Transformation Tuesday: Meditation Apps to Try Now
Meditation. Mindfulness. Mental clarity. Now, more than ever, we’re in need of finding a path to inner peace and calm as the impacts of isolation, negative news, and uncertainty dominate our lives. It’s perfectly normal for stress levels to be heightened, however, we must find a way to balance our day-to-day lives. If anxiety over the future is filling us with dread, finding sanctuary in the present moment is crucial.
Meditation is the practice of using the breath to achieve mindfulness and calm in order to live more fully in the present moment. While the concept may sound simple and is often partnered with sayings like, “Be here now,” getting started can be a little tricky. Fortunately, with so many helpful apps, we don't have to go far—or even unplug—to begin. Here are six free, subscription-based meditation apps to create a little more ease during these crazy times, and hopefully beyond:
Free Meditation Apps
Stop, Breathe & Think | Guided Meditations & Mindfulness
Rated one of the best apps in 2019 by Healthline, this app recommends super short (three, five and seven-minute) meditation exercises based on our physical and mental check-ins. Guided journaling exercises help track progress. Added bonus, there’s even a version for kids!
Insight Timer | Free Meditation App for Sleep, Anxiety & Stress
This free app combines music, psychology experts, and timed sessions. There’s a paid upgrade available, but a very large free content library for any level.
Omvana | Meditation for Everyone
Omvana has free meditation sessions and series that can be mixed and combined with different ambient tracks.
Subscription Meditation Apps
Headspace | Meditation & Sleep Made Simple
Probably one of the most well-known apps for meditation, this app does offer a free trial, but users will need to sign up for a subscription first. The content library is very friendly to anyone unsure about meditation and anything too “out there,” so it’s a great way to introduce the concept to beginners. And we really love their cute illustrations!
Calm | The App for Meditation
Rated as the #1 app for sleep, meditation and relaxation, Calm offers a 7-day free trial and then, it's $69.99 annually. Named by the Center for Humane Technology as "the world's happiest app." We really love how you can pick a meditation topic (i.e. calming anxiety, deep sleep, forgiveness, gratitude, and more), the length of time (from three to 25 minutes) and from an array of nature scenes. They also have a Calm Kids section that helps kids learn calming techniques like belly breaths and loving-kindness, as well as sleep stories for kids 3 and up
Breethe | Calm, Meditation, Sleep & Mindfulness
Breethe offers a free 14-day trial, and then there are various in-app purchase options required to continue on, anywhere from 3 months at $13/month or two years for $142. The app was designed to help us destress and establish a regular meditation practice, from learning how to meditate, getting more sleep, dealing with less stress and anxiety, experiencing better performance at work, losing weight, and more.
Deep breaths. Long pauses. Taking a moment. We’re all in this together and it’s never been more important to take care of ourselves. And when we do, we’re able to be more present and bring our best-selves to every moment, each day.
*While some of the apps in this list require paid subscriptions, we do not receive any compensation for sharing. We hope this comprehensive list is helpful.
“Meditation is a process of lightening up, of trusting the basic goodness of what we have and who we are, and of realizing that any wisdom that exists, exists in what we already have. We can lead our life so as to become more awake to who we are and what we’re doing rather than trying to improve or change or get rid of who we are or what we’re doing. The key is to wake up, to become more alert, more inquisitive and curious about ourselves.”
