Indian yogi Sadhguru’s free meditation app beats ChatGPT for first million downloads

Sadhguru aims to 'unleash the miracle of mind’ through daily breathing exercises

Sadhguru says: 'If three billion people are a little more calm and sane, it will be better world.' Credit: Conscious Planet

Indian yogi Sadhguru has called on people to look after their mental health and check up on people around them, as he hopes his meditation app will help three billion people worldwide.

The new app achieved more than one million downloads in 15 hours when released on February 26. This outstripped ChatGPT, the generative-AI chatbot, which hit one million over five days after its launch in 2022. The Miracle of Mind app has since exceeded 1.9 million downloads in the past two weeks.

The well-known environmentalist released the free seven-minute app, Miracle of Mind, to promote well-being through focused and conscious breathing.

“We must understand, our mental health and sanity are a fragile privilege that we must protect and nurture. Just as your physical body might be healthy today and could fall sick tomorrow, your mental health can also flip,” Sadhguru, 67, told The National.

“It is very important that each of us take individual responsibility that you will stay mentally healthy and ensure those around you also stay that way,” he said. For this to happen, “you must unleash the miracle of mind”.

“[The app] is offered for free because we want three billion people to close their eyes and meditate for just seven minutes a day. This can change the world in subtle ways,” he said. “If three billion people are a little more calm and sane, it will be better world to live in for all of us.”

Sadhguru, or Jaggi Vasudev, has a massive following with more than a billion views on YouTube and 13 million followers on Instagram, where he posts advice on wellness and environmental action. Tens of thousands gather when he holds meditation sessions in India and overseas, including in the UAE.

Mental health support

The app provides users with a simple seven-minute practice, often accompanied by calming music, that incorporates a breathing routine as a daily, practical tool to address anxiety.

“For too many people right now, their brain has become their enemy,” Sadhguru said. “Just a few decades ago, mental health problems were something that happened to someone else. But now, either someone you know or you yourself might be going through it.

“Scientists and global health organisations are predicting a mental health pandemic. Every year, nearly 800,000 people commit suicide. This means every 40 seconds, someone takes their own life.”

One in eight people suffer a mental health condition, according to the World Health Organisation. Sadhguru hopes to offer solutions and raise awareness so people consciously use their minds to tackle high stress levels that can be triggered by digital burnout and loneliness.

Staying calm

The yogi hopes the free app will give people “a simple meditative process that you can do anywhere to bring a sense of peace, joy, and exuberance into your life to create mental health, emotional stability, and balance”.

Mental health solutions are often viewed as costly or time-consuming, but Sadhguru said the ambition of this app is to encourage anyone to take a step towards wellness. He said it was created “to make sure that at least in small measure, people learn to access this instrument that is the human mind”.

The mind is “the greatest gadget on the planet”, he said. “This greatest gadget on the planet, instead of being a miracle, has become a misery manufacturing machine for most people. You may call it stress, anxiety, tension,” he said.

On the app, Sadhguru’s voice takes users through breathing exercises starting with seven minutes with an option to continue through to 21 minutes. Questions can also be asked in one section with AI-powered replies from the yogi.

The meditation exercise aims to draw people into a peaceful space for a few minutes daily. Credit: Conscious Planet

Health benefits

A team of volunteer coders at the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organisation Sadhguru founded, worked on the app, which is being studied by experts from Harvard.

Dr Balachundhar Subramaniam, professor of anaesthesiology at Harvard Medical School, said the Isha Foundation’s meditation practices improve sleep patterns and social interactions.

“This is a free, guided meditation with no strings attached,” he said. “The breath and the mind are connected. This meditation incorporates breath and thoughts beautifully in a very simple way. Sadhguru has spoken about yoga, meditation, inner engineering and life. There is a vast amount of wisdom here.”

Dr Subramaniam said research on a 15-minute version of the app used by more than 70 healthcare providers showed reduced signs of stress and mood disturbance. More research is planned with larger sample sizes using Miracle of Mind.