Headspace offers free guided meditations and workouts for New Yorkers

New York is the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, so Headspace is bringing a little bit of relief to the Empire State. 

Headspace announced a partnership with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office to offer free guided meditations, sleep sounds, exercises, and mindfulness content for kids on a New York-specific webpage. In case you’re not aware, Headspace is a popular mindfulness mobile app that offers all of those things under normal circumstances, but usually charges a subscription fee to access everything.

“Now more than ever it’s critical that New Yorkers stay healthy both physically and mentally, and these resources will help people cope with rising levels of stress and anxiety during this unprecedented public health crisis,” Cuomo said in a statement.

The focus on New York might seem a bit odd given the global nature of the coronavirus, but the state has been by far the hardest hit by the respiratory illness in the U.S. 

In terms of the actual content on the New York Headspace page, there are a handful of audio tracks for meditation (for both adults and kids) and sleeping. The meditations range from three to 10 minutes in length, while the tracks intended to lull you to sleep are closer to an hour long. There are also some articles explaining the basics of meditation, among other things.

For what it’s worth, Headspace also has some free coronavirus-centric content in the app for users worldwide, not just in New York. Healthcare workers and K-12 educators are also getting free access to the Headspace Plus subscription. 

I had a chance to use Headspace last month for a roundup of popular sleep apps, and found it to be more than adequate. Audio meditation may not necessarily save lives, but if you think it might help you, maybe go check it out.