Open: Breathwork + Meditation

I tried to leave this feedback in the app but couldn’t find an option to do so. Overall, there are really great messages and meditations here, and I truly appreciate the care that’s gone into them. That said, I’ve noticed that many of the sessions have quite lengthy preambles and a heavy focus on breath work before getting into the actual meditation. In such an overstimulating world, sometimes it’s really nice to simply cut the chatter and sit in quiet awareness. There are moments when I’m trying to focus on my breath or the sounds around me, but the recording continues talking, adding sounds, or using instruments, when I’d love a little more space to just be with myself. I would love to see some more advanced meditations offered that don’t require a long introduction or extended breath work beforehand. It would also be wonderful to have some silent meditations, either with no talking at all or just with steady, simple music. I’m sure the heavier guidance is incredibly helpful for newer meditators, and I can see the value in that. At the same time, silence and sustained focus can be really powerful too, and having more options like that would make the app even better.

I’ve never been able to make meditation and breath work a consistent part of my routine, despite knowing the positive and transformative effects it can have on our minds and bodies. I accidentally bought a year subscription to Open and I think it was the universe nudging me, because this is the best app and guided program I have encountered for meditation and self care and one of the best purchases I could have made. I think what sets the app apart is its intentionality and just how incredibly high quality and thoughtful the sessions and instructors are. Practicing 5-15 minute everyday through these wise sessions designed to return you to yourself I already feel a difference after 2 weeks. I am more grounded, steady, and accepting of the feelings of fear and discomfort that arise in us instead of fighting these feelings or running away from tension. When I accept activation it has a space to release and be felt. I feel more in tune with myself and the world. I’ll definitely continue to use this app everyday and recommend it to everyone. It really worked for me.

I have completed 50 sessions in this app in about a month and I am just so impressed with it! I have had probably the majority of well known and lesser known meditation apps over the years, (and I’ve tried a couple of breathwork apps and really didn’t like those - just too far out & weird), and I have enjoyed many of them for different reasons and I was not even looking for something new except that I have an Oura Ring and I saw something in that app that integrated with OPEN.. . I am really blown away by the depth and weight of these meditations… The breathwork is accessible and helpful and totally not weird lol… it is a little hard to find things sometimes because they’re not labeled exactly what they might be about and so if something interests me, I favorite it so I have an easier time finding it again. One thing I have noticed since using this app is that when I am going through my day doing this or that I find I am very in tune more than I ever have been before to the sounds around me. It’s really something, it’s very subtle and wonderful - thank you OPEN! I see a lot of complaints about Customer Service but I signed up for a free trial for the monthly and then I contacted them because I knew I wanted to buy it for the year and they got right back to me and handled my transaction professionally.