New app teaches stressed-out tech addicts to relax

Calm.com, a website that helps stressed-out desk workers take a mental break, has now launched an iPhone app to teach you the fine art of relaxation. Thanks to generous new funding, the San Francisco startup is now turning into a real business, reports TechCrunch, after the company garnered buzz last year among the hyper-connected Silicon Valley crowd. Calm.com is the brainchild of Alex Tew, known for previous sites PopJam, The Million Dollar Homepage, and Do Nothing For 2 Minutes, which saw two million unique page views in its first day. TechCrunch writes that Tew has been meditating since he was 14 and hopes to spread the good word. While "Do Nothing" launched as a fun side project, he sees room for a more serious approach to helping people chill out. "I struggle on a daily basis with addiction to social media and information," Tew told TechCrunch. "I noticed over the years that it has affected my attention and I think that's true of most people nowadays." With the mobile app, iPhone users learn the ropes through a program called "The 7 Steps of Calm," developed with London-based meditation teacher Maggie Richards. The app is a free download, but to access more lessons beyond the first one, you'll need to spend $4.99 (RM15).