Rohan shares the five reasons why Transmission is an important development for mindfulness apps
Part of the all-new buddhify Membership, Transmission is the most exciting feature we’ve ever added to the app. And while it might sound like hyperbole, we genuinely think it’s the most important addition to any mindfulness app ever. So why does Transmission matter so much?
Historically meditation has always been something that is done with others, but in recent years the rise of apps has seen meditation become much more of an individual practice. Transmission is both things — an app-based experience, but one that only works if you are with other people. There are so many benefits to practising together and now with Transmission, you can do it in a way that is both brand new and has strong roots to the tradition.
While you do use your phone to use Transmission, ultimately the most important relationship during a session is that between you and the people in the room with you, not between you and your device. This is an important shift and rightly relegates the importance of the device in meditation since it is the humans that matter most.
Transmission allows you to have a guided meditation led by someone you know and care for. Not only is that so much more meaningful than listening to a disembodied voice through a speaker or headphones, but because the person guiding the practice knows you so well, they are likely to help you choose a meditation that will be just what you need in that moment.
It’s a little known secret of those of us working in meditation that there is a real magic to guiding a practice. We’re not saying that it’s anything to do with ‘vibes’ or ‘energy’, but there is something about sharing the same intention to practice together, sharing the same physical space, and then guiding a practice with that elevated sense of connection. It’s really a lovely thing. While using Transmission doesn’t make you a teacher or instructor, it still gives you some of that special experience. And on top of that, by sharing a practice you also learn so much more about that practice. You might have listened to a particular guided meditation many times on buddhify, but we can guarantee that once you start to share them via Transmission, you will get even more out of them. In fact, one of the traditional ways in which to deepen your practice is to share it, and so this new feature is part of that lineage.
If the mindfulness world needs anything right now it’s creativity, invention, and innovation. With all the mindfulness apps out there, most of their money has gone into marketing and scaling, rather than innovation into what it means to meditate. The history of meditation and mindfulness is one of innovation and change and that has to also include what the practice itself looks like.
That’s why Transmission matters. We’ve been working on the idea in various forms for many years and so we’re excited that you can now give it a go. We hope you enjoy it.
Transmission is available for buddhify Members. Find out more about Membership here.
