Digital Meditation Platforms: Searching for "App"iness

Abstract

Meditation and mindfulness apps are a popular and convenient option for busy meditators to access improved mental health. Millions of people now meditate with a wearable or smartphone app, which suggests that we need to understand how discourse has the power to structure the way we think about this technology. Understanding how discourse can impact an understanding of meditation apps prepares users to engage with them in an informed way. This research uses critical discourse analysis to locate the macro-level discourses surrounding meditation apps by collecting and analysing twenty-two news articles from popular Canadian newspapers. The results indicate that certain discourses do support a particular understanding of meditation apps in relation to health, technology, and neo-liberal productivity.