Happy Not Perfect | A Conversation with Poppy Jamie
Author and spiritual teacher Caroline Myss said “The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.” There is so much noise in this day and age. Even if we try to mute that news, monotonous social media scrolling and just the chatter of everyday, we still have to combat and silence our own thoughts. We recently caught up with Poppy Jamie, founder of Happy Not Perfect, a meditation app that is designed to calm the mind, improve sleep and in the end create a life that feels more balanced and fulfilling. We talked to her about the power of breath and the power of meditation.
First off, I love the name of company since a very important message is in the name—to be happy you don’t have to be perfect. What is the backstory behind the name?
Honestly, I woke up in the middle of the night with the words Happy Not Perfect in my head and knew I had to do something with it. In a world where we’re are constantly comparing ourselves to others, there is simplicity in every day just thinking ‘what can I do today to remind myself to be happy, not perfect'.
What was your background before you started your business and why did you decide to start it?
When I was at university, I was also a TV presenter, and this took me to LA where I launched my own talk show on Snapchat called ‘Pillow Talk With Poppy’. It was during this period of my life that I realized how much of an impact social media, and comparison overload, was having on people and I decided I needed to do something about it.
I don’t know about you, but I feel like we are living in a day and age where social media is creating the illusion of perfection. Even though the majority of people know it isn’t real, it is very easy to get sucked in. What tips do you have to counter this notion?
You control who you follow. So if someone is triggering you with their fake posts of a fake highlight real, unfollow! I try to keep my social media feed full of things that brighten my day like positive quotes, memes and friends I love to see the updates of. This means I can still use social media and feel less inadequate afterwards!
I don’t know about you, but I feel like we are living in a day and age where social media is creating the illusion of perfection. Even though the majority of people know it isn’t real, it is very easy to get sucked in. What tips do you have to counter this notion?
You control who you follow. So if someone is triggering you with their fake posts of a fake highlight real, unfollow! I try to keep my social media feed full of things that brighten my day like positive quotes, memes and friends I love to see the updates of. This means I can still use social media and feel less inadequate afterwards!
What is one thing anyone can do to shift from a state of anxiety to a state of calm?
Belly breathe!!! Nine out of ten people breathe badly (shallow, chest breaths) and this significantly impacts our stress and anxiety levels. Learning to belly breathe (breathing into your lower body) stimulates your vagus nerve, helping you move out of the fight and flight system into the rest and relax system. Belly breathing takes advantage of biofeedback and starts using your body to fire signals to your mind that you’re safe and can handle this.
The belly breathing trick you can do anywhere, anytime! I secretly use the belly breath technique through all stressful meetings… works like a treat as it helps my mind calm and allows me to make better decisions.
You can find a belly breathing tutorial on the HNP app. All breathing content was created by Dr. Belisa Vranich, one of the world leading experts in breathing.
What meditation do you recommend to begin the day with purpose and intention?
I love the “love and kindness mediation” we have on the HNP app. There’s even scientist research behind this technique that proves it’s one of the most effective in boosting feelings of compassion and positive wellbeing. When I’m feeling really stressed, I often listen to Will Schneider’s “Anxiety Killer Breath” that’s particularly effective in calming my nervous system before a big meeting. I like to start every day with a meditation walk, even before I have brushed my teeth, I put on my trainers and walk for 20 mins to clear my head (and listen to the Daily Dose of inspiration on the app).
Tell us more about the Happy Not Perfect app. How did you go about building it?
Managing stress should be a daily priority. When we let stress build up, it effects our mental and physical health and can lead to adrenal burn out - I sadly had firsthand experience in witnessing that and it wiped my energy for months. So as a consequence, I don’t want anyone else to hit rock bottom and have to experience what I did, and this is one of the reasons why I created the Happy Not Perfect app, it’s an App that combines tactics from CBT, DBT and proven positive psychology backed exercises to help you shift into a different mental state. Our minds, just like our bodies, can cause havoc when they aren’t exercised and managing our emotional health requires the same routine and dedication that we give to working out and brushing our teeth!
The Refresh experience on the app only takes 5 mins and takes you through 7 important steps in combatting stress.
1. Check in with yourself
2. Belly breathe
3. Process thoughts and let it go
4. Gratitude
5. Play
6. Compassion
7. Think of others and pay it forward
They say that meditation not only helps the person doing it, but also the people that you come into orbit with. What are a few things that you hope users will take away from the Happy Not Perfect app?
Looking after your mind should be as simple as looking after your body, and as much of a priority.
Who has been your greatest teacher along the way?
My mother. She is my constant source of inspiration. She has dedicated her life to helping others, and truth be told, HNP is basically my way of sharing her with the world!
Complete this sentence, meditation is…
The future to our survival, in a world that keeps accelerating, we should avoid trying to increase our pace to keep up but go inwards and access real, long term inner peace.
Download the Happy Not Perfect app in the iTunes store
Photography by Alison Engstrom