A modern take on the Gateway tapes.
Made by someone who has used them.
Shimmr’s Journeys are guided sessions that take you deep and bring you back. The voice and the sound are yours to adjust, they run on your iPhone or iPad, and each one fits into an evening. The first journey is free.
Where Shimmr began
I found the Gateway tapes through a book, years ago, and listened to them for a long time. I loved the idea: a voice that helps your body rest while your mind stays awake, with sound doing part of the work.
I also wished I could change things. Turn the voice down once I knew the steps. Make the sound warmer. Listen on my phone, without setting aside a long stretch of time. With a background in audio engineering and 19 years of meditation, I started building that. It became Shimmr.
What feels familiar
A voice guides you down
Each journey settles you through your weight, then your breath, then the sounds around you, until your body rests and your attention stays awake.
Tones in each ear
Like the tapes, Journeys use binaural beats: a slightly different tone in each ear, so you need headphones. The beat moves as the session unfolds.
And brings you back
Every journey ends with a guided return, so you come back clear rather than groggy.
Steps that build
The sessions build on each other, one skill at a time. You can still play them in any order.
What’s different
A voice you can turn down
Choose Soft, Balanced or Clear, or turn the voice off and keep only the sound once you know the way.
Sound made live
The tones are generated on your device, not played from old recordings. Open the mixer to set the levels of tones, ambience and noise, add reverb or EQ, and save the mix.
Shorter sessions
Journeys run from 14 to 25 minutes. Long enough to go deep, short enough for a weeknight.
On your phone, offline
Everything is built into the app. It plays with the screen off, works without signal and logs mindful minutes to Apple Health.
More than journeys
Shifts move you from one state to another with no voice at all, and Sound Canvas lets you build your own soundscape and save it.
The Foundation journeys
The first series teaches one simple method: notice your weight, then your breath, then the sounds around you.
- 1 Arrival Free Learn the method and hear how the tones in each ear work, with time to practise settling.
- 2 Stillness Let your body rest while you stay quietly attentive.
- 3 Expanse Move your attention between one simple point and the wider space around you.
- 4 Anchor Turn the method into a single breath you can use anywhere.
- 5 Far Shore Fewer reminders and a long quiet space to practise on your own.
Hear the sound
Thirty seconds from the app, made live by the same engine as the journeys. Use headphones.
To be clear
Shimmr is not the Gateway tapes and is not linked to the Monroe Institute. It doesn’t contain their recordings, Focus levels or Hemi-Sync. If you want the original course, it is sold by the Monroe Institute. Shimmr is a new set of guided sessions in the same spirit, made from scratch.
Questions
Is there an app like the Gateway tapes?
Yes. Shimmr’s Journeys are guided sessions inspired by the Gateway tapes: a voice helps your body rest while your attention stays awake, with binaural beats underneath. They are new sessions, not the original recordings.
Is Shimmr made by the Monroe Institute?
No. Shimmr is made independently in Stockholm and has no link to the Monroe Institute. The Monroe Institute makes its own app, called Expand.
Can I try it for free?
Yes. Shimmr is free to download and the first journey, Arrival, is free for everyone. The other journeys are part of Shimmr Premium.
Do I need headphones?
Yes, for the journeys. Binaural beats need a separate tone in each ear, and any stereo headphones or earbuds work. Keep the volume low.
Can I listen without the voice?
Yes. Set the voice to Soft, Balanced or Clear, or turn it off in the mixer for a session with only the sound. Shifts have no voice at all.
Gateway Experience and Hemi-Sync are trademarks of their owners. Shimmr is not a medical device. Never listen while driving.
