A therapist who helped the victims of the 7/7 London bombings overcome their post-traumatic stress is behind a trio of new mindfulness albums.
Martin Weaver, a neurolinguistic psychotherapist, worked with those caught up in the events of July 7 2005.
He is part of the Calm Collective, a project recruited by the record label Decca to create a series of albums designed to battle anxiety.
They claim the music on the three records can help sleepless nights, still tearful babies and even improve the intimacy of a sexual relationship.
Weaver said: “When the 7 July bombings assistance centre came to end, I created a 20 minute audio track to help people prepare for events in the future and build their own resilience.
“From that track, this album was born.
“Given that happiness is a subjective experience for everyone, what I’ve tried to do is go back to the basics of my training and take out some simple different ways of thinking to help people add into their own sense of happiness.”
The albums – entitled Mindful Calm, Mindful Love and Mindful Happiness – also aim to lower the heart rate and calm the mind.
Each album features music by musician Lotte Mullan, who tracked her own vital signs during the recording process using a Fitbit watch.
She said: “I had some therapy sessions with Martin Weaver who would bring me to a relaxed trance state to let go of my anxiety and I thought it would be amazing if that could be broken down into smaller chunks for an album available to everyone, even those that perhaps can’t afford therapy.”
Mindfulness practitioner and actress Victoria Grove, who appeared in the hit BBC One thriller Bodyguard, is behind two of the albums and conceived Mindful Calm to help calm her pre-show nerves.
She said: “We felt there were so many mindful apps out there that you can spend an awful lot of money on simply learning how to focus on your breathing.
“We wanted to make this more available to the masses, something you can sample and listen to for free. Mindfulness should no longer be a luxury item.
“It has become vital for living a manageable life. If you have three minutes in your day to listen to one of our tracks on Mindful Calm it refreshes the mind. It’s like pressing a reset button.”
Dr Alexander Buhr, managing director of Decca Classics, said: “The pursuit of mindfulness and inner calm in response to the challenges of daily life have become a major theme in many peoples’ lives.
“Calm Collective wants to offer practical support for this. By combining musical experience with coaching and therapeutic expertise and making the results available as widely as possible through streaming services, Calm Collective aims to provide mindfulness support for everyone.”
Decca Records, which has been home to musicians including Dame Vera Lynn, Bing Crosby, The Rolling Stones and Bowie, was founded in 1929.
The Calm Collective’s albums will be released from June 21 2019.