express enough what a relief it is to meditate and breathe. It keeps me from spiralling and hyperventilating, like hitting control-alt-delete. So this is what I must continue to do to keep living. I only have control over this one body and limited control over everything else. I also stay off LinkedIn as much as possible because of the amount of gloom and doom among those looking for work.

So out of curiosity, I’m trying out other meditation apps. One of the apps I saw touted on Reddit was Waking Up with Sam Harris.

“Sam Harris? Isn’t that the actor that was in ‘The Abyss?’” I wondered to myself. No, actually that was Ed Harris, though Sam Harris is related to another actor.

The prominence of this man’s name in relation to the app should’ve been taken as a sign of what this app is actually about. But I kept an open mind and downloaded. The app offered 1 week free trial but required a credit card, after which you’d be charged $99. Since I’m unemployed with a somewhat loosened grip on reality, I declined and deleted the app.

But the experience wasn’t over yet. Waking Up emailed, wanting me back, offering a free month, no credit card required. How generous! They landed me like a fish. I re-downloaded the app, got comfortable and gave it a try.

Sam Harris really recommends doing the introductory course even if you have meditation experience, as I do. (Heck, I even own a zafu.) So I obliged.

I realized pretty quickly during the introductory and first meditation that this app isn’t for me. One big reason: too much Sam Harris. He mansplains because he thinks people want to hear what he thinks. And the reason he thinks people want to hear him talk at length about the busy-ness of their brains: he’s a best-selling author and a podcast bro. People actually paid good money to read his books and gave of their time, which is more valuable, to hear him philosophize about the nature of reality and the human brain.

A quote from him is the first thing you see in in the welcome to Waking Up email, in case you weren’t already tired of listening to him from the app.

This app isn’t really about you and your mindfulness journey. It’s all about Sam Harris and his brand.

He explains in the biography emailed after I finished my first meditation that his fascination with meditation and mindfulness came about after he dropped out of college and went to India and Nepal, and like so many Westerners before him, would go on to exploit what he learned there for fun and profit. Imagine the privilege you must have to be able to drop out of college and not be expected by his parents to work at a grocery store or something. It’s great to be white, male, and not have to worry about money!

Harris also mentioned his association with problematic Richard Dawkins, who has been shunned over his racist and anti-trans statements. Curious as to what was being left out of this small bio, I discovered Harris seems somewhat problematic himself because of statements he made on Islam and race.

Strangely enough, I prefer my meditation apps to have less male ego attached to it. I don’t want to use an app whose creator debates Ben Affleck on “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

If being mansplained to while on the zafu doesn’t give you flashbacks to meetings at your former job, you can find more than just Harris on this app, though he is clearly the main character. Sometimes he’s joined by other people in conversation. There are even sessions where he’s not listed as contributing. His wife Annaka appears in one popular session.

You can also turn on Moments, or shot audio reflections to help you stay present in your daily life.

You can give a free month of unlimited access to Waking Up. And a meditation timer is included, another option that doesn’t appear to involve Sam Harris in any way. In a show of altruism, Sam Harris will give you waking up free if you truly can’t pay. “While we need to function as a business, we never want money to be the reason why someone can’t benefit from what we’ve built,” he said. When you click on the scholarship option, they drop the price to $59.99, with the option to click on another button to ask for a free membership.

Meanwhile, Plum Village’s app offers its content for free, with donations encouraged.

If you’re not a fan of Sam Harris, this meditation app is skippable. Better options are out there.