Muse: Brain Health & Sleep

The first few days the app was sending my sleep data to Apple Health. It stopped around the time 25.1 version of the app came out. It was also around the time 15.2 came out but i tried using another iPhone and iOS version but it still doesn’t transfer the data anymore. There is no other way to export meaningful data that i have been able to find. It is not possible to compare to other sleep data collected. The small charts that only reference by the hour are not really useful for the analysis I need. They high level report info is ok to check trends but not good enough to verify accuracy by associating with other data such as heart rate changes or arousals or awakenings. I would give 4 stars or more if the data the app collects would be provided for use to the user. The muse S gen 2 headband itself has been great. Will be trying other app options. Ipdate: I was contacted by Muse and it looks like they were able to recreate the issue so hopefully it will be working again soon. Thank you for the update Muse. Other than that the unit has been great and the gen2 hasn’t given me any issues getting it connected. Update 2: Data import into Apple health is working again with the 25.2 update and the headband is still working great. I use it everyday. The data is amazing to be able to identify what is impacting deep and rem sleep.

I have had muse for about a week or two now and am happy with the device and app. There seems to be a lot of potential here for additional uses for the headband but as a meditation tool it is valuable. I have been meditating for a couple years and find this system to aid in quantification and education/enlightenment but not enlightenment in the spiritual sense of the term. Put another way, the band helps me to understand whether or not the techniques I am using translate to a greater sense of calm and wellbeing quantitatively. I understand that this may seem contrary to general teachings and principles of meditation but meditation for me is so many things to include an aid or tool to help me be better. Certainly part of the journey is to understand and feel how you wander and lose focus and for this reason it is important to practice without muse as well. However, even though it may not matter to some to measure where you are or how far you’ve come, but in the absence of a personal teacher, muse can act as a guide. As such, I welcome the muse to help me understand how I can be a better mediator to help me be a better person. I gave it four stars because I have a hard time paying for guided meditation when I just paid for the headband, but more importantly because I believe that the system has room to grow. For example, I would love to see a concurrent system for neurofeedback in aid of athletic performance (I.e. to help get into the flow state through real time cues) or in aid of mental health without having to pay significant amounts to a third party vendor. All in all happy with the purchase and the app.

This device is certainly having an impact on my overall wellness in the short time I’ve had it. I’ve been on a path of clarity in recent months and had been strengthening my meditation practice on my own. I heard about this months ago and knew it would aid in bringing me the peace that’s eluded me most of my life. I kept thinking I wanted to buy it for the people in my life that weren’t connecting as deeply to their own practice (to justify the expense). By happenstance I was granted a bonus at work that allowed me to treat myself and when I saw it was on sale for the holiday season I bought 2!! One for me and one for the partner I’ll be starting a podcast with in the next few weeks called “psst Your Crazy Is Showing” where we dig through the things mediation has made clear in our lives and speak from a deep present moment awareness (or as deep as we can get at our novice level at this point). I’m almost 2 weeks in and feel that the time I spend with Muse has almost tripled the benefits I was getting on my own (a 5 minute session feels like 20, and 20 minutes feels like an hour! ... in the best calming way imaginable). Rest and digest and may peace be with all who find this and the Muse Headband. Thanks for reading :)