Mason Levey didn’t intend to start a nationally recognized yoga studio chain, but over six years ago he and his wife Sarah Levey came across the need to connect people to the benefits of yoga in a more palatable, modern way. They started Y7 Studio, a music-driven hot yoga concept in Brooklyn, and today, Mason still sits on the board of Y7 as the business spreads across the country and the brand permeates the world of modern yoga. It is now, Mason explains, that he sees the same inflection point for the modernization of meditation.

“There are a lot of offerings and a lot of interest, but all the brands, all the content, all the experiences kind of sit in this one bucket or framework. Could I bring something to the market where I would actually enjoy meditation, look forward to it, and get really excited about it?”

And perhaps an even more targeted question, “Is there a way to use music to bring mindfulness to more people, more quickly?”

With the drive to break the misconceptions about meditation, in 2018, Mason began his second wellness-focused endeavor with his co-founder, Brad Warsh, WAVE. This week, we heard from Mason on the #WeGotGoals podcast about how tuning in, slowing down, and learning to go with the flow – both in practice leading up to and after launching WAVE – makes him better, faster, and stronger.

What is WAVE meditation all about?

Similar to the concept of Y7, WAVE intends to bring meditation to the masses by making the practice something people want – or rather, crave – to do.  This isn’t a silent meditation. This is a fully immersive, at-home meditation experience. It’s beat-driven practice, with carefully curated tracks made uniquely for WAVE and designed to help you get in your zone.

The app component of WAVE is only part one. Its ability to be a truly immersive outlet is brought to life with noise canceling headphones and a cushion that allows you feel the beat of the music through vibration, in tandem with the beats you select to meditate with.

“You hear the track in your ears, and you feel the track in your body,” Levey said. “And what that does is it creates this really immersive experience that allows you to stay really present. You’re not distracted by anything else that’s going on. It’s kind of like a whole new way to practice meditation.”

The impact of music

For Levey, music is the key component missing from what’s available in streaming mediation today. A lot of the time, it’s an afterthought of just a guided voice, he explains.

“It can feel kind of sterile, kind of like a lecture.”

To better identify what we wanted the experience to be like, he did his research. Levey tried different types of technology with virtual reality, video games, and vibro-acoustic therapy, and ultimately the immersive WAVE experiential app and program was born.

Levey’s personal meditation journey

For Levey, yoga came first but meditation has become a key component to his daily routine. He uses WAVE at least 10 minutes per day for the cumulative benefits he feels from the practice.

“Meditation gives me time to reflect. When I reflect, I have a better perspective on things, and when I have a better perspective, I can make much better choices. And when I make better choices, I’m creating positive change or making waves in my life and with the people around me.”

And some of the other ways Levey is making waves? A big goal he and his wife achieved in 2018 was landing a spot on the cover of Inc. Magazine's Annual Inc 5000 List.

“That dream came true in a bigger way than I ever imagined,” Levey said.

And through the power of music, Levey intends to take WAVE to new heights.

How music plugs into big goals for the future

Levey firmly believes that meditation doesn’t have to be done in silence or sitting in a certain position.  A big goal on the horizon that aims to remove the barriers to trying meditation is to bring in a musician with substantial influence and culture to create original music in a collaborative way.

Without giving too much away about this episode, you expect to hear more about where mindfulness is trending, what we can may start to see in relation to tech and mindfulness integration, and the barriers Levey and team see to simply starting a meditation practice.

If you Zen out to this podcast episode with Mason Levey, the co-founder of the WAVE meditation app, we’d love it if you took a moment to leave us a rating or a review. You can do that anywhere you get your podcasts (like iTunes or Spotify!) And if you want to try WAVE for yourself, the code wegotgoals will get you $50 off your kit.