5 Best Mindfulness and Meditation Apps

Here is a summary of the 5 Best mindfulness and meditation apps

In many ways, our world is designed to heighten anxiety and promote endless productivity. Humans are more connected than they’ve ever been, meaning we’re constantly consuming stories of people doing and achieving fantastic things, seemingly rolling in happiness and success. No wonder our brains are forever churning, coming up with ways in which we can do the same.

But switching off and quietening the mind is essential to good mental health. Raised anxiety and stress levels can severely disrupt sleep patterns and rational thinking, which will have a profound effect on our daily lives and relationships. You may need a little help with getting to that silent part of your mind and luckily, there are a range of great apps to help with mindfulness and meditation practice.

Headspace

Headspace is full of guided meditation sessions as well as helpful articles and videos on the art of mindfulness and meditation and topics such as stress, sleep, and focus. Accompanied by charming animations, Headspace cuts the jargon and makes meditation accessible to beginners. There are even SOS meditations for those who wake in the middle of the night and need some assistance getting back to sleep. Headspace have also partnered with Netflix to present Headspace Guide To Sleep, which will be available on Netflix UK from 28^th April.

Headspace offer a variety of payment plans including a monthly payment of £9.99 with a seven day free trial or an annual payment of £49.99 with a 14 day free trial.

Download it from the App store or Google Play.

Calm

As soon as you open the Calm app, you’re greeted to the sounds of crackling fire, chirruping crickets or the babbling of a brook, which is wonderfully soothing. Calm features daily meditations, a selection of relaxing music, videos on mindful stretching and scenes and sounds of nature, which you can enjoy while working. The app is also fantastic for getting better sleep with its celebrity-narrated Sleep Stories. Choose from a range of adapted classic stories or gentle journeys through peaceful scenes with voices such as Harry Styles, Laura Dern, Idris Elba, Stephen Fry, Lucy Liu and more.

Calm has two payment options including an annual option of £28.99 with a seven day free trial or a single payment of £299.99 for a lifetime subscription.

Download it from the App store or Google Play.

The Mindfulness App

The Mindfulness App has a simple name and it’s for a good reason! This app focuses solely on mindfulness and meditation and helps you to build it into your daily routine. For beginners, there is a simple five day introduction to mindfulness program which will help you get your head around the basics. The app boasts over 250 guided meditations from world-class experts. You can choose between silent or guided timed meditation sessions and set reminders to find that quiet space in your day. The Mindfulness App is on a mission to help you be more present in your daily life.

The basic version of The Mindfulness App is free (which is amazing!) but the premium version with unlimited access to everything works out as £7.99 per month or £54.99 annually.

Download it from the App store or Google Play.

MyLife Meditation

As soon as you open the MyLife Meditation app, you’re presented with a range of adjectives to describe how you’re feeling. Checking in forces you to focus on your emotions and pay attention to what’s going on in your mind. The app uses your answers to provide short, easy mindfulness exercises and meditations, so that your experience with the app is entirely tailored to how you are that day. There are even areas of the app for kids, so the whole family can finally get on board with the wonders of mindfulness. It has a LOT of fantastic reviews too!

The basic version of MyLife Meditation is free and this includes foundational meditations. To unlock over 400 other mindful activities and meditations, a premium subscription is required. This is $9.99 (around £7) per month or $58.99 (around £42) annually.

Download it from the App store or Google Play.

Simple Habit

Designed for busy people, Simple Habit is full of short bursts of meditation whenever you need it. The app has programs for incredibly specific situations, traumas and emotions including post-break up meditations, new mom stress relief, relaxing before exams, money problems and many more. In fact, there seems to be a Simple Habit meditation program for almost every major life event!

The basic version (which is very well stocked with content) is free but there are three payment options for the premium version. You can either pay $11.99 (around £8.60) per month, $89.99 (around £64.50) annually or $299.99 (around £215) for a lifetime subscription.

Download it from the App Store or Google Play.

Mindfulness and meditation have made huge waves in the health and fitness world in recent years. Society is finally coming around to the realisation that mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness and we need to work just as hard to maintain it. If this realm is pretty new to you, these apps are excellent springboards and guides. It’s time to start being kind to your mind.

You can learn more about the impacts of mindfulness and meditation on mental health in our Mental Health Awareness CPD course.