This week, Chris Hemsworth blessed Instagram with a series of mini-meditations featuring the Aussie actor reciting affirmations in different gorgeous, scenic locations. Hilariously titled “Affirmations That Positively, Absolutely, Probably (Most Likely) Won’t Make Your 2020 Worse,” the humorous videos were actually promoting Hemsworth’s fitness app Centr, which offers real meditations.
I decided to try the meditations on Centr for myself after being sold by the soothing sound of Hemsworth’s voice in the promos. In addition to mindfulness content, Centr has six-week fitness programs, coached and self-guided workouts, and health-conscious recipes. After a free seven-day trial, there are three price options – one month for $30, three months for $60, and 12 months for $120.
With well over 50 meditations and sleep visualizations to choose from, it’s virtually impossible not to find one that piques your interest. Some are specific, like “how to heal in a relationship” or “judge less, live lighter” and others are more general, like “deep breath.” One of them is even called “stop giving a f*ck in a few minutes,” which seems like an ambitious — albeit admirable goal — for a 15-minute meditation.
There is, however, one major downside to the meditations on Centr. Unfortunately, the only sessions narrated by Hemsworth himself are for children. But, if you do happen to have any little ones at home, I highly recommend you introduce them to meditation with the dulcet tones of Thor’s voice.
Since I am fairly new to practicing, I chose to keep it simple. I tried out the “everyday mindfulness” meditation, as it incorporates one of my personal goals of being more mindful in my daily life.
Over the course of about seven minutes, the meditation encourages awareness of your surroundings as you go through seemingly mundane activities like drinking your morning coffee. The narrator first talks you through grounding yourself physically by taking note of your breath, the scents and sounds around you, your feet on the ground, and your back against your chair. The narrator then explains how that level of mindfulness can be accessed outside of meditation.
“When you have a shower, or brush your teeth, practice being fully tuned in and connected to your experience,” the narrator instructs. “The feel of warm water on your skin, the smell of soap, the taste of toothpaste, the sound of water splashing.”
Overall, I appreciated how meditation made me really focus on the moments of my everyday life that I take for granted and offered tools to be more present in those moments.
While I can’t necessarily promise that I will notice the pitter-patter of rain on my window every time there’s inclement weather, I will definitely be making an effort to be less distracted by my thoughts throughout the day.
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