What do you do when you’re feeling mentally fatigued, stressed, and generally all out of whack? Over the past few years, we’ve really been getting into meditation and mindfulness, and we have to say that we’ve actually seen tons of improvements in many different areas of our lives. In fact, scientific studies show that meditation can help reduce anxiety, improve focus, lower blood pressure, and even help with pain management. If you’re thinking about getting into meditation but not sure where to start, these are some great apps that will help you find your zen and amp up your well-being.
Designed with busy peeps in mind, Buddhify features guided meditation sessions for all different times of day and a variety of situations that are going on in your life. For example, you can choose meditations designed for when you first wake up, coffee breaks, or any time you’re walking, feeling stressed, or having difficulty sleeping. Sessions clock in at anywhere from four minutes to 30 minutes, which makes it easy to inject some mindfulness into your day, no matter what’s going on.
Initial upfront cost and an annual membership fee for additional features
One of the best things about Calm is that it suits all types of meditators from absolute beginners to advanced practitioners. The guided sessions are available in different time blocks starting with three minutes and running up to 25 minutes, so you can lengthen your practice as you go along. They also have extras like Sleep Stories to help you nod off and soothing music and nature sounds for when you need a bit of background noise to drown out the internal chatter.
Free to sign up and monthly, annual, or lifetime subscriptions for additional features
This is one of our favourite mediation apps because it’s super easy to use and also easy on the ears (we could listen to co-founder Andy Puddicombe’s soothing British accent for hours). It starts with a series of free sessions that lay down the basic principles of meditation. After you’ve done that, you can sign up for a subscription to unlock tons of other sessions that focus on particular areas like personal growth, work and productivity, and happiness.
Free basic sessions and monthly, annual, or lifetime subscriptions for additional courses
Insight Timer has one of the biggest libraries of guided meditations out there with over 15,000 sessions that you can pick and choose from. You can mix and match sessions and customize the times of your sessions or let the app choose optimal sessions and timings for you. You can also personalize your meditation with ambient background music, soothing bells, and other calming sounds. Oh and did we mention it’s entirely free?
Free for all meditation sessions
Need a little inspiration in your life? Omvana offers over 500 transformational audio tracks that include everything from guided meditations by famous teachers, authors, and celebrities to uplifting speeches, soothing binaural tracks for relaxation and deep sleep, and talks on how to find your life purpose or attract more of what you want in life. We love the variety of material on offer and the fact that each track is designed to help inject positivity into your life.
Free to download and in-app purchase options for additional features
Just like the name suggests, this handy meditation app helps you to be more grounded by encouraging you to take time out to practice mindful breathing and meditation. Customize your practice by choosing meditation sessions that correspond to your current emotions and choosing a duration that fits into your schedule. The free version gives you access to over 20 mindfulness different activities, while the subscription opens up more advanced options.
Free for basic sessions and monthly and annual subscriptions for additional features
If you’re a fan of Oprah Winfrey, then you probably know that she’s a huge proponent of meditation. But what you may not know is that she’s teamed up with Deepak Chopra to offer free 21-day guided meditation programmes. The programmes take place every few months and are designed around different themes like finding more energy, focus, or joy. Once the programme starts, you get one free meditation a day for 21 days, and each meditation is available for up to five days.
Free for the 21-day programme. Programmes are also available for purchase afterwards.
