Shift is a new dedicated in-app experience designed to help people relieve stress, wind down, focus, and feel better through bilateral audio, an audio-based approach inspired by a technique therapists use that moves sound intentionally between your ears.
Shift offers four states to move into, grounded in everyday needs: Focus, Release, Uplift, and Sleep, each through its own custom bilateral track. It also includes a 7-day guided program and 20+ additional tracks to browse, including an exclusive track from popular duo, Daisy the Great.
Shift is one of Calm's largest expansions into a category since Sleep Stories, following increased user and cultural demand since it began developing this content in 2022.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – October 27, 2026 – Calm, a trusted leader in mental wellness with the #1 app to help you sleep more, stress less and live mindfully, launches Shift – a new in-app offering designed to help people shift how they feel in the moment using bilateral audio, an audio-based approach inspired by a technique therapists use. At launch, Shift provides a 7-day guided program and more than 20 custom bilateral tracks, including an exclusive song by popular New York-based duo, Daisy the Great.
Bilateral audio intentionally moves sound between the left and right ear, creating a natural rhythm designed to help shift your mood, whether that’s finally settling into sleep, releasing the day’s tension, or clearing afternoon fog. No special skills required, just headphones and a few minutes.
Calm added bilateral audio content to its music library in 2022 and has since seen user and cultural demand build. It’s one of the top search terms on Calm, Google search for “bilateral audio” is up over 5000% in the past year, and across the internet, concepts like “brain flossing” have gone viral, pointing to bilateral stimulation to “clear mental clutter”.
“Calm’s origins are rooted in making meditation accessible, but we never intended to be a meditation-only app,” said Dun Wang, CEO of Calm. “We want to be a place people can come to feel better, in whatever way they need. At first it was meditation, then it was sleep, which led to the launch of Sleep Stories, an innovative format that is now one of our most popular offerings. Shift is next, leveraging bilateral sound and music to meet people with approachable, trusted, and deeply human support that leaves them feeling better than when they came.”
At launch, Shift offers three ways in:
7 Days of Shift – a 7-day guided program narrated by Calm meditation teacher Rose Nisker, pairing a few minutes of grounding wisdom with a bilateral track each day.
Shift Your State – 4 new bilateral tracks paired with looping visuals, each composed to shift people into one of four goal states: Focus, Release, Uplift, and Sleep.
Shift Music – an expanded library of new bilateral audio tracks for users to explore any time.
Among the new music is an exclusive bilateral remix of “The Record Player Song” from Daisy the Great. Originally released in 2018, the song became a breakout hit for the duo and has amassed more than 200 million streams across two versions. More recently, Daisy the Great reimagined the track using hocketing, a musical technique in which a single melody is split between two or more voices or instruments, alternating notes and rests, and the new version has gained massive traction across TikTok. It's the first of multiple tracks Calm and Daisy the Great will create together for Shift, continuing Calm’s long-standing approach of partnering with artists to create content that resonates with people.
“We started to make a lot of videos online singing with a technique called hocketing where we split up the melody line and pass it back-and-forth, and it makes a really awesome vocal effect. We did it with our song ‘The Record Player Song,’ and that one really seemed to resonate," said Daisy the Great. "That song already has a bit of a built-in bilateral quality with the melody passing between us, and the overlapping vocals, so it made a lot of sense for Shift. We're so, so excited to be working with Calm and their production team to not only share our music in a new way, but hopefully to help people feel good and connected to themselves too.”
Calm also collaborated with outside consultants certified by the EMDR International Association throughout Shift's development to ensure the content is credible, safe, and suitable for everyday, self-guided use.
“With Shift, Calm takes its already impressive collection of self-soothing programs to another level, thoughtfully integrating guided imagery, relaxing music, and gentle bilateral stimulation,” said Roy Kiessling, LISW. “As an experienced EMDR clinician and trainer, I appreciate the care Calm has taken to emphasize relaxation, emotional comfort, and positive resource enhancement. Shift offers a welcome, accessible way to incorporate soothing bilateral stimulation into everyday emotional well-being.”
Shift is available exclusively on Calm for Premium subscribers in the U.S. To try it, download Calm from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and subscribe to Calm Premium for $79.99 annually. Visit calm.com to learn more.
About Calm
Calm is a leading mental wellness company on a mission to make the world happier and healthier. Known for its flagship consumer app, ranked #1 in its category with over 180 million downloads and available in 10 languages across nearly 190 countries, Calm helps people sleep better, find stress relief, and live more mindfully through content and resources from experts and beloved celebrity voices. Building on this foundation, Calm has created a broader portfolio including Calm Health, a digital mental health solution offered through employers, health plans and providers to expand access to mental health and sleep support, boost benefits engagement, and drive positive health outcomes. Today, Calm supports more than 100K organizations and reaches over 42 million covered lives through Calm Health. Calm has been recognized as a TIME100 Most Influential Company and one of Fast Company’s Brands That Matter. Learn more at calm.com.
About Daisy the Great
Daisy the Great is a New York duo made up of Mina Walker and Kelley Dugan, whose sharp, playful songwriting pairs tight harmonies with an uncanny melodic sensibility. The two met as acting majors at NYU and began writing together, turning their stacked harmonies and strange melodies into Daisy the Great. Their “Record Player Song” blew up on TikTok, and a version with AJR went gold with over 450 million streams. Their third album, The Rubber Teeth Talk, explores self-perception, insecurity, fear, and self-trust. They recently released The Rubber Teeth Talk With Friends, reimagining each song with a different artist offering an entirely new take and arrangement.
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