As someone born and raised in Puerto Rico, I’ve always believed the island has a peculiar rhythm that can’t be replicated. That mix of crashing waves, rustling breeze in the palm trees and the coquí’s distinctive mating call isn’t just noise; for me, it’s memory and medicine to my soul. Now, Calm, a mental health app, is bringing exactly that to your phone, and you can play it on repeat.
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Calm partnered with Discover Puerto Rico, the island’s Destination Marketing Organization, to release its first-ever destination-based audio collection. The library is a sensory experience designed to ground you in the spirit of the island whenever you need a pick-me-up or simply want a moment of calm during stressful moments.
The Calm x Puerto Rico collaboration includes meditations, breathwork, soundscapes and a new sleep story, Adventures in Puerto Rico, narrated in English and Spanish by Lin-Manuel Miranda, a songwriter and actor born to Puerto Rican parents. His voice will take you across the island, from the cobblestone streets of Old San Juan to the bioluminescent bay in La Parguera.
“Recording this Sleep Story allowed me to share the magic of the Island in a new way: through its sounds, its stories, and the quiet beauty that fills every corner. Puerto Rico invites you to slow down, breathe deeply, and rediscover a sense of wonder. I hope listeners feel that peace, and that pull to explore it for themselves,” said Miranda in a press release.
The content in this suite of audio experiences was co-created with Puerto Rican artists and sound engineers, ensuring that the rainforest doesn’t just sound like any other rainforest, but has the distinctive sounds of El Yunque, the only tropical rainforest within the national forest system.
In addition to the Sleep Story, Calm and Discover Puerto Rico are unveiling four audio experiences and a Breathe Bubble (Calm’s signature animated bubble) that include:
- Two meditations: one is a visualization through El Yunque, and the other is a body scan on the beach.
- Two soundscapes: Sounds of El Yunque, an immersive audio experience featuring native wildlife, gentle rainfall and the natural ambiance of the rainforest’s lush terrain. And the other is Floating through the Tanamá River, a peaceful, meditative drift down one of Puerto Rico’s most serene rivers.
- Breathe Bubble: A guided breathwork exercise with a backdrop sound of Vieques’ beaches.
Calm Premium members can access the full suite of content starting today. If you’re not a Calm Premium member yet, but are curious about this collaboration, Calm is offering a limited number of free one-year memberships or a 50% Calm Premium discount at discoverpuertorico.com/calm-sounds-of-puerto-rico.
