We've rounded up the best meditation apps—just for you. Meditation apps can be a game-changer during your work break or while traveling to alleviate stress. Let's dive into the benefits, our top choices, and more.
Meditation Benefits
Here are some common reasons you might want to start meditating:
- Better Focus: Studies show that meditation can help you improve your attention.
- Improved Emotional Regulation: Other studies also show a beneficial effect on emotion processing.
- Stress Management: Mindfulness can help with stress, depression, and anxiety.
Outside of these benefits, the practice is a great way to pause and connect with yourself. Depending on your beliefs, it can also have a spiritual aspect.
Meditation Tips
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Here are things to keep in mind when you start meditating:
- Focus on the practice: Learning to enjoy the practice and detach yourself from the outcome can be beneficial, as you might create some resistance otherwise.
- Start slow: At first, build consistency with smaller sessions. When you feel more comfortable, you can start making sessions longer.
- Don't expect perfection: Getting distracted is part of the process. What matters is bringing your mind back when you notice it.
- Learn more about meditation: Reading books about meditation can give you more context and appreciation for the practice itself.
Top Meditation Apps
Let's cover three of the best guided meditation apps.
Headspace
Headspace is a very popular app on the market. A former Buddhist monk co-founded it and has now developed it into a larger mental health platform.
Pros:
- Excellent learning tool: Headspace has great beginner courses (Basics) to get you started.
- More than meditations: From online therapists to stretching routines, it covers many aspects of mental health.
- Free trial: The app offers a 14-day free trial, allowing you to see if it's the right fit for you.
- Family-friendly: Headspace offers family plans and content suitable for children.
Cons:
- The app's UX: Many users mention the app being overwhelming, and find browsing hard.
- The free trial conditions: Although the trial is free, you'll have to enter your credit card information and risk being billed if you don't cancel your subscription before the free trial ends.
- Repetitive: Once you get the hang of your meditation practice, the app might feel superfluous, leading users to stop wanting to pay for it.
Calm
Calm is one of the best apps for meditation and sleep. Its overall peaceful atmosphere makes it stand out.
Pros:
- A calming interface: Its interface is customizable with peaceful landscapes and sounds, immediately immersing you in a relaxing world.
- Sleep stories: Calm is often praised for the wide variety and quality of its sleep stories.
- Celebrity factor: Some sleep stories are read by popular actors like Sam Heughan (Outlander) or singers like Harry Styles.
Cons:
- Distracting ambient sounds: While some users love the ambient sounds during meditation, others find them distracting.
- Cost: Calm's yearly cost is slightly higher than Headspace's.
- Celebrity factor: Not every user loves the addition of celebrities to the app, clashing with the Zen experience.
Insight Timer
Insight Timer is another popular meditation app, known for its timer feature.
Pros:
- Wide variety of free content: The app has a vast library of over 280,000 free guided meditations.
- Great timer: You can customize meditation sessions with a start bell, interval bells, and an end bell.
- Community building: Insight Timer has many features that help foster a sense of community, such as groups hosted by teachers on the app. You can also add friends on the app.
Cons:
- Paywall limitations: The free version does not offer multi-session meditation courses or the premium timer.
- More advanced content: Some courses are more suited to advanced practitioners. This can be a pro, but it can also make it hard to find the right content for your level.
- Choice paralysis: Insight Timer can also be overwhelming due to its wide array of options.
Other Great Free Meditation Apps
The apps below are all great free options or start free.
- Medito: Medito is an entirely free app that many users recommend. It's a nonprofit and doesn't have any ads.
- Plum Village: This app is based on Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings and is also entirely free.
- Sattva: While Sattva is free initially, full access features are not. Sattva is inspired by Vedic traditions and has more of a spiritual community focus.
- Waking Up: Waking Up offers a free trial, but you must pay to unlock content after that, unless you apply for a hardship-based waiver. Its creator, Sam Harris, is known for his insights on philosophy and neuroscience.
You're now all set to pick the right meditation app for you.
Cozy Travel Essentials
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Meditation apps are a great tool to manage the stress of traveling and help you fall asleep on long flights. Here are other travel essentials to consider:
- A good playlist: Pick out your favourite songs and boost your mood with a good playlist.
- An eye mask: An eye mask will help you get some sleep on the plane and stay in your meditation bubble.
- A travel pillow: Pair your eye mask with a travel pillow to maximize your relaxation.
- A comfort item: Pack an item that brings you comfort. Whether it's one with sentimental value or a warm blanket, this will help you feel more at ease.
- A fidget: Fidgets are great ways to get some of the stress out. It will give you something to focus on and play with to keep your mind and body occupied.
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Related Read: The Best Apps for Planning Travel
