Learnings of Life Beta, in the making

The great books already told you what helps. None of them told you which one, when.

You don’t need more practices. You need the right one, right now.

No single practice works for everyone, so you have to learn how you work. We’re building the app that puts the work of the greats on one map, and helps you navigate yourself.

The short version.

See what the app is built onRead the full story

One app, three ways in.

Ask what you need right now, pick a practice yourself, or learn how your nervous system works.

Not sure how you feel? Let your body answer.

Four questions about your breath, shoulders, energy and chest. You take a moment to feel before you answer. About a minute, and you see which state your body points to.

You can do it right here, straight after you get early access.

Get early access to do the check-in.

Just your email. Nothing to install, nothing to pay.

Every state has its own way through.

Pick one to see what’s going on in your body and what tends to help.

More than a check-in.

The check-in is the quickest way in. Behind it is a whole map you can explore at your own pace. We’re still writing new lessons, and beta testers get every one as it lands.

Tap a branch to see what’s in it. Every lesson has a practice, the science, and its sources.

Want to explore it yourself?

Stress rarely feels like stress.

It feels like a stomach that won’t settle, a jaw that’s always tight, waking at four, a short fuse. You can go years without making the link.

Lasting complaints belong with a doctor first.

What it does over time, and the studies

A nervous system that stays on high alert wears on your sleep, your mood and your focus, and over the years it contributes to depression and heart disease. Gabor Maté, Peter Levine and Robert Sapolsky each wrote a book about it. Most of us were never taught how to come back down.

  1. Long-term stress makes people ill.

    A review in JAMA, one of medicine’s leading journals, found that chronic stress contributes to depression and cardiovascular disease.

    Cohen, Janicki-Deverts and Miller, JAMA, 2007

  2. Breathing practices lower it.

    Across 12 randomised trials with 785 adults, people who did breathwork reported less stress than those who didn’t. The effect is modest, and it is real.

    Fincham and colleagues, Scientific Reports, 2023

  3. Five minutes a day is enough to notice.

    In a Stanford trial from Andrew Huberman’s lab, a daily five-minute sighing breath improved mood more than five minutes of mindfulness meditation.

    Balban and colleagues, Cell Reports Medicine, 2023

The wrong practice can make it worse.

Ever felt worse after something that was supposed to be good for you? What helps depends on the state you’re in. Four examples from the app.

And it depends on you.

Two people in the same state can need different things. You might recognise yourself in one of these.

You say how it went after each practice. The app learns what shifts you, and suggests that first.

Built on the work of the greats.

The app draws on more than 130 books and 250 studies, from neuroscience and sleep research to trauma work, pranayama and Zen. Every lesson lists its sources, so you can read further.

  • Somatic work
  • Breathwork
  • Pranayama
  • Yoga
  • Meditation
  • Zen
  • Tapping
  • Self-compassion
  • Cognitive therapy
  • Habit science
  • Expressive writing

  • Andrew Huberman

    Stanford neuroscientist, Huberman Lab

    Breath, Physiological sigh

  • Peter Levine

    Trauma researcher, Waking the Tiger

    Movement and discharge, Senses and orienting

  • Matthew Walker

    Sleep scientist, Why We Sleep

    Food and energy, How do I keep going?, Rest and sleep

  • Gabor Maté

    Physician and author, When the Body Says No

    Shaped how the app thinks about stress, emotion and the body

  • James Clear

    Author, Atomic Habits

    How do I make it happen?, Who am I becoming?, Who's with me?

  • Stanislav Grof

    Psychiatrist and breathwork pioneer

    Shaped how the app approaches deep breathwork: safe and gentle first

  • Brené Brown

    Researcher, Daring Greatly

    Connection and co-regulation, What’s stopping me?, Who’s with me?

Show more names

  • Kristin Neff

    Self-compassion researcher, Self-Compassion

    How do I work with what hurts?, Stillness and awareness, Strength and control, Touch and tapping

  • Jon Kabat-Zinn

    Meditation teacher and researcher, Full Catastrophe Living

    Senses and orienting, Stillness and awareness

  • James Nestor

    Journalist, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

    Voice and sound

  • Kelly McGonigal

    Health psychologist, The Joy of Movement

    Movement and discharge, Strength and control

  • Lisa Feldman Barrett

    Neuroscientist, How Emotions Are Made

    Food and energy, How do I work with what hurts?, What's stopping me?

  • Deb Dana

    Clinician, Anchored

    Connection and co-regulation, Rest and sleep

  • Pat Ogden

    Body-oriented psychotherapist, Trauma and the Body

    Senses and orienting

  • T.K.V. Desikachar

    Yoga teacher, The Heart of Yoga

    Yoga

  • Tara Brach

    Meditation teacher, Radical Acceptance

    What is it all for?

  • Viktor Frankl

    Psychiatrist, Man’s Search for Meaning

    How do I keep going?, What is it all for?

  • Gabriele Oettingen

    Psychologist, Rethinking Positive Thinking

    How do I make it happen?, What do I actually want?, What is it all for?

  • Russ Harris

    Physician and therapist, The Happiness Trap

    Stillness and awareness, What do I actually want?

None of them is involved in this app or endorses it. The ideas are theirs. The choices in the app are ours.

Calm is where it starts, not where it ends.

From a settled nervous system you can think clearly about how you want to live. You’re going to live this life anyway, and you’ll make choices either way. They may as well be ones you chose.

It isn’t easy, or everyone would be living their dream life. So the app has a second door, Work on myself. It first asks how settled you are, because when you’re flooded the thinking part of the brain goes partly offline. Then you pick what you want to work on.

A pattern that keeps repeating

Same reaction, same result, again.

A decision I keep circling

Can’t choose, can’t let it go.

A feeling that keeps coming back

Shows up often, not sure why.

Something with someone

A conversation, a tension, a hurt.

A story I tell about myself

“I’m not good at…”, “I always…”

What you can do today, and where it stops.

A library app

Hundreds of sessions, sorted by popularity.

  • You do the choosing
  • It doesn’t know what state you’re in
  • Nothing says when a practice is the wrong one

Asking a chatbot

It will answer anything you type.

  • You have to know what to ask
  • You get text to read, not a timer to follow
  • Next time it starts from zero

Learnings of Life

Starts from how you feel right now.

  • It asks first, then hands you a few options that fit
  • Each one opens with its own timer
  • It tells you why, and when not to
  • It learns what works for you

Want to know what works for you right now? Get early access.

You become one of our beta testers. We can’t take too many at once, so you join the line, and when a slot opens, we invite you.

  1. Join the line

    Leave your email. You can do the one-minute body check on this page today.

  2. A slot opens

    We let testers in a few at a time, in the order people signed up, so we can listen to each of them.

  3. You’re in

    Early access to the app, and every paid feature free for as long as the beta runs. In return you tell us what’s missing.

Questions

Can I use the app now?

Not yet. It’s still being built. Signing up puts you on the list for a beta invite, and you can do a first check-in on this page today.

What do beta testers get?

Early access to the app, and free access to all paid features for as long as the beta runs.

When do I get in?

The app is still being built and we let testers in a few at a time. We don’t have a date we’d put our name to yet. You’ll get an email when your slot opens.

What will it cost after the beta?

That isn’t set yet. During the beta you pay nothing.

Is this therapy or medical advice?

No. These are self-regulation practices you can safely try on your own. They don’t replace care from a professional. If you feel unsafe, contact your local emergency number or a crisis line.

What do you do with my email?

We use it to send your beta invite and the occasional update about the app, nothing else. We keep your body-check answers with it so we know what testers need most. We never share it, every email has a link to stop them, and you can ask us to remove you at any time. The details are in the privacy policy.

Get early access.

Spots are limited. Join the line now, and we invite you when a slot opens.

Or do the 1-minute body check first

Get early access